There are thousands, perhaps millions of different versions of stir fry, or bowl dishes and they all are a healthy alternatives to a big steak and baked potato smothered in cheese and sour cream. Whether they are Chinese derivatives or Vietnamese, or Mongolian, the basic idea is tons of vegetables cooked in a hot pot (or wok) with very little oil and served over rice, generally white rice.

After a recent trip to H Mart, our fabulous Korean grocery store, with more weird fruits and vegetables than I have ever seen, I decided to make a big stir fry. The key to preparation is to cut all your veggies before you start the wok…and then layer in the order of ‘needs more time’ on the bottom to ‘hardly need to cook at all’ on the top. I used some fresh lotus that I had never tried before and now highly recommend and some prepared bamboo shoots, that were good, but I wasn’t a big fan of the texture. After cooking in a very hot wok or pan, add a generous splash of soy sauce into the pan and cover for 1-2 minutes. Remove lid, serve vegetables on rice (I use brown because we love it’s chewy wonderfulness) and sprinkle with almonds, sesame seeds, black or white or other preferred nut! This is a super quick dish (unless you are really a slow chopper) and it is so filling and healthy, and can be modified to suit whatever veggies you have in your frig, I can totally see why it is such a ubiquitous preparation. Stir fry is as common and easy as that green bean casserole everyone has had at the holidays…but waaaaayyy better!!! Worthy of adding to your weekly menu plan and is an excellent way to use those vegetables that we all have bought, but forgotten in the crisper drawer of the frig!

Lotus Stir Fry

2-3 TBS olive oil
1 onion, coarse cut
1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
1/4 c. each, red, green, yellow bell peppers
1 poblano pepper, seeded and coarse cut
1/2 c. carrots, cross cut
1/2 c. zucchini, sliced
1 leek, cut in one inch chop
1 lotus root, peeled and sliced
1/4 c. bamboo shoots, chopped
1 baby bok choy, sliced
1 bunch of scallions, cut longwise
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. toasted slivered almonds
servings of brown rice

Prepare vegetables to cook. Heat oil in wok or deep skillet and add onions. Cook at high heat until onions just begin to caramelize. Add carrots, lotus, and zucchini,and leek, cooking 2-3 minutes. Add peppers and bamboo shoots, cook 3-4 minutes stirring to mix vegetables. Add mushrooms, scallions, bok choy, and soy sauce. Cover pan and cook 3-5 minutes, stirring, then another 3-5, depending on personal taste of vegetable done-ness. Uncover and serve over rice, topping with toasted almonds, sesame seeds or other crunchy topping. This recipe can be modified to utilize the contents of your vegetable drawer! Quick, easy, and delicious!