Vegetable Stir Fry with Homemade Orange Sweet/Sour Sauce

This meal was more or less inspired by my love for Chinese food. I typically chicken fried rice or sweet and sour chicken, but this time around, I wanted to try to "Spice up" my usually boring, dull, and plain stir fry with some tangy delicious sauce.

I went to a small grocery store near Andrew's apartment that doesn't have the largest selection but it does the trick and it's a nice and small enough that you don't feel like you are being consumed by a regular sized grocery store.

The vegetables I used were basically what was available at the store: green beans, snow peas, broccoli, red pepper, and some water chestnuts.



Homemade Orange Sweet/Sour Sauce

Ingredients:
2 tsps. Spicy Chili Garlic Sauce (similar to the kinds they serve in restaurants)
2 in. Chunk of Fresh Ginger, peeled and to taste
2 Lemons (or bottled lemon juice will work)
2 Cups Orange Juice (I used with some pulp)
2 tsps. Cornstarch
8 tsps. Water



Directions:
1. Put a frying pan over medium heat. Add in hot chili garlic sauce and orange juice. Stir until mixed and beginning to boil.

2. Grate the fresh ginger into the pan (remember, to taste). Continue to lightly boil the sauce.

3. Mix the cornstarch in a small bowl with the water, until dissolved. Add mixture to the sauce.



4. Continue to stir and allow sauce to boil lightly as the sauce thickens up. When the sauce has thickened to your liking, squeeze in the fresh lemons and give the sauce one more stir.

5. Pour over veggies (and in this case, quinoa).



The sauce is citrus-y with a very pleasant kick. It would also work well on some pork chops with pineapple, onion and pepper or as a sauce on "orange chicken". I plan to use this basic recipe a lot in the future... small tweaks can greatly effect the sweetness, spiciness, or sourness taste!

Enjoy!

Stuffed Poblano Peppers- Sans Meat

Last night, I made stuffed poblano peppers. For those of you who aren't sure, poblano peppers are the larger and longer dark green peppers. They have some kick to their bite, but it's mild. The "stuffing" of these peppers always varies based on what I have around, however the mix I used last night was the best so far! Enjoy :0)

Ingredients:
3 Poblano Peppers, rinsed but NOT cut or seeded
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (I used 1 cup and had a lot of leftover last night)
1/2 cup precooked black beans, rinsed and drained (I used canned)
1 ear of corn (I cooked 3 last night, 2 leftover)
4 Tbs. of Salsa (I used Archer Farms Lime Tequila Salsa)
2 Tbs. Fresh Garlic, minced (to taste)
3 slices Mozzarella Cheese (or any other cheese you would like)
Salt and Pepper, to taste


Step 1: Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet and into an oven, preheated for 425 degrees F. Roast for 10 minutes then flip over and continue roasting for an additional 10-15mins or until skin is slightly wilted.

Step 2: While peppers are roasting, soak the quinoa in some water and drain (to get rid of impurities). Place the rinsed quinoa in a pot with 1 cup of water (if you use 1 cup of quinoa, add 2 cups water). Bring the quinoa to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Let quinoa cook for about 15minutes.





Step 3: In another pot, add ears of corn and cover with water. Place a lid on the pot and cook on Medium-High to desired doneness (I cooked the corn for about 15minutes).



One ear of corn will work for this recipe...


Step 4: while peppers, quinoa, and corn are cooking, work on the rest of the "stuffing". In a bowl, combine minced garlic, salsa, 1/4cup black beans, salt, and pepper. You could also add other spices or hot sauce!





Step 5: Remove the peppers from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.

Step 6: Add 1/2 cup of quinoa to the bowl of stuffing.

Step 7: Cut the corn off of the cob and add 1/2 cup to the bowl of stuffing.

Step 8: Cut a strip out of the poblano pepper, creating a pocket that can be stuffed. Also cut out the stem and seeds, rinsing with cold water to assure no seeds are left behind. Dice up the strip of pepper that was removed and add to the bowl of "stuffing".

Step 9: Mix up all the ingredients in the stuffing bowl. At this point, you can dump all the ingredients into a small pan and warm all the way through (takes about a minute or two).

Step 10: Spoon the stuffing into the 3 peppers, keeping distribution as even as possible.

Step 11: Cover each pepper with 1 slice of mozzarella cheese.

Step 12: Return to the oven and roast until cheese is melty and bubbling slightly.





Enjoy!!!



PS- I served the pepper with a Mild Italian Sausage because we had some, although it is not necessary!