Postpartum · Lunch

Egg-Fried Rice with Peas & Spring Greens

Name: Egg-Fried Rice with Peas & Spring Greens
Total time: 17 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 400 g cooked and cooled rice; 3 large eggs, beaten; 2 tbsp olive oil; 150 g frozen peas; 150 g spring greens or cabbage, shredded; 2 tbsp tamari; 1 tsp toasted sesame oil; 2 scallions, sliced; 15 g fresh ginger, grated

Proper egg-fried rice from yesterday's rice with peas, greens and sesame - the fastest real lunch a tired kitchen can produce.

A hot lunch that lands faster than a delivery and asks for nothing beyond what a stocked fridge and freezer already hold. It is the right shape of cooking for the early weeks: high heat, a short window, one pan to wash, and a real meal at the end instead of another round of toast.

Egg-Fried Rice with Peas & Spring Greens - Proper egg-fried rice from yesterday's rice with peas, greens and sesame

Easy

Vegetarian CholineFolateFiber

Ingredients

for 2 people

400 gcooked and cooled rice
3large eggs, beaten
2 tbspolive oil
150 gfrozen peas
150 gspring greens or cabbage, shredded
2 tbsptamari
1 tsptoasted sesame oil
2scallions, sliced
15 gfresh ginger, grated

Open this recipe in the interactive app to scale servings, switch to oz and cups, and tick ingredients off as you cook.

Per serving (approx.): 520 calories · 18 g protein · 62 g carbs · 22 g fat · 7 g fiber

Method

Scramble. Heat half the olive oil in a large wok or skillet over medium heat. Pour in the beaten eggs and scramble for 1 to 2 minutes, until fully set with no wet shine - 160°F (71°C). Slide onto a plate.
Sizzle. Add the remaining oil and turn the heat to high, until the wok just starts to smoke. Fry the ginger for 30 seconds, until fragrant, then add the rice, pressing it down so it crisps in spots.
Wilt. Add the frozen peas and shredded greens to the wok and stir-fry over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the greens wilt, the peas turn bright green and the rice is steaming hot throughout.
Toss. Return the eggs with the tamari and sesame oil and toss everything together for a final minute, until evenly coated and glossy. Scatter the scallions over the top and serve straight from the wok.

Worth knowingDay-old rice, eggs and frozen peas is the emergency lunch that still delivers choline and folate - keep the components stocked.

Is this safe while breastfeeding?

Yes - this fits normal postpartum eating, and nothing in it is limited while breastfeeding; even runny eggs are back after birth, though these are fully scrambled anyway. If you are nursing, the eggs also count toward iodine, whose needs are at their peak while breastfeeding (NIH iodine fact sheet). The real food-safety story in fried rice is the rice itself - the storage section has the rule that matters.

Substitutions & allergens

Firm tofu, crumbled into the hot pan, replaces the eggs - removes egg, though the choline the note mentions mostly leaves with it.
Coconut aminos stand in for the tamari - removes soy, and the gluten flag too if your tamari was the source.
Skip the toasted sesame oil and finish with a little extra olive oil - removes sesame.
Any cabbage, kale or a handful of frozen spinach works where the spring greens go.

Storage & reheating

The rice rule runs this dish, per the FSA home food fact checker: the base rice should have been chilled quickly after cooking (ideally within the hour), kept in the fridge no more than 24 hours, and never reheated more than once. This stir-fry is that one reheat - serve it steaming hot, cook only what you will eat, and do not reheat leftovers again. For the same reason, freezing the finished dish is not worth it; this is a cook-and-eat meal.

Checked against the public guidance we follow - see our sources & editorial standards.