Sauted Snow Peas

These were quite easy to make, and rather similar to another recipe for green beans that I have made numerous times before.  However, I loved the addition of the onions.  I was making another dish on the same night, and I had some leftover onions, so I decided that I would just put them in with the snow peas.  And they turned out to be just the right thing to go along with the sauce.  These were so useful for my lunches during the week, to go with the hummus wraps.  A nice veggie side dish, with an excellent flavour.

Simple Snow Pea Stir Fry

Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Serves 4-6

1 lb. snow peas
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame seed oil, divided
Hot sauce, to taste
3 slices ginger root
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
¼ cup chopped onion

1/2 tbsp peanut oil

Black and white sesame seeds

Mix together the soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, and hot sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat a wok over medium high heat, and add the remaining 1 tsp sesame oil with the peanut oil. Put in the ginger for about 45 seconds, and then remove- this flavours the oil. Add the onion, then garlic, and finally snow peas. Cook for 3 minutes and add the sauce. Cook until tender, about another minute, and serve with sesame seeds.

Simple Mini Mutton Stir Fry

It was kind of funny making this dish because I had no clue what was going in it.  Thankfully, it turned out better than I could have possibly hoped, and I would certainly be making this combination of veggies again.  So easy to make, and so versatile.  Largely due to M too, becasue I kept asking her what she wanted in the stir fry because my brain was so fried that all I could do was chop.  But, here's the amazing recipe.

Simple Mutton Stir Fry

Serves 4

Adapted from Chinese and Thai 400

2 tbsp agave nectar

1 tbsp corn starch
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 lb snow peas, trimmed

1 red bell pepper, chopped

3 carrots, chopped on the diagonal

3/4 lb mushrooms, quatered, halved, or left whole
3 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
3 cups vegetarian mutton (more or less is good too)
Sesame seeds to serve (I forgot in the pictures...)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix together the agave through soy sauce in a small bowl.  Set aside.
Heat a wok over medium high heat with a bot of water.  Add the carrots and mushrooms, and saute for a minute.  Add the bell pepper and saute for another 3-4 minutes.  Add the snow peas andn green onions, saute for a minute, and then add the sauce, mutton, and cilantro.  Cook unitl all veggies are tender.
Serve over rice with sesame seeds and salt and pepper.

More Noodles and Veggies

I tried yoga for the first time yesterday for several years, and it was amazing.  I loved it.  I was so relaxed, but it felt like I had actually gotten a decent core workout, and I was actually really tired afterward (admittedly, I had done a weight-lifting class an hour before).  I really want to start doing yoga every week.  I think that will be my new year's resolution.  M wants to do the same thing, only twice a week instead of once a week.  M's old.  She needs her yoga and stretching time.  But really, I enjoyed the yoga more than I thought possible.  My favourite part had to be at the very end, when the teacher sprayed the room with peppermint purfume, and we just sat on our mats for a good ten minutes.  I was so unwilling to leave the room, and just wanted to stay like that forever.  But the depressing part was when I got home, I could feel the tension coming right back on, and it was back to normal life in a matter of seconds.  But, as I said, the yoga was so relaxing, and I am hoping that it will get rid of some of my issues caused by stress from school and life.

Another destresser has got to be cooking.  Even more so when the dish turns out really good, like it did tonight.  This dish was actually supposed to be a noodle pancake sort of thing, and the noodles were to be fried and become a disc.  Well, that didn't exactly work out, so I decided to just go with a plain old stir fry.  It was still really really good, and both M and I loved it all the same. 

Noodles with Vegetables
Serves 4

Adapted from Chinese and Thai 400

3 servings frozen egg noodles

2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cup cauliflower florets
2-3 cups green cabbage, shredded
3 cups crimini mushrooms, quartered
1 bunch green onions, chopped
½ lb snow peas or snap peas, trimmed
¾ cup bean sprouts
1 tbsp cornstarch
¼ cup soy sauce, plus more as needed
3 tbsp agave nectar
¼ cup mirin
1 tbsp vegetarian chicken bullion
¾ cup vegetarian bacon
Boil a pot of lightly salted water, and cook the noodles until tender. Drain, and keep warm.
Meanwhile, mix together the cornstarch through bullion. Set aside.

Reheat the wok, and add the garlic, cauliflower and broccoli with a bit of water. Sauté for a minute and add the carrots, pepper, mushrooms, green onion, and snow peas. Sauté until almost tender, and then add the sauce. Cook until heated through and stir in the bean sprouts and “bacon”. Stir in the noodles, and add more soy sauce as needed.

Major Memory Lapses and Orange "Beef" Stir Fry

I have had a container of orange stir fry sauce sitting in the pantry for almost a year now, and have enver used it.  Today, however, I finally cracked it open, and this stir fry was the result.

The reason I say that I had memory lapses was that I inteneded to add garlic and spinach, but totally forgot about them.  Probably because this almost burned while I was trying to pry open the orange sauce bottle.  It was stuck really tight!  But it still turned out really good, although the orangey flavour was a bit subtle for me.  I loved it, and it was another great stir fry. 

Orange “Beef” Stir Fry

Adapted from I Eat Food

Serves 4-6

1 package vegetarian beef (about 3 cups)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, sliced
2 large carrots, coined
1 head broccoli, chopped into florets
4 cloves garlic, pressed (I forgot to add these, but next time I would add them)
½ cup Lee Kum orange flavoured sauce (I think this is about the right amount, but I just poured it on until the sauce looked about right)
½ lb snow peas, trimmed
¼ lb leek chives, chopped
½ lb shiitake mushrooms, chopped large
3 tbsp mirin
5-6 tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tbsp chili garlic paste
1 ½ tbsp cornstarch

Mix together the soy sauce, mirin, chili paste, and corn starch in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat a large wok over high heat with a bit of water. Add the onion and carrots, and stir fry for 2 minutes. Then add the shiitakes and broccoli. Once that is stirred in, add the garlic and leek chives, and stir fry for two more minutes. Add the snow peas and bell pepper. After the veggies are looking well on their way to being finished add the beef and soy sauce mixture. Get that stirred in, and add the orange sauce. Cook until satisfaction, and serve over rice.

Chop Suey

There's not really much to say tonight.  My testing extravaganza is over, and I did pretty well.  Except in English, but what can I say?...  And barely any homework tonight, which is really nice, to say the least.  So lots of time to cook!  I still can't wait for Thanksgiving, though, because I have such an awesome idea.  Which I really hopes to turn out alright...

I have realized that the ingredients list on my stir frys are getting more and more lengthy, but there're not that complex.  Half of the things are for the sauce, and I have all of them on hand.  It's just kind of intimidating, though.

I L-O-V-E the beef in this stir fry.  Seriously, it's amazing.  M isn't such a fan, so I have it all to myself, pretty much!  Yay!  Again, this is quite quick to pull off, and it's unusually colourful.  I don't really think it resembles chop suey very much, but it still tastes good, and that's what counts, right? 

I agree.

Chop Suey

Serves 4-6

Inspired by Wok

3 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp yellow bean sauce

1 tbsp chili garlic sauce

2 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp Better Than Bullion Beef Flavouring

1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, coined
.75 lb shiitake mushrooms, chopped

2-ish cups red cabbage, shredded

1 red bell pepper, chopped
.75 lb snow peas, trimmed
1 package vegetarian beef (about 3 cups), defrosted and cubed
2-3 baby bok choy, chopped
2-3 cups bean sprouts
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cashews, for topping

Mix together the soy sauce through bullion in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat a large wok over high heat with a bit of water. Saute the onion and carrots, and after two minutes add the mushrooms. Continue sautéing for three more minutes, and then add the cabbage, bell pepper, and snow peas. After another two minutes or so stir in the beef. When the veggies warm up again add the bok choy, salt and pepper, and sauce. About 30 seconds before it is done cooking stir in the bean sprouts.

Serve over rice or whatever, and top with cashews.

Another Mutton Stir Fry

I have waited so long to post this recipe, my memory of what I did is probably fairly inaccurate.  But I think it's pretty accurate- the only thing is that you might want to add more soy sauce or rice vinegar, depending on your tastes.  When I first made this, I thought it was rather bland.  Thus the reason I waited so long to post it.  M was fine the way it was, but I got an inspiration to add apricot preserves to mine in order add a bit of punch.  That worked out so well, and I fell in love with the stir fry afterwards.

I can't praise the mock meat section in the Vegetarian Market enough... it's amazing!  A-ma-zing!  They have these really authentic looking drumsticks that I would like to try next... and Wok has a recipe that I think would fit excently.  So look for that pretty soon.  In the meantime, M and I are surviving on this one.

I was totally amazed at how simple it was to put this together.  I picked the ingredients because M wasn't able to help me that night, and I wasn't eating at midnight.  And it made so much- it hardly fit into the wok at first.  I served this over udon noodles, because they are fast, but I bet it would be excellent over rice as well.

Sweet and Spicy Mutton Stir Fry

Inspired (VERY loosely) by Wok

Serves 6

1 package vegetarian mutton, thawed and broken into bite-sized pieces

1 large onion, halved and sliced

.75 lb shiitake mushrooms, chopped

.75 lb snow peas, trimmed

2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups green cabbage, shredded

1 bell pepper, chopped
1 leek, cut into rings
5 1½ inch pieces lemon grass
1 tbsp grated ginger
½ tbsp corn starch

Chili sauce, to taste

1 tbsp yellow bean paste
1 tbsp Better Than Bullion Ham Flavouring
4-5 tbsp soy sauce
4-5 tbsp rice vinegar
Sugar free apricot preserves, if you want, to taste

Mix together the corn starch through the rice vinegar in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat a wok over high heat with a bit of water. Add the onion, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the shiitakes with the leeks, cook for another minute, and then stir in the ginger and lemon grass. Add the broccoli, cook for another minute, and add the cabbage, snow peas, and bell pepper. When the veggies are almost tender add the mutton and sauce. Heat through and mix thoroughly.

Remove the lemon grass stalks, and serve over udon or rice. I put the preserves on the table, where I could add as much as I wanted. M was fine the it way it was; mine needed a bit more flavour for me.