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If you've followed this column for a while, you know I absolutely love sheet pan recipes. They're simple to prepare, require little monitoring during  cooking and allow for easy cleanup. It doesn't get better than that.

The sheet pans that most home cooks use, sometimes referred to as a half-sheet pan or rimmed baking sheet, measure 18-by-13 inches with a 1-inch rim. Heavy-gauge aluminum or stainless steel pans are preferred because they can withstand high temperatures without warping during cooking. Because I usually use some type of metal spatula or serving utensil on my sheet pans, I prefer pans without a nonstick coating.

For sheet-pan recipe success, you should cut vegetables to roughly the same size for even cooking. Also select vegetables that take approximately the same amount of time to cook. Our combination of celery, carrots and onions worked really well.

We're boosting our whole-grain intake and using brown rice in today's recipe. The major difference between brown rice and white rice is the milling process. Milling, or so-called whitening, removes the outer bran layer of the rice kernel, leaving white rice. The fiber-rich bran coating gives brown rice its light tan color and chewy texture.

If you're new to brown rice, keep in mind that it does take longer to cook, about 50 minutes. Instant brown rice, which has been precooked and dried, cooks in about 10 minutes and worked perfectly in our sheet pan recipe.

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Because brown rice contains natural oils in the bran layer, it will stay fresh in the pantry for about six months. You can extend the shelf life by storing uncooked regular and instant brown rice in the refrigerator or freezer.

When freezing uncooked rice, the folks at Minute suggest placing the rice in a labeled and dated freezer bag and removing as much air as possible. When ready to cook, remove the rice from the bag and follow package cooking instructions. There is no need to defrost the rice before cooking. 

Darlene Zimmerman is a registered dietitian in Henry Ford Hospital's Heart & Vascular Institute. For questions about today's recipe, call 313-972-1920.

Sheet Pan Fried Rice

Serves:  8 (½ cup servings)  / Prep time: 10 minutes  / Total time:  35 minutes

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons grated gingerroot

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

3 cups cooked instant brown rice (prepared without salt or fat)

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced carrot

3/4 cup diced onion

Vegetable oil cooking spray

1 large egg, lightly beaten

½ cup sliced green onion

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, water, gingerroot and garlic. Reserve 2 tablespoons of soy sauce mixture for later use. In a large bowl, combine cooked rice, celery, carrot and onion. Add soy sauce mixture, minus reserved 2 tablespoons, to rice mixture and toss to coat. Spread rice and vegetables evenly over a large sheet pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through the cooking process. Remove fried rice from oven and drizzle with beaten egg. Return fried rice to oven and cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven and stir rice, breaking up any large pieces of cooked egg. Drizzle with reserved soy sauce mixture and stir to coat. Add green onions and serve.

Created and tested by Darlene Zimmerman, MS, RD, for Heart Smart®.

152 calories (30% from fat), 5 grams fat (1 gram sat. fat, 0 grams trans fat), 24 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein, 211 mg sodium, 27 mg cholesterol, 30 mg calcium, 3 grams fiber. Food exchanges:  1 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 fat.

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