If April is the cruelest month, then February is downright despicable.
One might understand if you live in the frozen tundra of the Midwest of the United States. Short days, cold nights, cutting winds; there is one great thing about it though: a warm kitchen.
I enjoy the winter months for being able to spend some time in the kitchen. I shared the month with one of my other passions: theatre. I had a part in the hilarious second show of a great new local theater. (givingtreetheater.com – great stories, big heart). This meant that weekday evenings were spent in rehearsal, the primary time for me to cook.
Efficient use of kitchen time was key so I had to think strategically. Therefore there were many a well-organized, put-it-in-a-tortilla-and-run type meals that month; all in an attempt to eat well and eat healthy on the go.
That’s where the multi-faceted and flexible stir-fry came in to play.
You can make whatever you want in a stir-fry. If you want Chinese, done. If you want Thai, done. If you want ketchup and mustard curry, done. Just put it in the big wok and go, my friend. Flame on!
I usually chop up a load of vegetables ahead of time; carrots in this container, celery in that one, broccoli over here, onions check, peppers ready. Start some brown rice right away then heat up some oil in the wok and stir-frying up something good and top it off with a soy/hoisin-based sauce or maybe a coconut milk curry. With all the vegetables ready, each night could be a new, flavorful adventure in half the time.
So next time you’re in a pinch for time, make the most of it with a stir-fry. You might have to spend some time chopping all your vegetables ahead of time (unless you buy prepared ones), but you save time in the long-run by having it ready toute suite.