Ho-Lee Stir-Fry

Ho-lee stir-fry is all vegetables - lots of them and to quote my husband, "This is probably the best stir-fry you have ever made." That coming from a carnivore who loves his meat and taters and to whom I approached timidly about us having an all vegetable meal for which he did say yes.

As my husband is my number one critic (as I have told you before) any time I make something new I wait to see his body language while he's eating. Anyone that knows him, knows that if he doesn't like the food he's eating he has tell tale signs of how much he doesn't care for the dish. From taking forever to chew, moving the food around the plate in between bites to the ultimate of crossing his arms and legs, pursing his lips and sitting sideways at the table. I have received the latter only once during our marriage, thank God.

• 1 small head broccoli florets
• 1 small bunch bok choy
• 1 - 10 oz. package crimini mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups sno peas (use the liquid measure for a gauge)
• 1 large bell pepper (any bright color)
• 1 small bunch scallions
• 1 can baby corn
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger - minced
• 2 large garlic cloves - minced (about 1 tbsp.)
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup Sake
• 1 tbsp. General Tsao stir-fry sauce (I used House of Tsang brand)
• 2 tbsp. oil

1. Start out by washing all of the fresh vegetables. For the bok choy you remove the base and part of the green leaves at the top but just the leaves that have curled or show any brown edges. The main leaf is delicious.
2. Clean your mushrooms and slice them. I just split my in half because my husband isn't a big mushroom fan and I figured he could pick around them.
3. Cut your bell pepper into bite sized chunks, if you need to stretch this to feed more, slice the snow peas in half vertically. Cut up the scallions (some of the white is fine in the dish).
4. Drain the corn. Mince the garlic and ginger and get your other ingredients measured out.
5. Add the oil to the wok. Let this heat up over a lower heat to begin with and add in the garlic and ginger. Stir-fry until you smell the fragrance of the garlic. Carefully remove with a slotted spoon to a small bowl.
6. Crank the heat up under the wok or if using an electric wok to 350°. Add in the vegetables and then mix well. Add the garlic and ginger back to the pan as well.
7. Keep turning and stir frying for a few minutes. Then add in the sake.
8. Cook, stir for two minutes and add in the red pepper flakes, the chicken broth and the stir-fry sauce.
9. Keep stir frying and turning the vegetables until you reach the desired tenderness. Or turn the heat down and lid to simmer for a bit. We like our vegetables crisp tender so it doesn't take long to get to that point.

This healthy and delicious meal cost me, sans the rice $10.91 to make. The dish yields a lot and would feed 6 comfortably a nice large portion for $1.81 per serving.

Aside from the cost what you get from stir-frying all those lovely vegetables is everything the vegetable has to offer in vitamins and minerals, none of it is just boiled out into a pot of water. The sauce is so delicious - the combination of sake and the stir-fry sauce and chicken broth creates a delicately but well-balanced sauce.

If you currently don't own a wok, use a large, deep skillet and stir-fry in that. And set aside some seed money to pick one up for yourself; you won't be disappointed. We have an electric wok that is now eons of years old and it's one of my favorite kitchen tools.