Kitchen clean out healthy stir-fry
Watch me prep this HERE
Busy weekday nights are no time to fuss with long drawn out recipes that involve random ingredients which require stopping at the grocery store on your way home - am I right? Here is one of my FAVORITE meals that satisfies everyone at our family dinner table and can be prepared in 8 minutes. Sound too good to be true? Give it a shot and see for yourself! But wait a minute- how can a recipe with the word "fry" in it be healthy? This raises a good point. Many stir fry dishes are high calorie because of the heavy use of oil (120 calories, 14 grams of fat per tablespoon) and sugary sauces that are used. Fortunately, my recipe achieves a tasty flavor with minimal oil.
Ingredients
One 12 oz bag precooked frozen brown rice, steam in bag like these
One 12 oz bag Asian Stir Fry frozen vegetable blend, steam in bag like these
(Or instead of frozen veggies, 1/2 cup carrots sliced, 1/2 red bell pepper sliced, 1/2 green bell pepper sliced, 1/3 medium red onion, and 1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts)
1 cup frozen shelled edamame like these
EVOO or nonstick cooking spray
Ground ginger, Garlic Powder, Soy Sauce or Bragg's Amino Acids (Or a light Sesame Ginger Salad dressing like this one)
4 Eggs
Optional: Fresh Cilantro or sesame seeds
Note: Don't be shy with the veggies! This is called "Kitchen Clean Out" for a reason! Broccoli cauliflower, green beans, sugar snap peas, sweet peas, mushrooms, sprouts, cabbage, etc can all be used in this recipe. Non-starchy veggies such as these are full of filling fiber, vitamins, minerals, anti oxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, so there is no reason to skimp. The more, the merrier!
Note: This is a vegetarian meal, as it does not include fish, poultry or meat. However, if you wanted to make it vegan, remove the egg and add in extra firm tofu cubes for protein. For a pescatarian dish, add in shrimp. For those who wish for animal proteins, add in lean ground chicken, turkey, shredded chicken, or lean pork or beef (cuts with "round" or "loin" in the name).
Directions
Cook the frozen veggies and brown rice in the microwave according to package instructions. Mist a cooking pan over medium heat with EVOO or non stick cooking spray. Add in the veggies, then the edamame, then the eggs. Once the eggs are cooked through (about 3.5 minutes) add in rice. Mix contents together. Add in 4 tbsp dressing, OR 2 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tbsp oil. Add in 1 tsp ginger + 1 tsp garlic powder. Mix in flavoring for another minute. Remove from stove, top with cilantro and/or seeds, and serve. Serves 4.
This meal is a nutritionally balanced meal because it includes:
1) Starch ie Rice (choosing brown rice, or swapping in whole wheat noodles will lead to a similar result but with higher fiber than white rice, which can also be used)
2) Protein ie Edamame (aka soy beans) and Eggs
3) Non-starchy Veggies - the frozen Asian stir fry blend or veggies listed above