Korean rice cakes are a favorite in our house. We tend to cook a lot of Asian inspired dishes, it’s what I grew up eating and it’s my comfort food. Plus, it’s super easy to make dishes naturally gluten and dairy free.

This is my quick and light take on the Korean street food: “tteok” or rice cakes. It’s vegan & gluten free and comes together very quickly. The crispy vegetables, bok choy, carrots and bean sprouts provide a refreshing contrast to the chewy rice cakes.

Korean Stir-fried Rice Cakes – 30 min prep & cook time

Ingredients (4 servings)
1 1/2 cups Korean Rice Cakes
3 tbsp avocado oil, divided
1 16oz packaged organic tofu, firm (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
1 clove garlic, minced
1, 1 inch piece of ginger
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 bunches baby boy choy
1 carrot, julienned
1 cup bean sprouts
1 tbsp tamari
sea salt, to taste
black or white pepper, to taste
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Directions:
1. Heat a pot of water to boil. Once the water is boiling, add the rice cakes and boil for 2-3 minutes until the rice cakes are soft. Drain water and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp avocado oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the tofu to the frying pan. Let fry for 2-3 minutes, then stir up the tofu so that sides that weren’t fried are face down in the oil. Let fry another 2-3 minutes until some sides of the tofu are fried golden brown. Remove tofu from heat and set aside.
3. In a wok, heat 2 tbsp avocado oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger and onion. Saute for 1-2 minutes until the onion turns translucent.
4. Add the carrots  to the wok, season with a pinch of sea salt, and saute the mixture for 2 minutes until the carrots soften.
5. Add the bok choy to the wok, season with a pinch of sea salt, and saute the mixture for 1-2 minutes until the bok choy starts to soften.
6. Add the bean sprouts to the wok and saute for 30 seconds.
7. Add the rice cakes to the wok and mix
8. Add the tamari to the rice cakes and veggies and mix to combine well.
9. Add about 1 tsp pepper and mix to combine well.
10. Drizzle the sesame oil over the veggies & rice cakes and toss.
11. Remove from heat, plate and enjoy!

Veggie fried rice: this is my ultimate way to get veggie, protein, essentially… all the healthy stuff into my kids without having to turn to begging, pleading or bargaining with them.

Fried rice is known as the Chinese version of the casserole. It is the absolute best way to use up extra veggies and you can put almost anything in fried rice and it’ll come out delicious. And as an added bonus, it’s a great way to make sure the kids get their veggies in.

More traditional versions of fried rice don’t include the turmeric, but I like to toss it in for a a touch of extra flavor and a ton of added health benefits.

Veggie Turmeric Fried Rice – 30 min prep & cook time

Ingredients (4-6 servings)
1 1/2 cups Jasmine Rice (cooked)
3 tbsp avocado oil, divided
3 Eggs
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 organic carrots, peeled and cubed
1 organic medium zucchini, cubed
1 yellow onion, diced
turmeric (organic, optional)
2-3 tbsp coconut amnios, to taste
sea salt
white pepper, optional
1 tsp, sesame oil

Directions:
1. Heat 1 tbsp avocado oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
2. Crack eggs into heated avocado oil and lightly scramble. Remove from heat when eggs have just stiffened.
3. Heat 1 tbsp avocado oil in a wok (a large skillet will work as well) over medium high heat.
4. Add the garlic to the heated oil and sauté for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
5. Add the carrots to the wok, toss with the garlic and sprinkle with some sea salt. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until the carrots start to soften.
6. Add the zucchini to the wok, toss with the garlic and carrots and sprinkle with sea salt. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, until the zucchini starts to soften.
7. Remove the carrot & zucchini mixture from the wok, into a medium bowl and set aside.
8. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp avocado oil in the wok over medium high heat.
9. Add the onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the onion starts to turn transparent.
10. Add the cooked rice to the wok with the onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes, making to sure dry all parts of the rice in the oil.
11. Add the cooked egg to the rice and mix to combine well.
12. Add the turmeric to the rice, mix to combine well. Then add the cooked carrots & zucchini, mix to combine well.
13. Add the coconut amnios to the rice mixture and mix to combine well.
14. Add white pepper to taste (optional)
15. Finally, drizzle the sesame oil over the fried rice and mix to combine the flavors.
16. Remove the fried rice from heat, plate for serving, and enjoy!