Until.
I had to come up with something new... or different, rather, because we all know that everything I make is pretty much the same thing in a different format (veggies in soup, veggies in rice, veggies in eggs, veggies in pasta casserole, sometimes with chicken) and I was losing motivation to actually cook for myself.
That's a red flag.
My housemate Holly recommended I try doing the stir fry (because we bought a 25 pound bag of long grain brown rice (for $27, Lundberg Organic, sweet)) with a peanut sauce.
So I went online to check out sauces, which is what I do for all my recipes and dishes by the by. I sort of see how things are put together, and use the ingredients I like, as in red sauce from scratch rather than from a can, or dehydrated beans rather than from a can, or Cashew Butter & Almonds rather than chunky Peanut Butter.
See, recipes are really like laws. They create order, get everybody on the same page, but more often than people realize, they're pretty unnecessary in a lot of situations once you get how things work.
I mean, really, who waits at a stop light at 3am on a Tuesday?
I'm not saying recipes are meant to be broken like an unjust or unnecessary law, just that they should be guides, you need to use your own common sense and use your judgment to suit it to your taste and competency level.
You should do this with recipes too.
Laws and recipes are no excuse for not thinking.
You need to ask yourself, what would I do?
You will often find yourself doing what has been written out, like crossing at the cross walk. You will often find an adequate substitution, like a vegan alfredo sauce. You will often find that it is still legal to kill someone under certain circumstances, like, in North Dakota, it is legal to shoot an American Indian on horseback, provided you are in a covered wagon. You will often find that ratios are off, like flour vs oil for cookies, or like the priority to criminalize some controlled substances with known health benefits vs. the much more widely distributed and very legal (once you are of age) controlled substances with known health risks. You will often find that you need more garlic, like in congress.
Good cooks do not need recipes to tell them how to cook well, while bad people will find a way around the laws.
Remember everything Hitler did was "legal," and how many books did Martin Luther King Jr. write while in prison?
And of course we can't forget Thoreau.
I think you get the picture.
Use your better judgment. Always.
Okay then, this is in addition to the Stir Fry to schnazz it up a bit for when it gets boooring, or really you can make it for whatever.
I am using it for my stir fry.
The ingredients:
Left to right, back row first: Cashew Butter, Balsamic Vinegar, Tahini, Tamari, Olive Oil, Toasted Sesame Oil... Garlic, Serrano Pepper, Salt (which I actually didn't use, because Salt & Tamari in the same dish is rather redundant), Turmeric, Paprika.Add to food processor.
Yes, I know I mentioned in a previous post that I wish I had a food processor, and in actuality the house does have a food processor, however it is only good for small batches, not good for vegan alfredo sauce for lasagna... and it's, well, it's seen better days.
But it's ideal for this sauce, so onward
I put four big dollops of Cashew Butter with a nice medium sized spoon and a couple smaller spoonfuls of Tahini for the body of the sauce. Balsamic Vinegar, Tamari, Toasted Sesame Oil, Garlic, Serrano Pepper, Paprika & Turmeric for taste. Olive Oil & Water for consistency.Process.
Make adjustments for taste and texture. Olive Oil makes it creamier, Water thins it out, but makes it fluffier.Fluffy water? I know, it's weird, but that's how it works.
I added a bit more Toasted Sesame Oil, and probably some Tamari.
I also put in whole Tamari Roasted Almonds, a little chunky in the creamy.
Process again.This next step isn't necessary, you could just pour the sauce over the cooking veggies and you'd be fine.
But I'm going to marinade the Shiitake Mushrooms in it.
So prep those.
And pour it on.
Do all the other stir fry stuff... chop veggies, cook, etc.
Then add the Mushrooms & Sauce when you're ready.
As you can see, the mushrooms began their sauce bath before the sun went down.Just remember the Mushrooms need to cook a bit still, so you'll have to time it right if you don't want to over cook your veggies.
Disco.Serve with Rice & Chilled Sake... unless you're bringing it to work for lunch, then you probably shouldn't drink, unless you're in Spain or work in some creative firm or someplace that's and doesn't have so many liability issues.
