Tofu and eggplant stir fry

If I may say so, this stir fry was absolutely fantastic! I love the slender Asian eggplant and it was perfect paired with tofu.

Here you can see my pan cubed tofu. I first threw in chopped garlic and ginger into the pan. That was followed by the tofu which I seasoned with a little soy sauce and some of that wonderful chili flakes in oil. You can see what half a teaspoon of it does to color this dish.

I stir fried the tofu on high heat until it was browned on all sides. This was removed from the pan and set aside.

Into the pan, still with the flavored oil from frying the tofu, I added more chopped garlic and ginger, onions and that delicious Asian eggplant.

The eggplant was fried until it began to get tender. The tofu was added back to the dish and it was seasoned with some sesame oil and soy sauce. One last thing I added was a teaspoon of Szechuan black bean and garlic paste. Oh, what a flavor! I was pleased with how the sauce clung to the food and not the pan! I definitely have to make this again.

Chicken and vegetable stir fry

Another stir fry with chicken breast this time. I flavored it with garlic chili paste and used carrots, bean sprouts and napa cabbage. Perfect over a bowl of sticky Korean rice!

Quick vegetable stir fry

Hang on to your hats because I'm going to be posting some stir fries over the next couple of days. The are so easy to prepare and with just a few simple ingredients you have a quick and delicious meal. Let's start off with a simple vegetarian stir fry.

I used bok choy, carrots, celery, onions and bean sprouts for this dish. Many times I flavor my stir fries with some red chili flakes in oil from the Asian market. I like the brands from Szechuan. I start with a hot pan and add some oil. I drop in a bit of the chili in oil or sometimes a garlic chili paste along with some chopped garlic and chopped ginger. These vegetables all cook pretty much the same so I tossed them all in together.

I can even toss them! When the vegetables were just starting to wilt I splashed in some soy sauce and rice vinegar for seasoning and that's all! Simple and tasty.

Soba stir fry

Can you stand more soba noodles? I can. This time I put them into a stir fry dish. I cooked up some carrots, cauliflower and red, yellow and orange peppers with some garlic and ginger. I quickly boiled the noodles and added it to the stir fry pan. The whole dish was seasoned with soy sauce, a bit of garlic chili sauce and sesame oil.

New Year's Stir Fry

On New Year's Day I wanted to use black-eyed peas. There is a tradition in the South that black-eyed peas should be eaten on New Year's Day for good luck. Instead of the typical peas cooked in a soup or with ham or something, I decided to make a mixed grain and legume base for a vegetarian stir fry. I first just tossed together some Thai brown rice, kamut, spelt, wheat berries, mung beans and black-eyed peas in a bowl and soaked them in water for a couple of hours. I then put everything into my rice cooker and put it on the brown rice setting. An hour and a half later I had this wonderfully healthy grain/legume mixture.

For the stir fry I used baby bok choi and cauliflower. I first steamed them for a few minutes just to start getting them tender and make the stir fry easier. I fried these up with garlic, ginger and red chilis in oil. Near the end it was seasoned with soy, sesame oil and thickened with just a bit of corn starch. It was oh so tasty.

Szechuan Green Beans with Pork

I think stir fried green beans are my all time favorite dishes and they are so easy to make. This Szechuan inspired dish is not too hard to make. I started by quickly steaming some green beans in a hot pan with a splash of water and a cover just until they turned bright green. That takes only a minute. You don't want to overcook them. Once flash steamed the beans are quickly cooled in cold water and drained. I like to precook the beans a bit as it makes it easier to stir fry without burning them. Next I took some chopped pork and seasoned it with salt, pepper and Szechuan peppercorn. I added some chopped garlic and ginger to the meat. I heated my wok until it was almost smoking, added some oil and threw in a half teaspoon of red chili in oil. This was the kind of chili that is like red pepper flakes that have been cooked in oil and placed in a jar. The meat was added to the wok and it was fried with constant stirring just until cooked.

The meat was removed from the pan and set aside.

The wok was heated again and the beans were tossed in. The beans were seasoned with just a dash of salt and pepper. They were stir fried for 3-4 minutes until they started to get browned on the sides. I like to add my ginger and garlic near the end so it doesn't burn. So, once the beans were almost ready I tossed in more garlic and ginger. This was stirred for just a few moments and the meat was added back into the pan. A teaspoon of garlic chili paste and a splash of soy sauce. That's it! Serve hot over rice.

Soba Stir Fry

Nothing like the thought of Asian food to make me start instantly salivating. I made this chicken, broccoli and soba noodle stir fry and it really hit the spot. I first cooked the soba noodles and set it aside. Then I quickly stir-fried some broccoli, garlic and ginger in a mixture of olive oil and sesame oil. Once they were just slightly cooked I removed them from the wok. The chicken was marinated in a mixture of soy, sesame oil, mirin, and a splash of teriyaki sauce. This was added to the hot wok and fried just until cooked. The veggies were added back to the wok and the noodles were tossed in. I did add some more soy, sesame oil, mirin and teriyaki sauce. A quick toss and everything was nicely mixed together. 

Chicken Stir Fry

For quick meals you really can't beat a good stir fry. And you can make it even healthier by changing up the rice for a better grain. In my case I used a bed of cooked coarse bulgur wheat. My stir fry was very simple - chicken breast, red bell peppers, onions, garlic, and ginger. It was flavored with soy, sesame sauce and lots of lime juice (I like it tangy). A bit of corn starch to thicken it and make it glisten was all it needed. The accompanying side dish is just shredded cabbage seasoned with soy and sesame oil.

Chicken and Broccoli

I came home from work last night and wanted to make something that fit my three requirements: 1) easy to throw together, 2) healthy and low carb, and 3) delicious. This is what I came up with. I makde a chicken and broccoli stir fry and served it on a bed of spaghetti squash. It turned out really nice.

I love spaghetti squash. It is healthy and delicious and it has such an interesting texture. I use it fairly often when I want to lower the carbs in a dish where I would normally have rice or pasta. Of course it isn't the same but it still tastes great. I had a small sized squash here. The question was how to cook it quickly. I usually bake it in a hot oven for 45 min to an hour to get it soft and tasty. I didn't want to wait that long so I looked to my microwave. I sliced the squash in half lenghthwise and removed the seeds. Then I placed the halves back together and tied it with some butcher's twine. This I placed in the microwave and cooked it on high for 10 minutes. It was cooked to a perfect texture. Although you don't get the caramelization that you would in the oven, it still performed well. I left it to rest while I prepared the rest of the dish.

I pre-steamed the broccoli for just a few minutes. Just until it was slightly cooked but still a bit crunchy. It would cook more in the stir fry. I cubed the chicken and seasoned it. I also added red onion, garlic and ginger. The onions, garlic, ginger and chicken were stir fried in my wok until the chicken was done. I added liberal doses of soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin. I tossed in the broccoli and covered it to cook through for a few minutes. I then added some corn starch slurry to thicken up the sauce a little bit.

This was so good I'm having the leftovers for breakfast this morning!