New Year's Fried Rice

Wow, it's hard to believe that a new year has arrived, isn't it? By the way, Happy New Year! My recent break from baking, cooking, and blogging has actually been very good for me as I now feel rejuvenated and eager to start cooking and writing again. Tonight I decided to make an Indonesian chicken fried rice dish using some leftover brown rice I had in my fridge. Fried rice was actually a common dish my mother would cook for us in our family. I loved my mom's version with all the wonderful ingredients she would add: sometimes it would be shrimp; other times pork or beef, and on occasion she'd do a very hot and spicy fried rice with chili paste, or a more milder version with eggs and peas. The ease of preparing this dish makes for a tasty and quick dish, and you can pretty much add what you'd like which makes fried rice a very free spirited meal and something that reminds me of home.
Indonesian Fried Rice (adapted from Eating Well, Jan/Feb 2008)
(Serves 2 very generously)
Ingredients:

1 large egg plus ¼ cup egg beaters (lightly beaten together)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon whole almonds
2 dried red chili peppers
1 tablespoon canola oil (divided)
1 cup vegetables of your choice (can use finely chopped cabbage or yellow bell pepper or broccoli)
8 chicken strips (more or less, it's up to you; I used Tyson's frozen chicken tenders)
½ cup peas (I used canned peas)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon kecap manis (this is a thick palm sugar-sweetened soy sauce and can be found in Asian supermarkets in the soy sauce aisle)
2 cups cooked and cooled brown rice
1 scallion, thinly sliced
Directions:
Coat a large skillet or wok with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Pour in the egg mixture, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, lifting the edges so uncooked egg flows underneath, until mostly set. Slide the egg out of the pan onto a clean cutting board. When cool enough, cut into thin strips.
Place garlic, almonds, and chili into a food processor and process until a paste-like consistency forms. Heat one-half of the tablespoon of in the pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the paste and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl.
Heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat and add the vegetables and chicken strips, stirring for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic/almond paste, soy sauce, kecap manis, and rice and stir until combined and heated through, about 2 minutes.
Remove the rice mixture from the heat and toss in the peas. Top off with the strips of eggs and scallion slices.