If you are what you eat, then we would be stir-fry. Stir-fry is by far our favorite go-to dinner when we want to make something quick and delicious. And it's crazy easy!
First off, don't be afraid to plunder your salad bar. Show up with a tupperware and help yourself to what's available. Here's how we make our 'classic stir-fry', which is a Thursday-night staple:
Start with the onions. They don't have to be cut super small, but they should be put in the pan first (as for pans, we prefer cast-iron. They soak up the flavors so that each meal you make is more and more delicious). Onions caramelize on a medium low heat in a little bit of olive oil. You will keep the heat at this temperature or a little bit higher for the entire process.
Once the onions are underway, toss in the broccoli and peppers. Broccoli should be fairly small. Peppers are any size you want.
When making a stir fry, it's important to keep the ingredients moving. A wooden spoon is a common kitchen implement and good for accomplishing the stirring part of the stir-fry.
At any time you can season the stir fry with your choice of spices. We like soy sauce, salt, pepper, ginger, oregano, cumin, and rosemary (not all at once!). You can find the combination you like, but they're all tasty additions.
Mushrooms come soon after. Stir this all around for a bit, with frequent taste tests for tenderness (taste tests are EXTREMELY important, especially when improvising).
After the mushrooms, toss in the baby corn and cherry tomatoes. It's good to either slice the tomatoes in half, or pierce them with a fork.
Sometimes we put in spinach, which you usually put in last. Spinach cooks down a LOT, so get a bunch of it.
It's a seasonal thing, but apples are also a sweet addition. Chop them into small pieces and add them near the end.
To give your stir-fry some protein, crack an egg or two over the vegetables near the end of the stir fry, and scramble it up.
So, to recap, the ingredients and order of stir-fry are:
Onions
Broccoli
Peppers
Mushrooms
Baby Corn/Cherry Tomatoes
Apples
Spinach
Egg
As for what to serve your stir fry on, we've had a few different experiments. In this picture, we made ramen noodles (yes, from one of the instant packets that litter college doormrooms) separately, and then mixed them into the pan once the stir fry was over. That worked okay, but the noodles were so fragile that they broke apart. The preferable starch is couscous, which is a snap to make and cheap to boot! Couscous is delicious with stir fry, especially with lots of soy sauce. The other option is spaghetti, making a sort of pasta prima vera.
There you have it! Now as Bob Marley once said- stir it up
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