Clean Out the Fridge Stir Fry + Reading Issues
This past weekend, I had a serious jonesing for some vegetables, coupled with an overflowing refrigerator. We had so many leftovers that we had taken from various holiday celebrations, not to mention some containers of chopped up vegetables that we had eaten with spinach dip a few days before. My solution? Mix up those veggies in a stir fry!
I really love stir fry, mainly because I could eat just about anyting coated in soy sauce. The fact that it's a healthy and tasty way to get some veggies is just the icing on the cake. Don't tempt me with cake right now.
I had a can of bean sprouts in my pantry and am always stocked with soy sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame oil. If you ask me, this turned out to be one fancy little stir fry for a Saturday afternoon!
Clean Out The Fridge Stir Fry
any vegetables you have in your fridge (I used a mix of chopped baby carrots, bell peppers, onions and celery)
bean sprouts
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 C soy sauce, preferably low sodium
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
freshly cracked pepper
Heat both oils together in a skillet. Add vegetables, sprinkle with black pepper and saute until they begin to soften. Stir in soy and hoisin sauces and cook until soft. At the very end, add in the bean sprounts (drained from the can) and cook for just a minute more (I like them to have a little crunch!). Serve as is, or over your favorite grain. For this recipe, I used quinoa cooked in low sodium chicken broth.
It doesn't get much easier than that, my friends! I even had a bit of the leftover stir fry alongside my scrambled egg whites the next morning. Delish.
Moving on from food...can we talk about books for a moment? I've kind of been radio silent on the reading thing for a while now. Over the last month, I've been reading book 2 in the Game of Thrones Series, A Clash of Kings.
It's taken me a little while to get into the book, I think because I broke the cardinal rule of book reading. I watched the first book enacted on television (as an amazing show on HBO) and went straight into reading the second book...without reading the first book. I had never done that before, and I'm pretty sure it's hindering my enjoyment of book 2. I am having a difficult time keeping the characters straight (there are so many!) and just getting into the book. Sooooo. I'm debating going back and reading book 1 so that I can get the full treatment! I hate it when I try to take the easy way out and it doesn't work! :)
What are you reading right now? I might need some other suggestions to break this up!
What is your favorite way to 'clean out the fridge'?
6 Comments | January 4, 2012 | Share Article | Email Article | tagged Stir Fry, reading | in Book Club, Recipes Print Article | Permalink
Reader Comments (6)
I'm reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet, which I believe is one of your suggestions from a few months back! I've read 2 recently by Kate Morton: The House at Riverton, and the Forgotten Garden. Really enjoyed them both and have passed them along to friends.
I sure am hearing a lot about Game of Thrones, both the show & the books.....
I also made a huge veggie stir fry this week! It is a nice change of pace from salad when I want to eat a ton of veggies. I should have added hoisin sauce to mine, though!
You know I'm a sucker for a good stir-fry - there just hasn't been enough in my life lately! Great eats!
I've heard people talk about the show but didn't know it was a book. I don't have HBO so I'm glad I can read the book and NetFlix it if I want.
If you're looking for an easy read of a series that is complete, The Hunger Games is pretty good. It's more Young Adult, but the books are pretty good and the subject matter is very interesting, if a bit shocking. There's a movie coming out soon which looks pretty good.
Also, yes, not reading A Game of Thrones will completely throw you off of ACOK. The book is much denser than the tv show, and there's a lot that moves into the second book that wasn't even touched on in the show, which will definitely contribute to confusion. Over at Tor.com, Leigh Butler is doing an online chapter by chapter read of all of the books. She just completed AGOT, and is now starting ACOK. I think you might find it fascinating and helpful to read along with her.
http://www.tor.com/features/series/a-read-of-ice-and-fire
Happy reading, no matter what! A Song of Ice and Fire is awesome, and I hope you enjoy! :D