I'm asked a lot about what I do for quick, simple hot and hearty meals. My answer is: stir fry! One pan, minimal clean up and, best of all, limitless possibilities. Here's the basic outline of what I do, and you can fill in the vegetable blanks for yourself, depending on what you have in the fridge.
Enjoy!
1) rustle through the fridge and see what veggies you have. Wash/core/peel them as required. A good sample of what goes into my stir fry is:
1 medium onion.
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms
2 T minced garlic
1 red pepper
1/2 head of kale, collard greens, 3+ cups baby spinach etc.
carrots
celery
broccoli
sesame seeds
veggie broth
Braggs or soy sauce
dash apple cider vinegar
a diced chili pepper
I almost universally start with sauteed onions. Hard to go wrong. Heat a 1/4 tsp of your fave oil in a deep sided frying pan (I use coconut oil, usually) and add your diced onion, toss to coat lightly and sautee on high. HINT: adding the tiniest pinch of salt will cause the onions to release their moisture faster.
while this is happening, chop the next thing you want to cook. If I have them, the next step is always mushrooms. Slice 'em thin and toss 'em in, stir. You'll want to add the minced garlic at this time, so the mushrooms will soak up the oniony garlicky goodness as they cook.
After this, the world is your vegan oyster. The best rule to follow is to add the remaining ingredients in order of firmness- i.e., what will take longest to cook, or what you want cooked the most. Carrots and broccoli tend to be pretty firm, and take a while to break down, ditto peppers although not quite as long. Remember if you slice them thinly, they'll cook faster! I've been known to use diced sundried tomatoes in a stir fry and they were delicious.
once all your veggies are in there, throw in what spices you want and toss thoroughly. I usually use black pepper, crushed dried red chilis, ginger, maybe a dash of cinnamon, maybe some parsley or some mustard seeds or whatnot. Sautee with a healthy dash of Braggs and some vinegar (or about 1/2 a cup of cooking wine.) and maybe a dash of lemon or lime juice, until things begin to sort of want to start sticking to the pan. This is your cue to pour about 1/2 cup of veggie broth in there and mix it really well, getting the bottom of the pan clean again and coating all the veggies.
The last thing you'll want to add is your greens. Allow less then 5 minutes for them to cook, although collards can take up to 15 to get pretty soft and spinach cooks almost instantly.
Serve with your favourite condiment (Sriracha, Mint relish, mango chutney, anything!) and you've a super fast, hot healthy and diverse meal, with maybe even leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
You get extra points if you start rice or quinoa in your rice cooker as you start cooking- and it's done as your stir fry is done.
