I’ve been eating an awful lot of burgers lately. Not sure why, but I felt like a healthy dinner was in order. My two-year-old son and I decided on a veggie-packed stir fry. Today at the grocery store he helped me pick out many colors of the rainbow: red bell pepper, carrots, broccoli and purple cabbage. 

I never use a recipe when I make stir-fry sauce, so all of the following measurements are approximate. Feel free to substitute vegetables of your choice. This recipe seems to have a lot of ingredients, but most of them are staples in my cabinet so it wasn’t an expensive dish. You could also add beef or chicken, I just forgot to thaw out any meat for tonight.

Rainbow Stir Fry with Orange Garlic Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Coconut oil

1/2 red bell pepper, julienned

1/2 large carrot, julienned

1/2 cup fresh green beans

1 small head of broccoli, cut into small florets

1/4 of a small red cabbage, chopped

4 crimini mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, chopped

1 brick of firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes

3 green onions, chopped

 

For the sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup chicken stock

2 tsp. rice vinegar

1/2 tsp. agave nectar

2 Tbs. orange juice

1 Tbs. chili garlic sauce

1 tsp. powdered or freshly grated ginger

splash of fish sauce

splash of sesame oil

freshly ground pepper

1/2 tsp. corn starch

Directions:

I like to serve this over brown rice. I recommend Alton Brown’s technique, which takes an hour in the oven, so prepare your rice and then start on the stir fry when there’s about 30 minutes remaining.

Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

In a large frying pan or wok, add two tablespoons of coconut oil and crank up the heat to high. Add the tofu and don’t move it for one minute. This will create a nice brown crust. Gently turn tofu to brown the other sides and set it aside for later.

Add another tablespoon of coconut oil and reheat the pan. Add all of the veggies except the green onions and toss till well coated in the oil. Let the pan heat up again and add 1/4 cup of water or chicken stock. Cover and steam for about 7 minutes, until the broccoli and carrots are just tender. 

Pour in the sauce and coat the vegetables evenly. Add the green onions and tofu and gently toss. Serve over brown rice.