Searching for the Perfect Stir Fry - take 5

I have posted stir-fries on here before. I have complained about how everyone says they are an easy dish to make and to personalize and yet, I consistently fail at them. Well, today I made stirfry and it was good! It was a pretty exciting moment for me. So exciting, I forgot to take pictures. I am not sure if I had said it before, but I think I have figured out the rules finally to making a decent stir-fry meal:

1. Always use fresh vegetables - I have tried many, many times to dump frozen veggies into my stir-fries and they are always very blah. I guess if you have to, a little bit of frozen veg may not hurt, but this time I used all fresh and you could tell.
   
2. Don't over complicate the sauce - Stick to one or two main flavours. I think with many of my previous attempts, I have tried to get that perfect sweet, salty, sour, spicy mix and let's be honest, I am not a trained chef and I have not mastered this technique. This time I let ginger be the main flavour and didn't add tons of other ingredients. When you aren't sure, keep it simple. Good rule to live by.
   
3. Add veggies in the right order - Sometimes I get impatient. I am usually hungry and it's late by the time I start cooking, so I dump everything in at once. You can't do this and get a good stir-fry. It is not possible. Carrots, onions, celery take a lot longer to cook than bok choy and mushrooms. Add the base veggies and let them cook a bit before adding in other items.
   
4.  Add the grain right into the stir-fry as it is cooking. This is simple, I usually will not do this unless I   am adding noodles, but it helps meld all the flavours together.
   
5. Finally, Make enough of the marinade to add right in the stir-fry and no steaming - OK, maybe this is two final things. Luckily because you have chose to cook vegan, you can just dump your leftover marinade right into your meal and not worry about food poisoning. Now, after adding the sauce, don't steam it. It really just helps keep the food bright and crisp which is much better than a soggy mess. When I have rushed, dumped all my ingredients in at the last minute, I usually have to steam them or they won't be cooked. Try to avoid.

So, we now have some rules. Let's get to what I did to finally get a stir-fry that didn't suck.

Barley Tofu Stir-fry

Makes 3-4 servings, 20 minutes if the barley is cooked, 60 if not

Marinade:

• 1 1/2 - 2" piece of ginger, peeled
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp agave or brown rice syrup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp lime juice
• 1-2 spoonfuls of miso
• 2 tbsp of oil (I used sesame)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 block of tofu, pressed and sliced however you like

Stir-fry (Really, you can add what you want, but this is what I did):

• 2/3 cup of cooked barley
• 1/2 onion
• 2 carrots
• 1-2 stalks of celery
• handful of mushrooms
• 1/2 orange pepper (more if you like pepper, I do not, but keep trying to learn)
• 3-4 leaves of bok choy
• Oil for frying

If you are wanting to make this quickly, do some prep. The morning or night before making this cook your barley and make the marinade. I made the marinade in my magic bullet. If you are using a blender, you should mince the garlic and ginger first. If magic bullet is your thing, add the ginger and garlic and pulverize it. Next add the remaining ingredients and blend. Pour the Marinade on your chopped tofu and let it soak overnight. If you are making this the day of. Make the marinade and then get the barley cooking so it can marinade for an hour.

Now make your stir-fry. Chop all the veggies into bite-sized pieces. Put the oil in the wok and get it hot. I usually go on medium heat because my stove is kind of hot. Add in the carrots, celery and onion and cook until they are softened, about 5-7 minutes. Now add in the Tofu (Not the marinade though) and cook another couple minutes or until the tofu starts to brown a little. Now add the mushrooms and peppers. Cook another 5 minutes or so. Next, add the bok choy, barley and the leftover marinade. Toss it well and cook until the bok choy softens.

Who knew a simple stir-fry would cause me so much trouble! 

As a last thought, barley in a stir-fry is amazing. I almost always stick to noodles, but this was such a good addition. When you are trying an easy stir-fry, mix it up and use a different grain. Quinoa, Rice, Barley, Millet, Wheat Berries would all be excellent choices. It kind of shakes things up, just a little bit.

Stir-fry, take 101?

Anyone that knows me or has read my blog knows that me and stir-fries do not always get along. People assume that vegans live off stir-fry. When I go to hotels, it is almost a guarantee that I will get stir-fry for at least half of my meals (the others, of course, are pasta with roasted vegetables).

Every time I attempt to make a stir-fry, I do just as everyone says, throw a bunch of ingredients together and voila! A magical meal that always tastes great. Well, my stir-fries always turn out to be mediocre at best. However, it does not stop me from continuing to try.

So, this is my latest attempt at making this magical meal. A definite improvement and the only thing I think I would change is to add a bit more sweetness or a bit less sour.

Mango-Kale Stirfry

• Oil (I used sesame)
• 1 block of tofu, cut into triangles
• half a bunch of kale, chopped
• bok choy, chopped (I used about half of a large head. Is it called a head of bok choy?)
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped (seeds removed if you aren't into spicy)
• 1 handful of chopped mushrooms
• 1 mango, diced
• 2 tsp ginger, minced
• 1/4 cup of vegetable broth
• 1-2 Tbsp Soy sauce
• Juice of 1 lime (Maybe half this if you aren't into sour)
• 1 Tbsp Mirin

So, the first thing you need to do is press your tofu. What I do is I wrap my tofu in a paper towel or a cloth and set it on a plate, then you need to weigh it down with something heavy. I usually use my kettle, filled with water. It works well. Press it for at least 20 minutes, to an hour.

Next, cut your tofu. I like to cut tofu into triangles (above). First, cut the tofu in half length-wise and then slice it width-wise into 8-12 slices. Flip the slices so they are laying flat and then cut diagonally. Simple and prettier than doing chunks or cubes.

First, prep your veggies so they are ready to go. Get the biggest wok you have an heat your oil on medium. Once hot, add the tofu and fry it for about 5 minutes or until it is golden brown. Flip it and continue to fry for another 3-4 minutes.

Now, start adding your veggies. I started with the jalapeno, kale, mushrooms and the onion. Then I added the ginger, mango and the bok choy after about 5 minutes. Once everything has started to wilt and look cooked, add the broth, mirin, and soy sauce. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring it occasionally.

Have a taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. If you want it sweeter, add mirin. Spicier, add some hot sauce or red chili flakes, salt? Add more soy sauce. Serve on top of rice.

Well, I have to say that my skills in stir-fry making have improved; if only slightly. I thought this had too much lime and not enough spice and sweetness. Considering I love lime, take that into consideration, when adding the lime juice. One day, I will find the perfect stir-fry. I give this recipe an 8 out of 10.

Anyone reading out there, help me! What makes a perfect stir-fry and why am I just not getting?? I would love to hear any suggestions, or maybe your own recipe. Alright, this will be my last post for a few days. I am about to begin a road trip and the first few days will be tricky to blog. Stay tuned though as I will be posting and blogging in about a week.

Anyone know any decent vegan-friendly restaurants in Montreal, Atlanta or Savannah? Send me a message!

Cuban Stir-fry

I have decided to take a short break from all the non-dairy milks I have been blogging about. Especially now that I have an abundance of flax, rice and sunflower seed milk. I don't want to waste them!

I was looking for something really flavourful for dinner last night. I didn't want to grocery shop or get take out, so I had to make do with what I have. This combined with a serious craving for lime got me thinking... Need something complex with sweet, sour, and spicy.

This is the result.

Cuban Stir-Fry

• 1 squash, roasted and cubed
• 1 Tbsp oil (i used grape seed)
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 clover of garlic, minced
• 1-2 hot peppers (jalapeno, red, whatever you have)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili pepper
• 1-2 Tbsp of coriander seeds, crushed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of greens (Optional, I added spinach. Collards would be good too)
• 1 can of beans, drained and rinsed (Any kind will do. I used Kidney)
• 2 Tbsp of cilantro
• 1 Lime (zest and juice)
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup

First thing you want to do is roast the squash. I used a Kobacha squash and I think that was a mistake. It was all I had in my place, so I worked with it, but I think that you would be better to use acorn or butternut. Heat your oven to 400F. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. I sliced mine into 1" slices, but you can also just roast the halves. Brush a little oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, but keep an eye on it.

After the squash is done, put the rice on if you don't have left overs so it'll be ready with the stir-fry. Prep all the vegetables and have them ready to go. Heat a large pan or wok to medium heat and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent. Next add in the hot pepper, lime zest and the spices and cook another couple of minutes. Add in the squash and greens if you are using. Toss it well so it is all combined. Cook another 5-7 minutes.

Next, add the beans and stir again. Cook 5 more minutes. When everything is well combined and heated through, add the cilantro, maple syrup and the lime juice.

Serve on top of rice. Serves four.

Now, I am not sure if this is all that Cuban, but it reminded me of Cuban flavours, so that's why I have names it the Cuban stir-fry. I just love the combination of lime and maple with beans and rice. I don't know why, but it is fabulous.

If you really like spices, add more. I found it to be pretty mild.

I am going to finish off this Sunday by reading my new cook books: Colour Me Vegan and Vegan with A Vengeance. I am already diving into a few of the recipes and will have a full report soon.

Chinese Take-out, Vegan Style

I am starting to notice a bit of a trend with my posts lately. Salty and sweet treats are everywhere. It must be the dead of winter! Last night I was having a quiet night in and decided to make myself some Chinese take-out... or I suppose it should really be called Chinese Stay-in.

Sweet and Sour Seitan

Ingredients:
- One package of Seitan, but into bite size pieces
-  2 tbsp of BBQ sauce (Regular)
- 1/3 cup of vinegar (Either rice or apple cider, I used rice)
- 1 tbsp of Cornstarch
- 14-15 oz can of pineapple (chunks or crushed), reserve the juice
- pinch of salt
- 1 green pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1/2 to 1 yellow onion

Prep the veggies

Heat pan and lightly oil. Add the Setian and brown for 1-2 minutes per side.


 

 
Add the chopped veggies and saute for a few minutes. I did not have any other veggies on hand when making this. You could definetely cut back on the pepper and add in some bok choy, broccoli, carrots etc. Whatever veggies are your faves.


 

 While the veggies are cooking. Stir the BBQ sauce, vinegar, cornstartch, salt and reserved pine apple juice together and let it sit for a couple minutes.

When the veggies are starting to get tender, pour in the sauce and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 8 minutes and then add in the pineapple. Continue to cook until the pineapple is heated through.

Serve on Rice or noodles with a salad or veggie soup. I had some left over miso soup that I had with this. It was yummy!