Cubed beets are stir-fried to perfection in coconut oil and curry paste, and then mixed with crispy rice for an earthy cold-weather twist on vegetable fried rice.
Heat the coconut oil in a large, wide pan over medium-high heat. Add the diced beets and stir well. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until beets are starting to soften. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, and black pepper, and stir. Immediately add the Thai red curry paste. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 2-3 more minutes or until fragrant.
Next add your vegetables to the pan and stir well; continue to cook while stirring frequently until the vegetables have turned bright in color and are crisp-tender. Add the cooked rice and diced pineapple and stir to combine. Finally, add the sauce to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until hot throughout.
Served warm, garnished with chopped scallions, toasted cashews, and other accompaniments as desired.
Notes
MIX AND MATCH VEGGIES: Instead of the broccoli, bell pepper, onion and/or cabbage, feel free to mix and match other veggies of choice. Some others that I have tried and enjoyed with this dish include sliced cherry tomatoes; cauliflower (takes a little bit longer to cook); snap peas; and kohlrabi.FRESH GARLIC SUBSTITUTE: Feel free to substitute 1/4 tsp garlic powder for the fresh garlic. I recommend using fresh ginger if you can get your hands on it, though. It makes a difference!SEPARATE COOKING: If the presentation of the dish is important to you and you'd like to keep the vegetables to their own beautiful colors, you'll want to get two separate stir-fries going. Reserve 1/2 tbsp of the coconut oil and about 1/3 of the sauce to stir-fry just the veggies in their own pan. After cooking and saucing both pans, you can then stir everything together and the vegetables will be relatively "unharmed" by the stir-fried beets.