Struggle with getting dinner on the table? Grab our 5 easy family meal recipes!

Subscribe

Tropical Fried Rice with Tomato Jalapeño Relish

This Tropical Fried Rice with Tomato Jalapeño Relish is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy and makes for an easy vegetarian meal option. The relish can be used as a topping on sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, veggies or anything else!

white baking dish with fried rice with vegetables, tomatoes and relish

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Walmart. The opinions and text are all mine.

 

As a registered dietitian, of course, I have an interest in local foods. I heavily support sustainability and the farmers who make food available to us.

Of course, I try to buy local whenever I can, and I definitely think it’s worth spending a few extra dollars to do so.

While I was in grad school, I remember having a great discussion about the local foods movement in one of my classes. We discussed how many states are working to improve access to local foods by passing laws that expand the presence of farmers’ markets.

Also, the SNAP program (formally known as food stamps) now allocates funds for participants to use at farmers’ markets, which is great!

While consumers’ interest in local foods is growing, it still represents a very small supply of the larger scale national food supply. I’ve talked to many local farmers for freelance articles, interviews and my own general curiosity.

Therefore, I have soooo much respect for the hard work they put forth to feed their local communities. Doesn’t it make sense to try to get foods that are grown right down the road from you?

I much prefer this to buying foods imported from across the United States, or even another country!

Local Jalapenos from Bailey Farms

Promoting Local Food in Charlotte

With that thought in mind, I’m delighted that Walmart  is teaming up with a local Charlotte chef to bring a spotlight to locally grown produce available in North Carolina’s Walmart stores.

Walmart is making a point to make local food more accessible to consumers, and I hope this provides some inertia/momentum for other larger scaled grocery stores to do the same.

Chef Gene Kato, of Charlotte’s restaurant Upstream, was recently recognized by the James Beard Foundation as a Best Chef Semifinalist, and is participating in a culinary documentary series called “Rediscovering America.”

This program is working to highlight the importance of fresh, affordable and locally grown produce. The farm to table movement needs actions like these to help generate more awareness for consumers.

Walmart is currently highlighting jalapeño peppers from Bailey Farms in Oxford, North Carolina. Chef Kato even used these in his sushi menu at Upstream.

All of the work involved in bringing awareness to such a cause near and dear to my heart even inspired me to create a recipe using these same local jalapeño peppers.

glass jar with homemade relish in it

Cooking With Jalapeños

I wouldn’t consider myself a pepper or spicy foods connoisseur, but the more I delve into the local farm-to-table movement, the more I’m learning and willing to experiment with newer-to-me ingredients.

I’ve never actually cooked with jalapeño peppers before (I typically use the familiar bell peppers), but I thought this would be a great opportunity to do so.

The most important thing I learned while trialing this recipe is to use gloves when handling jalapeño peppers! Because they have capsaicin glands (which account for the spiciness), the oil can stick around on your hands!

I had tingling fingers for hours after cutting and handling the jalapeño peppers which made for an interesting night. In the future, I’ll use gloves when cutting them. Lesson learned.

making jalapeno tomato relish in food processor

Secondly, I wanted to pair the spicy nature of the jalapeño with something fruity, to tone it down a bit. So, I added some apple cider vinegar to the relish (along with some juicy local tomatoes). I then decided it would go well with a citrus fruit, like pineapple, so I created a tropical pineapple fried rice to put the relish over.

It took a few tries to get the relish to the desired taste. You can always keep the seeds in if you want it spicier or use less ACV. Very customizable!

Psssst – making relish is fun!

How To Make It

The jalapeño relish has a bit of a bite but is greatly tamed down by the apple cider vinegar and sugar. It’s a great canvas for adding other veggies and protein too.

Most importantly, the fluffiness of the rice is the perfect complement to the slight kick of the relish. It’s amazingly robust.

Lastly, I chose white rice because I prefer the taste, but you could also use brown rice!

You can also add more protein in, like beans, eggs, chicken, beef, tofu, etc. The opportunities really are endless.

spoon with jalapeno relish on it
Yield: 6

Tropical Fried Rice with Tomato Jalapeño Relish

Tropical Fried Rice with Tomato Jalapeño Relish

This Tropical Fried Rice with Tomato Jalapeño Relish is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy and makes for an easy vegetarian meal option. !

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

Relish:

  • 1 ½ cups sliced fresh jalapeños
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1-2 tsp sugar, optional
  • 4 tsp pepper

Fried rice:

  • 3-4 cups white rice, cooked and cooled
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil, divided
  • 2 cups frozen peas/carrots, you can use fresh too!
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • ½ cup pineapple, diced
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. To make the relish, begin by chopping jalapeños, tomatoes and onion. To chop the jalapeños, halve them lengthwise, and scoop the seeds out (you can add them in later if you want more spice!).
  2. Place jalapeños in food processor and mix with garlic. Add in onions, tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar. Process for (few minutes) until they are in tiny pieces. Stop before they become wet and pureed!
  3. Pour the mixture in a mason jar, close tightly, and set in the refrigerator to chill for one hour.
  4. To make the fried rice, cook and cool 3-4 cups of rice.
  5. Heat 1 tbsp sesame oil in a saucepan. Add peas and carrots and cook until soft (about 5 minutes). Add garlic. Once soft, add soy sauce, remaining sesame oil and pineapple.
  6. Add cooled rice back in and mix all ingredients together. Cook on low for 5 minutes to let the flavors marinate the rice.
  7. Pour relish over rice and enjoy immediately.

Notes

You’ll want to cook the rice ahead of time so it is cool when you’re handling it.

Store leftover relish in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 541Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 971mgCarbohydrates: 107gFiber: 6gSugar: 8gProtein: 13g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

I would suggest using this Tomato Jalapeño Relish on everything! Like seriously…put it on your sandwich, your burger, your wings, your hotdogs.

Drizzle it over veggies. I also happen to think it would pair greatly with some grits or cornbread.

We like to enjoy it mixed with bison meatballs or turkey meatballs with sweet potato. 

Pin it for later!

Easy Fried Rice with Pineapple and Veggies

Are you a spicy person? Have you ever cooked with jalapeños?

What would you add this relish to?

8 Comments
Join The Conversation

More For You!

Share Your Thoughts

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Like This Content?

Support Bucket List Tummy
  1. I think for a long time I didn’t notice how many local options we have in Colorado, but we now have a Farmer’s market that happens every Friday during the summer here, and I’m so glad we do have it. I wasn’t able to get o it very many times this year, maybe once or twice, but I do want to go more before it ends. The peaches from Colorado are absolutely amazing.

  2. Ummmm no, I can’t do spicy. The flavors here sound amazing [and it looks amazing!] but girrrrrrrl am I a wimp when it comes to spice! lol I once had a chip that barely even TOUCHED a jalapeno from my friend’s plate of nachos and choked for 5 minutes. She thought it was hilarious. I, of course, did not. 😉

  3. I love spicy food! I need to use jalapenos more but I hate working with them since I’m always afraid I’ll forget to wash my hands then end up touching my eye and getting the spice in them.

    I love shopping and supporting local farms. My grocery store had a little stand throughout summer where it had local produce so I would check there first for any produce I needed.

Skip to Recipe