The mantras of “Eat Local” and “Buy Local” are near and dear to me. My last post highlighted my wife’s business, Terra Rosa (buy local) and living in Ithaca I’m surrounded by amazing sources for local food (eat local). This is our second year participating in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Full Plate. Every week it’s a surprise and delight to pick up the various vegetables right at the farm, and even pick some directly from the field. Last week I made okra for the first time shortly after picking. This week was no exception, they had tomatillos! Arriving home with a bag full (and fridge full from the previous weeks) of vegetables and immediately thought “stir fry”. I used eight different vegetables from the CSA.
Stir Fry is one of the easiest meals to make and are very economical. Throw some veggies and meat if you must, in a skillet or wok, add a sauce, and serve with rice. Here’s how I made tonight’s dinner. The color scheme was unintentionally green and white, so maybe I should rename this mono-chrome veggie stir fry.
You’ll Need:
Veggies: (feel free to use what you have on hand):
Onion (2 small or 1 medium)
Garlic (3-4 cloves)
Banana Pepper (2)
Zucchini (2 medium)
Tomatillos (4)
Eggplant (1 medium)
Yellow squash (2 medium)
Broccoli (2 medium bunches)
Fresh basil (handful)
Sweet & Sour sauce (pre-made or homemade)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Water (1/2 cup)
Olive Oil (2-3 tablespoons)
Rice (4-8 servings)
Step 1: The Prep
- Chop all of the veggies into bit size pieces
- Heat the olive oil in the pan
- Start cooking the rice.
Step 2: The Stirring and Frying
- Add the onion, garlic, and banana peppers
- Cook for a few minutes until onions start to sweat
- Add the rest of the veggies
- Season with salt and pepper
- Stir and Fry
- Add the water and cover for 5-10 minutes
- Stir and Fry
- Add the Sweet & Sour sauce
- Stir and Fry (getting the hang of it yet?)
- Once the sauce starts to thicken, turn off the heat
- Add the basil and stir gently
Step 3: The Plating
- Place the rice in the middle of the plate
- Spoon the stir fry on top of the rice
- Garnish with a basil leaf
- Enjoy!
Leave a Reply