Coconut Stir Fry

Every week I schedule our dinners out in advance, shop accordingly and look forward to certain meals. I was excited to eat stir fry this week, but at 5pm last night I realized I didn't have my staples. No soy sauce, no sesame oil and no curry of any kind. What kind of stir fry could I make without these key flavors?

I searched around my pantry which has been pretty bare since we moved (I gave everything in our previous pantry to my sister). I found a can of coconut milk, some rice wine, rice vinegar and pepper jelly.

What came out was really delightful. Here it is:
(The ingredients that I used last night are in bold)

Protein, one of the following
-12+ shrimp
-2 sliced chicken breasts
-drained and cubed tofu

Chopped fine
-Garlic, 2 cloves
-Ginger, 2 Tb fresh

Chopped veggies, any of these work well
-Carrots
-Bell peppers, red
-Asparagus
-Onions
-Broccoli
-Cauliflower
-Cabbage
-Bok Choy

Garnishes
-Green onions, chopped
-Lemon Zest (lime would also work)

Sauce, whisk together
-1 cup coconut milk
-1/4 cup white wine or rice wine
-1-2 teaspoons rice vinegar
-2 tablespoons of pepper jelly
-Fresh ground pepper
-2 tablespoons Cornstarch

Heat a few tablespoons of peanut or canola oil in a wok until very hot. Add ginger and garlic. Before the garlic begins to brown, add protein and toss a few times until just cooked. Remove protein from pan and set aside.

Add veggies and toss a few times to ensure they are thoroughly coated with oil. Let cook for about 2 minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add sauce and stir. When sauce is bubbling put the protein back in and add garnishes, cook for 30 more seconds. Remove from the heat and serve over rice while hot.

I've never really had pepper jelly before in foods. You usually find it over cream cheese served with crackers at a party. But I knew I needed something with a little bit more intrigue. It worked!

This would be awesome with some basil or red curry paste.


Here are pictures of Molly's dinner plate. This little girl doesn't know how good she has it! This is my attempt to get her to each the meal.

And this is with the peanut butter sandwich and banana wheels I had waiting for her in the kitchen. One day she'll eat all the delicious foods I make for her.

Spicy Eggplant Stir Fry

A few days ago, I was really craving eggplant--it's so rich and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I searched the internet for a recipe that looked easy and that didn't smother the eggplant in cheese. I found a stir-fry type recipe at allrecipes.com that got some rave reviews. The nice thing about that website is that if a dish is good, people will leave comments saying so--no guess work. They also put tips they used (or should have used) to make the dish even better. I usually take the recipe and the user comments and then add to it or tweak it to suit my taste or on-hand ingredients. I've been consistently satisfied with the results.

Spicy Eggplant Stir Fry

~Print Recipe~ 

• 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil 
• 2 long Chinese eggplants, cubed (I went to Safeway and could only find the plump regular kind, so I went with that)
• 1 onion chopped into bite-sized chunks
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped into bite-sized chunks
• Any other veggies you want
• 4 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce/tamari
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 green chili pepper (as spicy as you desire), finely chopped
  
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 teaspoons corn starch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili oil (you can substitute chili sauce, red pepper flakes, etc for some heat)
• Salt to taste
  

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and saute for a couple of minutes. Add minced garlic and other veggies and saute until cooked--the eggplant will become tender and start to brown in 5-10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, red wine vinegar, chili pepper, sugar, corn starch and chili oil.
3. Add sauce to the stir fry, stir to coat evenly and cook until the sauce thickens.
   
4. Serve with rice.

*Many comments suggested adding pork or chicken to this dish. One of the nice things about this recipe is you can pretty much add or subtract anything you like. People tried it with potatoes, green onions, fish sauce, Sriracha, cashews--you name it.
*The sauce originally called for 1/3 the amounts shown here, but all of the comments said to make more sauce; I doubled it, and then found I needed even more.