Submitted by Chef Andrea Reusing and students,community members and  school professionals from McDougle Elementary School and Culbreth Middle School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Top 30 recipe from “Recipes for Healthy Kids Cookbook for Homes” provided by the USDA’s Team Nutrition.

Ingredients:

  • 1 ¾ cups brown rice, long-grain, regular, dry
  • 1/3 tsp salt
  • ¾ cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
  • 5 large whole eggs, beaten
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • ½ cup extra-lean turkey ham, diced ¼ inch (2 oz)
  • ¼ cup fresh green onions, diced
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce

Directions:

  1. Combine brown rice and 4 ½ cups water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low. Cover and cook until water is absorbed, about 30-40 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Add salt to rice. Mix well. Set aside. A rice cooker may be used with the same quantity of brown rice and water.
  2. Drain water from spinach by squeezing thawed spinach with hands. Set aside.
  3. Whisk together eggs and 1 Tbsp water.
  4. Cook half of the eggs in a large nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Remove eggs from skillet to cool. Chop cooled eggs and set aside. Reserve the remaining eggs for step 6.
  5. Heat vegetable oil in a wok or a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add ham and cook for 2 minutes or until ham begins to brown.
  6. Reduce heat to medium. Add brown rice and toss to mix. Add remaining eggs. Stir-fry for 5 minutes or until egg is fully cooked.
  7. Add green onions, spinach, chopped egg, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Stir well. Cook until thoroughly heated. Serve hot.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 1 hour Amount: Makes six 1-cup servings (1 cup provides ½ oz equivalent meat/meat alternate, 1/8 cup dark green vegetable, and 1 ½ oz equivalent grains).

Nutrients Per Serving:

Calories 238, Protein 9 g, Carbohydrate 35 g, Dietary Fiber 3 g, Total Fat 7 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 74 mg, Vitamin A 1961 IU (120 RAE), Vitamin C < 1 mg, Iron 1 mg, Calcium 53 mg, Sodium 313 mg.

Recipe: Green Rice, Eggs and Ham