Monday, October 14, 2013

Meatless Monday: Veggie Stir Fry in a Quinoa and Wild Rice blend

You will need:
-1/2 C Each of a Wild Rice Blend (I get mine at Trader Joe's) and 1/2 C Tri-Color Quinoa (which I also buy at Trader Joe's)  plus the water needed to cook, with salt and a TB of butter or similar added
-A handful of basically every vegetable you have in your fridge and freezer
-soy sauce, lime zest, ginger, garlic
-salt and pepper

Now for all you recipe lovin' fools out there you probably just cringed because there are no measurements here...sorry about that.  BUT I consider this dish to be one of the easiest and most flexible dishes a person can make, so it really will be tailored to your preferences.

For my veggies, I used the following: 1) summer squash (2) lima beans (3) corn (4) sweet red peppers (5) asparagus (6) mushrooms (7) onion, which I just did a few rings chopped up and not a small handful like all the others (8) broccoli slaw mix which I always have frozen...I think that is all.  I left most things be but snapped my asparagus (frozen) into pieces and sliced up my mushrooms. 

Get your quinoa and rice cooking, since quinoa takes about 20-30 minutes depending on who you ask and the rice blend takes about 30-35, I just cooked them together.  No rules in this kitchen! I always cook anything like that with a little pat of butter and salt. 

When there is about 15-20 minutes left, drop all your veggies that will need to cook the longest in a skillet with a little pat of butter or preferred substitute and about 1/4 C of water.  Add in a little drizzle of soy sauce, about 1/4th tsp of lime zest and about 2-3 shakes of ginger. Hit them with a dash of salt and pepper as well.

You know when you go to shake a spice and hardly any comes out? That is when I err on the side of more. 

Pop a lid down on all this and let it steam about 7-8 minutes.  If you don't like your veggies very soft, you may want to adjust this time down.  Add in your remaining veggies and cook about 4 more minutes, adding a sprinkle of salt and pepper with the new additions.  Add water as needed.

When your veggies are sufficiently done to your liking, add in the finished quinoa/rice blend with as much or little as you like (I used just over half the finished blend because I want the rest for later this week), hit it with another little drizzle of soy sauce (or more if you like it heavy), a couple shakes of ginger, and another round of lime zest. 

I LOVE ginger and lime together in stir fry. They really make it taste brighter and cut the salt that can sometimes be overwhelming.

Let it all sit there and become friends for a couple minutes, then serve it up.

With the rice and quinoa blend and the amount of veggies I used (a handful of all those adds up quick) I think mine could have fed two people and/or been used as a side for multiple.  It is a pretty filling dish, and the veggies help it go a long way.

If you saw the pretzels I posted yesterday, this meatless Monday venture is completely because of those.  I ate ALL BUT EIGHT OF THEM before today...THE RECIPE MADE OVER 30! I new I had to do some serious detoxing, because I have some tight and well-fitted dress pants and skirts that I would like to stay fitting in to.  I also knew that the amount of food this would make would provide me with leftovers in case I wanted to stay on campus all day tomorrow to make myself get some work done...which I really need to do...

Meatless Monday, even if you aren't interested in it for environmental purposes, is FANTASTIC when you consider all the times you binge over the weekend and just need to make up for it.  Meatless does not equal tasteless, or boring, or not filling, it can be every bit as tasty as you make it.

Happy crafting! Pin It Now!

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