Veggie Might: Smokin’ Summer Stir Fry

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.

I love stir fry. It’s so fast and easy. And you can make it with whatever you have in your kitchen. I especially love green beans in stir fry. So I’ve been having a fantastic summer.

When I make stir fry, I usually just throw in a little onion and garlic, a hunk of ginger, a dollop of chili paste, and a few dashes of soy sauce and call it a day. But when faced with the most recent and stunning bounty from the farmers’ market, I wanted something special to fire it up.

For the past year, I’ve been addicted to this fantastic smoky miso bizness over at the gorgeous and innovative blog, Vegan Yum Yum. Now, I’ve been eating this on tofu as directed—and it’s amazing. It occurred to me that could work as a sauce for my stir fry veg action.

Oh, yeah. It does. I was a happy girl at lunchtime for more than a week. I cut back on the sugar a bit and, combined with a little heat from chili oil and a jalapeño, this is one of the tick-tockinest dishes ever to rock out of my kitchen.

Using the cooking times below, your veggies, especially the green beans, should stay nice and crunchy. That’s the way I like them anyway. If you like softer stir fry veg, just let everything simmer a bit longer.

The prep takes the longest when making this dish. Otherwise, it goes pretty fast. The protein and grain can be cooking while you’re frying up the veggies. You’ll be done before you know it.

I used red lentils and millet to give the dish a satisfying heartiness without making it heavy. Red lentils cook up fast; and millet cooks in about the same amount of time as rice. If I’d figured out how to do this whole thing in one pot, I’d have given myself a medal.

I got six solid meals out of this batch, and even shared a bit at the office. Depending on the portion sizes, you may get up to 8, but you’ll want to go on forever. It freezes well too.

Smoke up the kitchen with this stir fry. You’ll be out of there and eating in a flash.

Smokin’ Summer Stir Fry
Serves 6

The Sauce (from by Smokey Miso Tofu at Vegan Yum Yum)
2 tbsp red miso
2 tbsp soy sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp liquid smoke or smoked paprika

The Vegetables
1 1/2 tsp chili oil (or olive oil)
1 summer squash, sliced bit-size
1 c fresh green beans, cut in half
2–3 radishes, sliced
1 lg carrot, sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 lg onion
2 – 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, chopped, seeds and all

The Protein/Carb Combo
1 cup red lentils
1 c millet (or your grain of choice)

1) Combine ingredients for sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

2) Cook the lentils and millet in separate saucepans while you make your stir fry as follows: 2 c water/1 c millet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook on low for 20 minutes or until fluffy. 3 c water/1 cup lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook on low for about 10­–15 minutes, or until desired consistency. Red lentils are more delicate than green and cook up fast.

Meanwhile…
3) In a large pot or wok, sauté the onions and garlic in hot oil.

4) Add carrots and celery. Stirring occasionally, cook for 2–3 minutes. Repeat this step adding the vegetables in the following order: green beans; red peppers and jalapeños; squash and radishes.

5) Add the sauce along with a splash of water if the veggies are sticking to the pan. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

6) Once all the components are done, combine in the vegetable pot.

7) Eat and absorb the smokin’ super powers.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
305.1 calories, 3.5g fat, $1.07

Calculations
2 tbsp red miso: 45 calories, 0g fat, $.54
2 tbsp soy sauce: 22 calories, 0g fat, $.50
Juice of 1 lemon: 9.5 calories, .03 fat, $0.10
1 tsp sugar: 16 calories, 0g fat, $.01
1 tbsp nutritional yeast: 47 calories, .7g fat, $.33
1/2 tsp liquid smoke: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
1 1/2 tsp chili oil: 60 calories, 7g fat, $0.04
1 summer squash: 72 calories, 1g fat, $.50
1 c fresh green beans: 34 calories, 0g fat, $.75
2–3 radishes: 6.5 calories, 0g fat, $.25
1 lg carrot: 30 calories, 0g fat, $.16
2 ribs celery: 10 calories, 0g fat, $.05
1 red bell pepper: 51 calories, 0g fat, $.75
1/2 lg onion: 40 calories, .2g fat, $.50
2 – 3 cloves garlic: 12.6 calories, 0g fat, $.04
1 jalapeño: 4 calories, 0g fat, $.08
1 cup red lentils: 662 calories, 4g fat, $.79
1 c millet: 756 calories, 8g fat, $.84
TOTALS: 1830.6 calories, 20.93g fat, $6.39
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 305.1 calories, 3.5g fat, $1.07

Posted in: Mains,Vegan,Vegetarian