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Stir-fry for two.

You get home from work, you’re tired as a dog, and yet you want something to fill your stomach that won’t make you feel like you’re living on fast food. This is a really easy one that’ll see you through a meal with mostly left over veg that you find in your fridge (hopefully anyway). If you don’t have one or two of these ingredients, leave it out, or see if you can substitute it with something of a similar substance. I.e. you don’t have carrot, try some parsnip, or cauliflower, pumpkin, sweet potato…or if you’re very adventurous, red beet. (Careful with Broccoli, it has a very dominant taste. Same goes for Brussels sprouts.)

Opted for dried herbs again. It’s winter and my herb garden is more than struggling…It’s dead. *sigh* Need to get some new ones. Remember that if you use fresh ones, double, or triple the amount indicated below. All these veggie ingredients are fresh, if you don’t have them, aim for frozen and only in extreme emergencies resort to canned.

Sweet & Salty potato-veg stir fry

Potatoes: 6-8 small ones. Cubed to half an inch. Unpeeled

Onion: 1 small. Chopped

Leek: 3-4 inches. Chopped

Carrot: 1 small. Quartered and sliced

Bell Pepper: ¼. Chopped

Green beans: 4-6. Chopped

Zucchini: 3 inches. Chopped

White Cabbage: Thin strips. Handful

Olive oil: 3-4 tablesp.

Milk: ¼ mug

Peach jam: 1 Tablesp.

Sweet chili sauce: 1 teasp.

Oregano: ½ teasp.

Basil: ½ teasp.

Parsley: ½ teasp.

Italian mix: 1 pinch

Salt: ½ teasp. (to taste)

Cayenne pepper: 1-2 pinch (1-2 knife points)

Use a big skillet or wok. Heat the olive oil for about thirty seconds and throw in your chopped potatoes. The beauty of this recipe is that if you get the sequence right, you can basically cut your veggies above the pan, saving loads of time. Stir frequently and turn the fire to medium when you notice that your potatoes begin to crust a bit. Add onion and leek. Keep stirring. Add your herbs, salt and cayenne. When onions begin to become transparent a bit, add carrot slices. Make sure they’re thin. About three minutes on medium fire needs to pass before you add the sweet chili, milk, and the jam, keeping a steady stir going. If you don’t think the mix is baking properly turn the fire higher again. If you look at your veggie list, that is basically the sequence in which you should gradually stir the remainder of the veg through your potatoes, leaving the cabbage strips to last. Once your cabbage begins to turn soft, glassy almost, you’re done.

This recipe can be served as a full meal, or a side dish to noodles or rice. If you need to stretch it for more people, you can add half a kilo (2-3 mugs) of boiled lentils to the mix. Or serve just the stir fry with French bread, pita, naan or a meat of choice…cubed chicken filet will go well with this. Make sure to bake the chicken crispy in olive oil with pepper and salt and a pinch of rosemary. If anyone dares to make it with fish (baked in olive oil with some sage), I’d love to hear how that worked out.