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!

Pasta with Pesto, Broccoli, Artichokes, and Garlic

Last night (Wednesday, March 10th), we were in somewhat of a rush because I had to be back in downtown in about 2 hours to help my friend out at a charity event. That being said, we didn't take picture of the ingredients beforehand nor did we get pictures of actually cooking the meal. We did, however, manage to take a picture of the final product on a plate with only a few bites out of it!

We used whole wheat pasta instead of white flour pasta, which changed the texture somewhat, but was a lot healthier. Overall, I (Meghan) thought it was really tasty- VERY green (which is cool because St. Patrick's Day is next week)! It probably took 20minutes total to make, so it is definitely a quick meal.

We had originally planned on coupling it with garlic knots made from some leftover pizza dough we had in the fridge, but it looked a little spoiled, so we didn't want to chance it. We'll have to save that for next time! Enjoy!

Pasta with Pesto, Broccoli, Artichokes, and Garlic

Ingredients:
1 box whole wheat pasta (any shape)
1 container of basil pesto (we used a container from Wholefoods- about 6oz.)
1 container/bag of spinach, rinsed (you can use as much or as little
1 can artichokes in water (not oil)
2 broccoli crowns, rinsed and cut into edible pieces
Chopped Garlic (to taste- we used 2 cloves)

Directions:
1. Fill a pasta pot about 3/4 of the way with water. Cover with a lid and put on the stove until water is boiling (add a pinch of salt to help with boiling and taste if you'd like). When the water boils, add the pasta and cook until preferred softness. Drain pasta in a strainer, return to pot, cover with lid, and set aside.

2. Place a large skillet on a medium-low. Add the spinach and a couple tablespoons of water (this will help make sure the spinach doesn't burn). Continue to stir spinach to make sure it evenly heats.

3, As the spinach the heats, it will wilt. When it has started wilting, add the broccoli and cover with a lid. The lid will help to steam and cook the broccoli more evenly.

4. When the spinach is completely wilted and the broccoli is cooked to desired tenderness, add the artichokes and garlic. Heat the mixture of veggies for about 2 or 3 minutes.

5. Add the veggies and the pesto to the pot that has the drained and cooked pasta. Put on low heat and heat until all is warmed (about a minute). Enjoy!!!