Comments on: Dinner With My Family #3: Stir Fry with Asparagus

By: Erica Douglas

Erica Douglas — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 13:42:10 +0000

This will sound silly, but I’m pregnant and I’ve had a hard time eating veggies the last month or so – nothing tastes good. But this post made me crave asparagus, which we’ve had three times in the last two weeks. We’re even having stir fry this afternoon for lunch after church services!
Thanks for the recommendation!

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:14:26 +0000

Trent…dish sound great.
Btw: Congratulations on having so many volunteer editors on your staff! Personally, for me, it gets old to read the responses editing your posts. If I read a book, I chafe at grammatical and spelling errors. Not so much with a blog. Makes me wonder how such people have so much time on their hands.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 02:18:43 +0000

Asparagus is not in season this time of year. I suppose you would have to use frozen, if you could find it.

By: Vickie

Vickie — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:23:09 +0000

Sounds good, thanks for sharing. ☺

By: Dave M

Dave M — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:45:48 +0000

So did you get a good fortune?

By: Patrick Amato

Patrick Amato — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 15:46:35 +0000

Amazing – based on this I tried something similar (but with carrots)! Too good. You should write a cookbook – “The Frugal Vegan”. Thanks for the great post and helpful illustrations.

By: Janis

Janis — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 12:43:33 +0000

deRuiter is correct that this isn’t technically a stir-FRY, but it is nonetheless a tasty sounding dish and uses a good alternative cooking method for those who are trying to reduce fat in their cooking. Besides, stir-fry has a more familiar ring than “stir-braise” (braise = cook in liquid).

I make a dish very much like the one described here and use most of the suggestions given by other readers: cornstarch to thicken the sauce (the spouse really prefers it this way), toasted sesame oil, and toasted cashews or peanuts, toasted sesame seeds. Toasting the nuts and seeds in advance really brings out the flavor. I usually have rice vinegar, but if I didn’t, I might use a little white wine.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 11:33:38 +0000

“The big thing you can change with this dish is to substitute the tofu for meat.” If the article had been edited before publication, this would read “…meat for tofu.” “…add the vegetable stock and turn the heat up to medium-high until the stock is just starting to boil, then add the onions and saute them for about three minutes…” How do you SAUTE in broth? Saute in a little bit of oil to caramelize the onions so they are golden brown and tasty. If you “saute” onions in broth, they boil. Saute= oil, boil = broth / water.

By: Bill

Bill — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:25:22 +0000

I had to look up “penultimate” I was betting it meant 5th paragraph based on the first 3 letters, but I was wrong and I learned a new word. Thanks!!

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 01:35:03 +0000

We also like stir fry over Japanese noodles.

By: BirdDog

BirdDog — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:39:28 +0000

Ive had several stir fry meals lately, myself. I buy the frozen stir fry vegetable from Kroger and then cook one chicken breast (cubed) with a teaspoon of olive oil. When the chicken is about done, I add the veggies. It makes a great meal for one.

By: beth

beth — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 23:04:29 +0000

Where you’re adding the soy and vinegar, we usually make a little sauce with water, soy sauce, and some corn starch to pour in to our stir-fry for the last few minutes (I will have to try adding the vinegar/lemon juice here too). The corn starch thickens it up a little so the sauce sticks to the veggies and rice better and generally ensure that everyone cleans their plates. :-)

By: chuck

chuck — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:23:01 +0000

is that a chinese cookie in the small bag? nice addition to the meal.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:14:58 +0000

Oooops… I meant “beans”, not “beens” obviously! (You can tell it’s a Friday afternoon!)

I also use up ginger tea and add a drizzle of honey for flavour — works really well with cashews!

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:13:26 +0000

I live on stir fry :)

I often add beans (white, kidney, lima, edamame, etc) or lentils instead of meat. I usually cook my own from dried, but canned would work too. I keep a bag of frozen edamame beens in my freezer at all times to throw in salads or stir fries for protein. I often cook extra lentils and freeze them for this purpose too.

Frozen shrimp is also tasty in stir fry — just thaw them first!

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:07:12 +0000

Sesame seeds are even better pan-toasted briefly til they start to turn brown.

Regarding the vinegar – we freely substitute whatever kind we’ve got (if out of what the recipe calls for) or is handiest to grab, or as you said lemon or lime juice. We have at least 7 kinds of vingegar in our pantry right. Some are stronger than others, so we adjust the amounts to taste.

By: LB

LB — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:22:46 +0000

We make a recipe similar to this all winter long with frozen vegetable mixes. Peppers at this time of year are kind of pricey, and it is more economical to use frozen.

By: Mule Skinner

Mule Skinner — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:19:19 +0000

Chopsticks.

By: cv

cv — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:18:17 +0000

Looks delicious! For a dish like this I might use a little bit of sesame oil along with the vegetable stock, or added with the other flavorings. It complements soy sauce and rice vinegar quite well.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:12:46 +0000

In the penultimate paragraph, I think you mean either “substitute meat for the tofu” or “replace the tofu with meat.”

Nuts (almonds, cashews, or peanuts) are another interesting addition to vegetable dishes like this.