I've been on a roll in the kitchen lately, and it's been a tasty ride. Now this may sound like bragging, but my daddy always says, "It ain't braggin' if you really did it." So, I think it's alright, because boy, I'm tellin' you what, I've made some really great dishes with a bit of this and a little of that and a lot of inspiration.
One of the things inspiring me and driving my appetite lately has been roasting. I've been a roasting fool. This week I made a beautiful, flavorful roasted stir fry chock full of veggies. My family loved it.
Here's what I did.
I chopped up a purple cabbage, an onion, several varieties of sweet peppers, a zucchini, carrots, mushrooms and beets (everything but the mushrooms and carrots came from our crop share or our garden). You can use whatever you have on hand.
Next, I mixed up some good olive oil and some apricot fruit spread (mostly fruit – no sugar added – I got it at my co-op). Then, I poured it over my veggies and then proceeded to use my hands to massage the oil and apricot mixture onto the veggies to be sure all got covered with this sticky concoction. I added some salt (my favorite is Himalayan Pink Salt from Trader Joe's) and pepper. I then divided up the large amount of veggies on to two parchment lines jelly roll pans and roasted them on 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. You can taste the veggies at this point and decide if they need more roasting or more S & P or apricot or whatever you're putting on your veggies.
Now, generally, once I roast the veggies I put them over rice or mix them into pasta or just serve them up on their own, but this time I threw the whole mixture into a hot wok glazed with olive oil. Then, I added some gluten free soy sauce (tamari) and more apricot fruit spread and stirred the veggies. I let that cook for a few minutes and then served it atop Jasmine rice. DELISH and popping with gorgeous veggie colors! The best part? My family loves my stir fries! But this one was especially good.
Now, you'll notice I did not tell you any measurements and that's because I never think to measure it out when cooking, but really this is all to taste. So, always start out small and keep adding until you get the taste you want.
You don't have apricot fruit spread on hand? No worries. You can also use honey or maple syrup or orange juice or lemon juice or just olive oil or coconut oil or walnut oil or whatever your flavor preferences are. The point is to experiment, have fun with it and don't worry if it doesn't turn out exactly how you hoped it would; try something different the next time.
Another roasting combination that is fabulous is cauliflower and rosemary ham. Maybe I'll share that one with you too. It has become a staple meal around here.
Oh, and I turned the leftover veggies and rice from this meal into a Fall Harvest Cheesy Vegetable Soup! SOOOOO good!
Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen! Over and out…
Anna
Comments