16 June 2009

Tuesday Night Stir Fry

Sometimes we are kind of busy and can't carve out the time for elaborate meals. But we still want to eat something interesting, something local, something at home. So we have a couple of secret weapons in our arsenal that enable us to do that easily. One of them is Peanut Sauce. I find that no matter what vegetables happen to be in my fridge, it is possible to use them to make an amazing stir fry. Especially as one CSA week is ending and what's left over is odd numbers or paltry amounts, things that won't work for much on their own: a solitary kohlrabi, a lonely pair turnips, just a handful of broccoli.

Steaming or frying the vegetables seems to work just fine and I often use both methods (steam first - toss altogether to fry). This 'recipe' is amenable to a variety of protein sources - Central Soyfoods Tofu, Parker Farms meat, etc. You can use rice or those rice noodles that cook (or soak, rather) in a matter of minutes - those are a real time saver. Then the peanut sauce pulls it all together.

If you've got the time, you can make a peanut sauce yourself - The CSA Chef has a great recipe for that. If not, there are always several choices at the grocery store for a variety of stir fry sauces.


snow peas, turnips, kohlrabi, broccoli, onions and tat soi

This Tuesday Night Stir Fry includes:

one kohlrabi (Root Deep Urban Farm*)
harukei turnips (Fair Share Farm)
broccoli (FSF)
snow peas (FSF) peel off the spine, but the pods are edible and delicious!
tat soi (FSF)
stir fry mix (Badseed Farm*)
onions (one from Squash Blossom Steve* and one from Hun's Garden*)
mint and garlic scapes for garnish

Steam the first four ingredients vigilantly, removing those vegetables that seem to steam faster (broccoli & snow peas) and allowing the others (kohlrabi & turnips) to remain just a touch longer. Sauté the onions in a bit of oil on medium heat then added the greens and encourage them to wilt a bit - but not too much!

Toss it all together with, of course, peanut sauce.

Serve over rice or noodles. Garnish with mint and garlic scapes.


*These farms and many others will be on the Urban Farms and Gardens Tour coming soon on June 28!

2 comments:

k said...

hi emily! thanks for your sweet post on my blog.
i loooooove peanut sauce so i enjoyed reading this. the urban farms & gardens tour sounds wonderful- thanks for getting the word out.

Emily said...

Thanks, Karen! If you want a brochure/booklet for the tour, let me know - I've got some. It's going to be such a fun day - there are 31 farms/gardens on the tour! Can't wait!