Veggies!

Veggies!

I needed to clean out the refrigerator and had a random assortment of vegetables, so instead of making a soup, I decided on a stir fry.

The nice thing about a stir fry is that you can use very little oil and the vegetables stay nice and crisp, and the whole process doesn’t take more than 20 minutes or so including prep time.

So here’s what I had on hand:

Ingredients

1/2 yellow onion

1 clove of garlice

1 bunch of broccoli

1/2 orange pepper

1/2 red pepper

2/3 of a 6 ounce package of portobello mushrooms (not traditionally part of a stir fry, but, you could use any mushroom)

1 teaspoon peanut oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Slice all of the vegetables into somewhat unifrom slices
  2. Heat the peanut oil on medium high heat, the wok (or pan) is ready when you flick some water in and it sizzles
  3. Add the onion and garlic to the wok and stir often, for 2 minutes or so
  4. Add broccoli and peppers and stir these often as well for another 2 minutes or so
  5. Add the mushrooms and toss all of the vegetables together for 2 minutes or so
  6. Taste the broccoli, if it’s crisp or at the texture you desire add in the soy sauce and toss over vegatables to coat. If you prefer your vegetables more well done, cook for a few minutes longer and then add the soy sauce when you feel it’s ready.
  7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
The finished product

The finished product

Some other vegetables I would like to have added, but did not have are carrots, celery, snow peas and asparagus. You can also add a protein like chicken or tofu to the stir fry to make it even more filling.

The stiry fry is also a great way to get several servings of vegetables into one dish, and it is guaranteed to be low calorie if you monitor how much oil you use. This dish alone had more than a days supply of vitamin C, beta carotene, lots of potassium and fiber.

They are great as an entree or a side dish, versatile enough to go over rice or noodles, or as a stand alone.

TIP: Don’t discard the broccoli stalks! If you cut off the tough outer “bark” there is a very tasty inner flesh that tastes similar to a water chestnut. It’s my favorite part of the broccoli, and it tastes great raw or cooked.