Really Simple Stir-Fried Fish, Vegetables, and Rice

I love one-pot meals (or in this case, a one-skillet meal). Stir fries are an easy way to make a quick, interesting, and nutritious meal. This is the one I had for dinner tonight, and this is how to make it (if you'd like a tutorial on vegetarian stir frying click here).

Dice or slice a couple handfuls of vegetables; for a stir fry this should always include onions and peppers in some form. The vegetables I used were onions, orange bell pepper, and broccoli. I didn't have ginger on hand but I did garlic (because I put garlic in almost everything that I make), so I minced some of that also.

The fish I used was tilapia, because that's what I had, but you can really use any firm seafood that will hold up to stir-frying (chicken, pork, or beef--or tofu, if you want to go vegetarian--would work well in this recipe also). Anyhow, I diced the fish, sprinkled it with a couple tablespoons soy sauce, then tossed it in a couple tablespoons cornstarch, and let it rest while I cooked the rice and had a glass of wine.

Cook some long grain rice in broth (I used chicken) with a little curry and a couple whole chilies. Use the ratio of two parts liquid to one part rice; cook it covered for 18 minutes covered, then shut it off and let it rest while you prepare the stir fry.

This is where it gets really simple, but more importantly, fun. Heat a large skillet or wok with a little peanut oil. When the oil is very hot, just when it begins to smoke, add the marinated fish and brown it.


Remove the fish to a plate and set aside. Return the skillet or wok to the flame (you may need to add a little more oil). Add the vegetables, first the onions and peppers, then the garlic, then the broccoli, and stir fry for a few minutes until it starts to brown. Sprinkle the vegetables with a little soy sauce (this will flavor it, and also create enough steam to loosen anything stuck to the pan), then add the fish back to the pan and toss gently.

Add some or all of the rice (and a little more soy if necessary) and gently toss together.

What really made this meal special was that I just opened a fresh batch of kim chi, and man is it a good one. Spicy, yes, but not overly so. It has a really sour flavor (which I like), and is so alive that it feels almost carbonated on your tongue. If you want to read an older post about kim chi, and other fermented foods, click here.

Yuba Ride

The above photos are actually re-posts from this past summer/fall (and yes, that is corn growing in my front yard...for the newcomer to this blog you can see more about my front yard corn here). I was inspired to re-post them after coming across the below video. It's an interview with Benjamin, the founder of the Mundo Yuba. It's interesting in that I always (somewhat righteously, I suppose) think of how bicycles impact my life, but the sustainability of them, and more specifically the sustainability and mobility it brings to struggling peoples, is often forgotten (by me). 10% of your purchase from Yuba goes directly to supplying these cargo bikes to Africa. The bicycle is, without doubt, the most efficient mode of transport ever built. Click here, here, and especially here, to see testimonies and pictures. Click here to see a a brief but interesting story on the expense of owning a car today; it is from (of all places) the Wall street journal. And don't forget to watch the brief interview below.

Mid-Winter and Lebanese Pizza

One of the things I enjoy about living in the northeast is our distinct seasons. Winter, for example, can be difficult for me at times, but it can also be a season of awe and beauty. I was in the backyard today splitting a few logs for the evening's heat when I glanced at my grapevine. It caught me off guard...I was looking at the barren vine coming out of the snow and remembering planting it a few years ago. This past summer there were far more grapes on it than I could possibly consume, but to look at it now it looked as if it would never grow a single leaf, let alone a bushel of grapes. Then I remembered this quote about Brother Lawrence:

"The first time I saw Brother Lawrence was on the 3rd of August, 1666. He told me that God had done him a singular favor in his conversion at the age of eighteen. During that winter, upon seeing a tree stripped of its leaves and considering that, within a little time, the leaves would be renewed and, after that, the flowers and fruit appear; Brother Lawrence received a high view of the providence and power of God which has never since been effaced from his soul."

Brother Lawrence, ironically (I suppose) was a cook in a monastery. You can read, download, and print his entire book here.

Here's a picture of what the now-barren vine looked like last summer; it will even be more full and robust this summer...something to look forward to.

On a different note: For dinner I had a Lebanese Pizza. It's a standard dough topped with za'atar seasoning, labna, olive oil, and onions. The za'atar and labna give it a sort of tart-and-salty flavor...it is (was) truly delicious. You can use the same method for the dough as this one (or the actual dough, if you want to make it a little more interesting). For a recipe for homemade yogurt and how to make labna (and other fermented foods), click here.