I searched online. I read my favorite recipe books. And in the end, I abandoned the idea of making a meal from a recipe. I had wanted to make chilled cucumber soup with a beet salad, but alas, a trip to the grocery store was not in my immediate future.
What to make? I reached into my refrigerator and pulled out carrots, zucchini, sweet spanish onions, Thai basil, Thai chilies, fresh Red Italian garlic, a pathetic looking piece of fresh ginger, snow peas, and broccoli. I had the makings for a fabulous veggie stir fry!
I decided that I wanted to keep this stir fry really simple; I didn’t want to weigh it down with a heavy cornstarch-based sauce. I loved the simplicity of it; Martin likes stir fries with a more robust sauce (read: anything that doesn’t taste like soy sauce). I love sprinkling a little soy sauce on my veggies; he would prefer something else. Don’t get me wrong, he ate it, but it was just “fine.” I thought it was “fabulous!” Try it and let me know what you think! Oh, and the tomatoes added a really wonderful flavor to this dish. Next time, I’m adding more!
One of my favorite side-dishes: cucumber spears lightly salted with sea salt. So refreshing and a nice balance to the slightly spicy stir fry.
- 1 Sweet Spanish onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 inch ginger, peeled and minced
- 3 cloves Red Italian garlic
- 1 stalk broccoli
- 10 snow peas
- 1 zucchini
- 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons Thai basil, chopped finely
- 1 Thai chili, de-seeded and chopped
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- Rinse the rice well. Add 1 3/4 cup water and rice to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir. Cover and simmer on low for about 20 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Turn off heat and let sit until rest of stir fry is ready.
- Chop all the veggies. Place the veggies that take longer to cook (carrots, onion, garlic, ginger, and broccoli stems) in one bowl; place the veggies that take less time to cook (snow peas, broccoli florets, zucchini, and tomatoes) in another bowl.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the canola oil in a heavy bottom skillet, preferably cast iron. Add the longer cooking veggies. Stir fry until almost done.
- Add the rest of the veggies and the Thai chili with the rest of the oil. (Note: adjust the oil amount as needed to prevent the veggies from sticking to the pan.) Sprinkle the toasted sesame oil over the veggies. Stir well. Sprinkle the rice vinegar over the veggies. Stir well and let cook until the veggies are done. Add soy sauce to taste. Let sit for a few minutes to let the flavors meld.
- Serve the veggies over rice and garnish with sesame seeds.
Hey, I LOVED your recipe and your thought, etc! Where did you get the Thai Basil and the Thai Chili’s? Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Ginny!
I got the Thai basil and chilies in our CSA box. But I bet a co-op or farmer’s market would carry them too.