{recipe} Stir Fry - Use up ingredients style

When I went to the grocery store last week, I was absolutely CRAVING veggies. I had no idea how I was going to cook them yet, but I knew that I was going to figure it out. I decided to make a stir fry with the eggplant, broccoli, and sweet peppers (not pictured below) I had sitting in my refrigerator. The greatest thing about a stir fry is that you can literally throw anything in it that you want and it will always turn out great.

My ingredient list - but don't let it restrict you from throwing in onions, or whatever else it is that you have sitting around!

- 1/2 eggplant, chopped into bite-size pieces

- About 1 cup broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces

- 3 sweet peppers, sliced

- A bit of canola oil

- A drizzle of soy sauce

- A spoonful of Sambal Oelek

- A touch of Sriracha hot sauce

- 1 teaspoon of minced garlic or garlic powder
- A sprinkle of  ground ginger

- 2 or 3 tablespoons of water

*Tofu would have been fabulous in this dish, but I didn't have any in my fridge.

Directions:

Pour a bit of canola oil into a large pan set over medium high heat and layer the eggplant, broccoli, and sweet peppers over it.

As the eggplant starts to cook, open the fridge door and start pulling bottles out. First, pour some soy sauce into the pan, standing a bit back to avoid the possible spatter. Then throw the Sambal Oelek and garlic in the saute pan. Lastly, pull out the Sriracha hot sauce and add as much as you feel you can handle. Add the water.

Stir everything together to make sure the veggies are well coated, cover and cook for a few minutes, coming back to stir often, until the vegetables are tender.

 You can serve it over your choice of rice and top with a bit more Sirarcha if it still isn't hot enough for you yet. I made this quickly before going to meet a friend for drinks so I just ate it plain while I got ready. 

The eggplant doesn't look very appetizing in this picture, but I promise it was good!

Just a side note for my "Basics" theme, if you love Asian food then here are a few basics you need in 
your pantry / refrigerator in order to make a stir fry like this on any given night.


- Soy Sauce 

(duh!)
- Sambal Oelek 

(this can be found in most grocery stores in the ethnic aisle. It is a chili/garlic sauce)
- Sriracha Hot Sauce 

(Do you love Tabasco sauce? Kick it up a notch with this Asian hot sauce.)
- Hoisin Sauce 

(This is a sweet sauce that is great with seafood dishes. I actually need to buy a bottle of this.)
- Rice Vinegar 

(I don't have this in my kitchen currently either! What kind of Chinese girl am I?!)
- Ground Ginger
- Garlic

There you have it! These are the ingredients I most commonly see in recipes for Asian cuisine.

Giveaway!

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Emma Ruffle Dress

Searching For My Song Embroidered Dress

Show Me Sunshine Paisley Pocket Dress

Purely Pretty White Dress

I know you want to enter now too! :)

{tip} the basics: minced garlic in a jar

I'm going to start doing blog posts about the tools / main ingredients I use the most in my kitchen. Some of them will be common sense but some are things that I have come to realize through cooking that I should just always have on hand.

When I first started cooking, I did everything by the book. If the recipe called for 3 garlic cloves minced finely, you better believe that I was in the kitchen chopping it up later that night. I love garlic. Italian food just wouldn't be the same without it. However, I HATE chopping/mincing garlic. It is sticky and takes forever. (I'm still an amateur after all.) Unless you have a food processor, the second best thing to fresh garlic comes in a bottle. This brand is less than $5.00 and it lasts forever. Go out and treat yourself to this lovely time saving ingredient. You'll thank me later. :)

{recipe} creamy chicken salad, in an avocado

Sorry for the quality of my photos! 

No natural light + non-snazzy camera --> the above.

I found this recipe on Cheeky Kitchen's blog & immediately knew I had to make it. Best part? I had most of the ingredients in my kitchen already (or at least something I could substitute if I didn't have the exact item), so that meant that I didn't have to make a stop at the grocery store in order to enjoy it. (ALWAYS a good thing!) I love the presentation & the flavor was great! This may become my go-to chicken salad recipe.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup chicken breast, cooked and shredded
(for a how-to on shredding chicken, check out my blog post!)
- ¼ cup corn 

(I didn't have corn, but I would love to add it next time!)

- ¼ cup black beans, rinsed and drained 
(I added a bit more than this to make up for the corn.)

- ¼ cup green onions, chopped 
(I didn't have green onions so I substituted with sweet yellow onion)

- ¼ cup tomatoes, diced 
(I used grape tomatoes and campari tomatoes)

- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped

- ¼ cup corn chips, crushed 
(I used organic tortilla chips)

- 2 tablespoons white vinegar

- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise 
(I used a low-fat mayo. I think that I will use a little less next time.)

- Salt and pepper to taste

- 2-4 avocados, sliced in half with pits discarded

Directions:

In a medium bowl, toss the chicken breast, corn, black beans, green onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and corn chips together.

Add the vinegar and mayonnaise to mixture and toss to coat. Salt to taste.

Spoon salad into halved avocados. Serve immediately with a spoon and fork. Enjoy!

Click Read More for the recipe without any photos!