I'm vacationing in Northern Wisconsin with my family, so this Vegetable Stir-Fry post is a bit shorter than normal.
Back-story: Farmer's Market Adventures
Yes, really: I have never cooked with sugar snap peas, the food interest for the third installment of my summer Farmer's Market food-blogging challenge. To review, EVERY time I go to a Farmers' Market, I've decided that I have to buy an item of produce that 1) is in the peak of its season and 2) I've never cooked with before. It makes each trip to the FM feel like an adventure, and thus the name of the series.
So, Phil and I grabbed a pint of sugar snap peas last weekend. However, I am sorry to report that some of the sugar snap peas did not survive the car ride home. As in, Phil and I snarfed them. They make a very good, healthy snack—no cooking required.
I had exactly enough left for one meal.
Another confession: I wasn't very imaginative this week. When I bought the sugar snap peas, I realized that I had shiitake mushrooms in my refrigerator, along with carrots and onions. Stir-fry was what I wanted, so that's what I made.
An all-veggie vegetable stir-fry
I left the meat out of this stir-fry: first, the shiitake mushrooms confer a certain meatiness to the dish. Second, sometimes I just crave a ton of vegetables—and let's face it: the lower calorie load is rarely a bad thing.
For stir-fries, I like to have large chunks of vegetables so they retain a bit of texture despite the high cooking temperature. Chopped cabbage or bok choy would have been a great addition to this meal, but I didn't have any at the time. Also nice would have been some scallions and cilantro. Again, I didn't have any on hand. Boo. Still, the result was fantastic.
This veggie stir-fry is finished with a light sauce containing soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, sugar, and "sa-tay sauce" (I like darker satay sauces that have chili, garlic, and soybeans [the latter give the sauce a really nice fermented quality for extra umami]).
From making rice (I served it with jasmine rice) to chopping the vegetables, mixing the sauce, and finally stir-frying, this meal took about 25 minutes. Phil and I both liked this stir-fry so much that I can't imagine doing anything different with sugar snap peas. I hope that I'll find more at this week's Farmers' Market!
This basic vegetable stir-fry is very easy to riff on, and perfect for using up extra veggies that are hiding out in your crisper drawer. Stir-frying is also one of my favorite busy-weeknight-meal-delivery strategies because it goes really fast.
I am definitely going to snag more sugar snap peas at the Farmers' Market this weekend so I can make this vegetable stir-fry again—with even more veggies.
Easy Stir-Fry
This vegetable stir-fry is great with just about any vegetable you have on hand. I especially wished that I had some cabbage, scallions, or broccoli—even cauliflower or zucchini. Serve over rice, noodles, zoodles, or spaghetti squash.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. peanut oil
- 1 pint sugar snap peas, ends trimmed & strings removed
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias
- 1 large onion, cut into large dice
- 1 pint shiitake mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed, & sliced.
- 1- inch section of ginger, peeled & finely minced
- 3 tbsp. garlic, finely minced
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
- ½ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup mirin
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar or Splenda
- 1 tbsp. satay sauce
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
Instructions
- Mix the soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, sugar, satay sauce, and sesame oil in a bowl; set aside.
- Set a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the peanut oil: when it begins to shimmer, add the onions and carrots. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add the ginger, garlic, sugar snap peas, and shitake mushrooms. Stir-fry an additional 2 minutes, then add the scallions.
- Add in the sauce, mix well, and remove from the heat. Garnish with cilantro and serve over rice (noodles, zoodles, or zucchini squash also work well). Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
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