Thursday, March 22, 2012

Napa Cabbage Vegetable Stir Fry

Yum

 I try to eat healthy and eat as many vegetables as I can everyday.  I do eat meat, but I am just as happy eating a flavorful bowl of vegetables.  My cooking dilemma is that I married a carnivore and he's always asking "where's the beef".   

This dish is really satisfying because of all the texture you get from the "meat" like mushrooms, water chestnuts and baby corn. So even though there was no meat, he enjoyed it.  

It's not exactly vegetarian because I did use chicken broth and oyster sauce. But you can make some quick substitutions with vegetable broth and mushroom sauce to make this dish fully vegetarian if you like.  This dish can be quickly tailored to what you have in your produce bin in the fridge. It's a what I call a "clean out the fridge" dish.  So don't let those starting to wilt veggies go to waste, make this wonderful meal and enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 head of Napa cabbage sliced
1 can of water chestnuts drained
1 can of baby corn drained
1 can of oyster mushrooms drained
1 large onion chopped
2 large carrots peeled and chopped
1 Tbs of grated ginger
1 Tbs of grated garlic
1 bunch of green onions (greens and whites chopped and divided)
1 zucchini chopped
red chili flakes
salt and black pepper to taste
** any vegetables you like in a stir fry**

Sauce:
1/4 cup of regular soy sauce
1/4 cup of chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 tsp of cornstarch (or arrowroot)
1 tsp of honey, brown sugar or regular sugar
2 Tbs of oyster sauce (or mushroom sauce)
1 tsp of sesame oil
whites of green onions 

Note:  You can always add any protein to this dish if you wish.   Just add the sliced beef, chicken, or pork after you saute the ginger and garlic. Shrimp can be added the last five minutes of cooking so they don't get overcooked. 

Note 2: If you want to keep it vegetarian, you can add some tofu.    I would press the tofu (to remove excess water) then season it with salt and black pepper and cut it into large bite size cubes.  Then saute/fry to brown them in some oil .  Take them out of the wok (reserve on a plate until later) and proceed with the recipe as written.  Finally add the cooked tofu back into the recipe for the last few minutes of cooking to absorb the sauce and flavors. 




 Directions:
Heat 1-2 Tbs of canola oil in a wok.  Once heated add ginger and garlic and stir fry for 30-45 seconds.  

Then add the Napa cabbage and all your raw vegetables and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.  Then add the canned vegetables and red chili flakes. 

 Finally add the prepared stir fry sauce.  Stir fry all ingredients for 3-4 minutes until vegetables are cooked to your desired tenderness.  

Taste for seasoning and serve over rice or noodles. Garnish with green onions tops. Enjoy.






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