Happy March! I shouldn’t be so jubilant, to be honest. I turn 40 in a couple of days 😝. I remember turning 30 like it was yesterday. My bff flew out to NYC to spend a weekend with me checking out the Alexander McQueen exhibit at The Met, drinking at Don’t Tell Mama’s, and spending a long evening smoking hookahs. So much has changed in ten years! Lots of good; lots of bad.
We were planning on taking a long overdue vacation together to celebrate us both turning into old fogies this year (her birthday is just a few months behind mine). Unfortunately, we’re turning 40 in the middle of a pandemic. Boooo! So, vacation is postponed until a later day. We’re hoping to hike across part of Spain when we are able to travel safely… hopefully next year. In the meantime, it’s going to be a typical boring, cold, dreary March birthday. Although, if the weather holds out on its current projection, maybe, just maybe, it’ll be nice enough to skip off to the beach and hunt for some sea glass!
Regardless, spring is soooo close, I can taste it. We normally open our pool in March to early April… helps it warm up by summer and keeps it from turning green. I’ve started to lay out plans for my vegetable garden and cannot wait to start ordering plants! And I’ll soon get out into my flower garden and start prepping it for spring! I’m telling you, I’m itching for warm weather!
Anywho, Meatless Monday! Starting the month off right with a delicious and nutritious meal! Coming to you from Indonesia/Malay… I call it Indonesian fried rice here, but the recipe is also known to hail from the Malay peninsula. So, I don’t want to come off as misrepresenting; I just don’t want to have to write Indonesian/Malayan fried rice each time I mention it!
I’ve been trying to stay creative with my Meatless Monday meals to try to broaden my husband’s and son’s minds on the diversity of delicious meatless meals out there. My typical teenager son is still very stuck in the mud that meat is a must. I mean, he’s a great sport when it comes to trying new things. But if given a choice, Meatless Monday is either falafels or not meatless. My husband, on the other hand, has expressed surprise as to how much he’s enjoying the diversity of meatless meals and how flavorful they are.
Kimchi fried rice is a very popular Korean dish that people have made many, many variations on, myself included. It is a delicious meal in and of itself, without meat. But, it’s also delicious with dishes like bulgogi, Korean stir fried beef or pork. I actually find kimchi fried rice better with meat, than without… it feels more rounded. On the other hand, Indonesian fried rice makes for an amazing vegetarian dish (maybe because that’s the only way I’ve ever had it?).
Traditional nasi goreng calls for shrimp paste. I, unfortunately, get migraines anytime I eat shrimp or anything that has come into contact with shrimp. I could have swapped it out for fish sauce, but that also rather defeats the purpose of “meatless.” So, I went to my newest source of umami flavor… Vegemite.
Okay, so I grew up in England and am used to it’s use as a sandwich spread in the UK and Australia. I won’t say I liked it, but it’s not something foreign to me. But, I haven’t thought about it in years until recently it popped into my head as an excellent umami condiment. I’m sneaking it in in a lot of places. I recently added it to my shepherd’s pie, with amazing results.
I easily could have not tried to compensate for the shrimp paste umami flavor, but umami adds such a great dimension to food. I didn’t want to not have that element. Having had so much success with Vegemite recently, I added that and it worked like a charm! I highly recommend having a small container of Vegemite or Marmite in your refrigerator for all of your umami needs!
I added roasted cauliflower to this, which I tossed in a light mixture of sriracha, white miso, and lime juice. The lime flavoring really pops and compliments the light spiciness of the rice. And, as a protein source, I added an egg to each bowl. I recommend over easy so the yoke mixes with the meat. And then, to serve, I topped the rice with fried onions (French’s is one brand that sells fried onions ~ I use Fresh Gourmet). Not only did the fried onions add a nice saltiness to the dish, but the crunch it provides is such a nice texture with the rice! I highly recommend adding it!
And that’s it! I love this fried rice. It’s probably one of the most flavorful fried rice dishes you can make. It’s super healthy ~ add the tomatoes and cucumbers on the side for more vitamins and fiber (lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper)! Don’t want the fried egg? Skip it… want a protein alternative that makes this dish vegan?? Add chickpeas (roast them in the oven tossed with paprika, cinnamon, and cumin for an extra burst of flavor!). This dish is versatile… But it’s deliciously versatile as a vegetarian or vegan dish!
Enjoy!
Nasi Goreng – Vegetarian Indonesian Fried Rice with Roasted Cauliflower
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Asian
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
Cauliflower
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
½ TB white miso
½ lime juiced
½ tsp sriracha
pinch of salt
Nasi Goreng
3 cups cooked white rice
6 garlic cloves, minced
1” ginger, minced
1 TB lemongrass, minced
1 small leek, quartered and sliced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 TBs honey
2 tsps ground turmeric
2 TBs soy sauce
1 TB white miso
1 TB tomato paste
1 TB vegemite
1 TB rice vinegar
1 TB sweet chili sauce
½ TB sesame oil
To Serve, if desired
sliced cucumbers
tomatoes – quartered
fried onions
eggs, over easy
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450°F
Spread the cauliflower evenly over a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together the white miso, lime juice, sriracha, and a pinch of salt. Drizzle over the cauliflower and toss to coat.
Meanwhile, as the cauliflower cooks, make the rice. Whisk together the red pepper flakes, honey, ground turmeric, soy sauce, white miso, tomato paste, Vegemite, rice vinegar, and sweet chili sauce. Heat the sesame oil in a wok over medium heat. When hot, carefully swirl to coat the oil around the bottom half of the wok. Add in the leeks and cook for about 1 minute until lightly golden. Add in the garlic, ginger, and lemongrass and cook until fragrant ~ about 30 seconds.
Add the rice to the walk and drizzle the nasi goreng sauce over the top of the rice. Using a wooden spoon, work to throughly mix the rice with the sauce until it is evenly coated and the sauce is evenly dispersed.
If desired, cook your eggs as desired.
Dish the rice into bowls. Top with the cauliflower, eggs, if using, and other desired accoutrements. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Keywords: Nasi goreng, how to make nasi goreng, Indonesian fried rice, Malay fried rice, how to make Indonesian fried rice, how to make Malay fried rice, vegetarian fried rice, vegetarian Indonesian fried rice, vegetarian Malay fried rice
