With Ms. Visa and Mr. MasterCard about to come a-calling laden with holiday bills, it's important to stretch those food dollars — and have fun doing it. Take something as basic as leftover steamed white rice. Not exciting on its own, but it's exactly what you need to make fried rice that is as good or better than Chinese takeout.

Freshly cooked rice is too wet and gummy to be fried. It clumps together in a soggy mass. Refrigerating the cooked rice overnight allows the grains to dry out a bit so they'll remain separate when fried.

What you put in your fried rice depends on your cravings and what's in your refrigerator. This recipe calls for chopped ham, but you can use leftover chicken, beef, turkey, just-thawed shrimp or even slivered sausage or salami. Scrambled egg is a given, but the vegetables are negotiable. Replace peas with chopped green beans, red bell pepper with carrot, slivered onion with broccoli florets.

Plan ahead. Whenever you make rice for dinner tonight, cook extra for fried rice tomorrow.Have all your ingredients ready to go before preparing fried rice. This is a dish that cooks fast.Add the egg right before the rice. You want the egg to remain as moist and fluffy as possible. Too much heat dries and toughens it.For "white" fried rice, replace the drizzle of soy sauce with a sprinkling of kosher salt. Use Japanese-style soy for lighter flavor.

3 tablespoons oil3 cloves garlic, mincedcup each: chopped onion, chopped ham, green peas3 eggs, beaten4 cups cold cooked white rice2 teaspoons soy sauce or ½ teaspoon salt¼ cup minced flat-leafed parsley or cilantro, optionalHeat the oil in a skillet until hot. Add the garlic; cook until golden, about 1 minute. Add the onion and ham; cook until the ham is slightly crisp and the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the peas; cook until heated through, about 1 minute.Pour the beaten eggs into the pan; toss vigorously, breaking up any large egg clumps that begin to form, about 1 minute. Cook until eggs are just firm but not dry, about 2 minutes; stir in the cold rice, breaking apart any clumps. Toss rice rapidly allowing grains to heat through, about 2 minutes. Season with soy sauce; garnish with parsley.Makes four servings.Nutrition information per serving: 443 calories, 35 percent of calories from fat, 17 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 182 mg cholesterol, 53 g carbohydrates, 19 g protein, 241 mg sodium, 2 g fiber