Pineapple is delicious, in cocktails, in salads, in smoothies and on it’s own. Ā Pineapple is especially good in savoury dishes where it balances perfectly with salty and creamy flavours. Fried rice was my main staple food when I travelled Asia last summer. Rice isĀ cheap, quick and filling- a key component of a vegan diet. When I was in Pai , in Northern Thailand I first tried Thai pineapple fried rice, and it was so tasty!
This dish recreates those flavours with (a lot) less oil, some added elements for extra texture and added nutrition. I replaced white rice for brown, added cashew nuts for protein and creaminess, along with a rake of sweet peppers and lashings of garlic, onion and ginger.
This meal is perfectly balanced, whether you are vegan or not, it’s also gluten free! Turmeric adds colour and antioxidants and cumin seeds add some toastiness (even though that’s not even a real word š )
This dish is great as you can make it in under 15 minutes, it can feed as many or as little people as you like, just adjust the amounts accordingly, and you can serve it in big bowl for everyone to dig in, or go all fancy and serve it in the pineapples (as you’ll see below). It’s fun to make, and again, another dish for vegans and everyone else to enjoy together š
Ingredients- serves 4
2 small pineapples- if you want to serve in the pineapple, you need a half per person
280g cooked and cooled brown rice (70g cooked rice per person)
3 bell peppers (I use a mix of colours) diced
1 large red onion
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated finely
1 carrot peeled and diced
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp toasted cumin seeds
Juice of half a lemon
Tamari soy sauce (or if you do not need this recipe to be gluten free add regular)
A handful of cashew nuts
Spray oil/ water for frying
Spring onion to garnish
Method
Cut the pineapple in half length way, keeping the green leaves attached
Using a spoon scoop out the flesh of the pineapple, and cut off the hard core and discard
Dice the flesh into cubes, set the empty pineapple skins aside
In a wok, fry the onion, ginger and garlic until aromatic
Add in the diced peppers and carrots cook lightly
Add in the rice, turmeric and cumin seeds to the wok and combine well with the vegetables stirring constantly
Toast the cashew nuts lightly in a separate pan for 2-3 minutes
When the rice is hot through, add in the diced pineapple, the lemon juice and soy sauce
Serve hot, (in a pineapple half, or in a bowl) with cashews and spring onion sprinkled on top!
Ā Ā 
