Fours Foods on Friday #113

I’m pretty hit and miss this spring with the Four Foods on Friday meme! Val has been “grilling” us with 1-question memes lately, haha! The questions for #113 is:

What can you make with eggs, meat or poultry, vegetables and a starch?

Hm.

Stir fry! Emphasis on the vegetables, though. Here’s one that I like. Use ONLY fresh vegetables and it will be goooooood.

Vegetable Stir Fry with Chicken
Chicken strips, cooked until tender

Peanut or olive oil
Water
Broccoli florets
Sugar snap peas
Red pepper strips
Bamboo shoots
Baby corn
Celery stalk, chopped
White onion, sliced

Hot cooked rice
Egg, scrambled and cooked
Soy sauce or duck sauce

It’s very important to quickly cook the vegetables, and not to overcook them. I start with a big wok, heating the oil a bit. I cook the chicken and set it aside. Then I throw the broccoli into the wok and let it heat up for about 3-4 minutes. I then add all the veggies all at once, add a little water, and keep things stirring until they are *just* starting to soften. If you overcook the vegetables, the stir fry will come out mushy and tasteless. I think the secret to Chinese cooking is to keep everything moving, and add water where needed to avoid burning. And this recipe is a much healthier alternative to the restaurant, take-out stuff that is loaded with chemicals– that may be fitted for best hemorrhoid treatment or something, but I am eliminating as many chemicals in my diet as possible.

So after your veggies are steamed, stir in some sauce, and set aside.
Add the egg to the rice, and add the veggies in or on top of the rice. Serve with more sauce. I think it’s yummy!

Tortellini with Edamame and Kielbasa

I spotted this recipe at Disney Family Food site, and WOW! It took all of 20 minutes to make and throw on the table… and the family DEVOURED it! I love edamame (I blogged about the nutritious little buggers here), and snack on them regularly. The kids don’t like them, though. Ah, but I figured out a way to get them to eat it! Now if I can only get them to nab some ritzy IT Jobs…. sigh…

Well, I have copied the recipe (below) but I’ve made a few modifications to make things a little easier and to use fewer cooking pots than the Disney recipe calls for. This is a GREAT recipe! My kids ate everything in this dish.

Tortellini with Edamame and Kielbasa
serves 6

Ingredients

1 pound frozen cheese tortellini
1 cup shelled edamame (frozen section of the grocery store)
1 cup diced red pepper
1 pound Kielbasa
1/2 cup Italian dressing (I made my own using a dry packaged mix– I also used olive oil instead of vegetable oil)

Directions

Take the tortellini and the edamame packages out of the freezer to loosen up a little.
Fill a big stock pot halfway full of water and set to boil.
While the water is heating up, slice the kielbasa into 1/4″ slices, and dice the pepper.

When the water starts to boil, dump in the tortellini, and boil for about 5 minutes.
Add the edamame, and boil for 2 more minutes.
Drain in a colander and set aside temporarily.
Set the stock pot back on the hot stove and dump in the kielbasa slices and diced peppers. Heat on high, rapidly stirring, for about 2 minutes. Dump in the Italian dressing to heat.
Dump in the tortellini and edamame, stir.

EAT!

I served a salad on the side, but it wasn’t really necessary. The edamame is very filling, and the meal is very well-rounded. My kids ate the edamame! I’m still beaming.

Use Up Old Veggies with Stir-Fry

Late autumn is the time we finally yank out the final vestiges of the garden. Those poor old carrots may have frost-nipped tops, but they still have some use! This is usually the time of year when I make vegetable soups and stir-fry dishes. I have a HUGE stainless steel wok that I love, and one of my favorite things to cook is Stir-Fry. I just wish I was better at cooking Asian foods, though! I can never seem to get those seasonings just right. Like installing air filters, it seems to be a mystery to have it come out perfect!

Well, over the summer, I discovered the wonders of pre-packaged seasonings! I recently did a post about Sun-bird Seasoning packets at my Freaky Frugalite blog. Although it was a sponsored post about Sun-bird, it was sheer joy to write a promotion for them. I love Sun-bird seasonings– they are very inexpensive and they are everywhere, even my local Walgreens. I always try to have some of the packets as a staple in my pantry. I visited the Sun-bird site and found a very good recipe for basic Stir-Fry. As usual, I am always customizing recipes, so here is my altered version. This will serve four hungry people. I also include meat in this recipe, but we have gone meatless with it and the dish is marvelous. Also, if you like your stir-fry very savory, add two packets of Sun-bird seasoning. I like only a little seasoning, so I have one packet listed here.

Stir-Fry Veggies

1 pound boneless chicken or beef, cut into strips (optional)
1 envelope Sun-bird Stir-Fry seasoning packet
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons sugar (optional)
2 Tablespoons oil
1 Pepper (Red, Yellow, or Bell), cut into thin strips
1 onion (I recommend Vidalia or Red), cut into thin strips or diced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced (I slice them at a diagonal angle)
1/4 pound broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
1/4 pound cauliflower florets (fresh or frozen)
1/4 pound button mushrooms, sliced
1 can baby corn, drained

In a separate bowl, combine the Soy Sauce, the sugar, the Sun-bird seasoning packet, and the water, and mix briskly. Set aside.

In a large wok or frying pan, heat up the oil. Add the meat and saute quickly until browned. Add all the vegetables EXCEPT the mushrooms to the wok. Cook, constantly stirring, until the carrots are tender. Don’t overcook. Just before the vegetables are done, add the mushrooms and the Soy Sauce mixture. Stir it in and cook for another minute or until thickened. Serve with 5-6 cups of steamed rice. Serve with Soy Sauce to pass around. Yum!

You can also use pre-packaged frozen vegetables if you wish- just be aware that this may slow down the cooking time. You can also experiment with your own veggies. I sometimes add snow pea pods and water chestnuts, which are heavenly!