Birthday celebrations are always worthy of cooking up a storm in the kitchen, and we have a very special birthday worth celebrating! I'm talking about Lilydale and they’re turning 75! If you haven't heard about Lilydale before they were established 75 years ago as an Alberta Farmers cooperative, and now Lilydale has become Canada's premier poultry provider. They are committed to providing Canadians with wholesome and delicious products that only use 100% Canadian raised chicken and turkey from local farmers. With its signature green logo, their various poultry products ranging from deli meats, breakfast sausages, turkey bacon, frozen boxed products, carved and fresh turkey and chicken can all be found at local grocery stores across Canada. If you are ever in need of some poultry to complete your breakfast, lunch, or dinner recipe Lilydale is what you need to get!
Now as I said earlier birthdays are always worth celebrating, and the best way I know how is to celebrate through the taste buds! I've been going through a Thai cuisine phase lately and I've been hitting up some of my favourite Thai restaurants in the city. One dish I keep on ordering at these restaurants is Pineapple Fried Rice. And of course when it comes from a Thai restaurant more than likely the fried rice is served in a pineapple bowl! Pure genius if you ask me! Presentation is fun and you let nothing go to waste. Even the pineapple shell is used and it really is a wow factor when served to all your guests at a party. The juiciness from the pineapples mixed into the fried rice is my absolute favourite part of the dish, delivering another level of flavour and acidity to each bite that you won't be able to find in just ordinary fried rice.
Instead of craving it at restaurants all the time, I've decided to create my own Pineapple Fried Rice at home using some of Lilydale's poultry products as inspiration, especially since we are celebrating such a momentous occasion. This is a great lunch or dinner recipe to make for your friends and family, and my favourite part of making fried rice is it incorporates leftovers! Leftover refrigerated rice from the night before is key because it needs to be cold in order to retain the chewy, distinct texture that fried rice has. If its fresh cooked rice it becomes sticky and warm and your fried rice will turn out soggy. Nonetheless, this meal comes together very quickly and is a perfect recipe for beginners as it's incredibly simple to make. In its simplest form you are essentially just chopping up the ingredients and throwing it all together in a pan. Yet the end result is so rewarding because when served inside a pineapple shell the presentation of the dish gets taken to a whole new level and you suddenly look like a masterclass chef to all your family and friends. It's the power of the pineapple shell I tell ya!
For this fried rice recipe I've decided to not just use one Lilydale poultry product, but two. That's just how fried rice works; you can almost add whatever you want into it to make it your own. And since I'm so indecisive, I decided to incorporate both of the Lilydale's Oven Roasted Carved Chicken Breast and Lilydale's Breakfast Turkey Sausage into my recipe. How can you just choose one protein when Lilydale produces such superb chicken and turkey products to use. Got to go with both!
Lilydale Oven Roasted Carved Chicken Breast - fully cooked and carved cuts of Canadian lean chicken breast
Lilydale Breakfast Turkey Sausage - 65% less fat and 50% less calories than regular pork breakfast sausages.
If you're ever wondering where to find that specific Lilydale poultry product you want to use in your fried rice recipe or any other recipe, head on over HERE to their store locator and find the retailers that carry the Lilydale products.
Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice with Turkey Sausage
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 fresh ripe pineapple
1/2 package of Lilydale Oven Roasted Carved Chicken Breast, sliced
4 Lilydale Breakfast Turkey Sausages
1/2 pound of baby shrimp (optional)
1 1/2 cup of leftover, refrigerated jasmine rice
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small red pepper, finely chopped
1 small orange pepper, finely chopped
1 bunch Chinese broccoli, cut into 4cm lengths
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1) Cut the pineapple in half, length wise and hollow each one of them. Remove the core which is in the centre of each half. Cut the flesh of the fruit into small chunks.
2) Heat oil in skillet set over medium heat. Saute Lilydale Breakfast Turkey Sausages for 10 minutes or until sausages are cooked through. Transfer to plate and slice into small chunks. Set aside.
3) Meanwhile, in a different pan, heat the oil and add the garlic and onion. Cook for a minute or so, until fragrant.
4) Add the Lilydale Oven Roasted Carved Chicken Breast and cook until browned for a few minutes (we are simply re-heating the chicken here as the Lilydale Oven Roasted Carved Chicken Breast comes ready-to-eat)
5) Make space in the pan and beat in the two eggs. Quickly stir fry to scramble.
6) Add in the red pepper, orange pepper, baby shrimp (optional), and Chinese broccoli. Cook for another 3 minutes.
7) Add in rice and the Lilydale Breakfast Turkey Sausages. Mix well.
8) Add in the curry powder, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Toss until the rice and chicken are evenly coated.
9) Stir in the pineapple chunks. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.
10) Serve in the pineapple shells. Bon appetit!
