Stir-fries seem like an obvious, simple meal, yet I rarely see people preparing them as a regular meal to substitute for takeout or a boring old sandwich. The following is praise for the wonderful simplicity of stir-frying.

So why cook stir-fry more often?

Ease: Stir-fries are very difficult to screw up. There is little need to measure any of the ingredients.

Quick: Noodles only take a few minutes to boil. Likewise, vegetables. Frying the boiled noodles and vegetables in a wok or pan only takes a few minutes longer.

Frugality: You can add many leftovers to a stir-fry. If you have a mix of ingredients in the fridge, you can probably make a decent stir-fry.

Health: Most people aren’t fans of veggies. To get around this, some people juice or make smoothies. I want the benefits of fibre though. I find that stir-fries really make eating vegetables a lot easier since they’re surrounded by carbs from the rice or noodles and fat from the cooking oil.

Recipe:

You essentially need three ingredients for a stir-fry: carbs (rice or noodles), oil and filling.

Carbs: A rice cooker is invaluable if you don’t already have one.

Oil: You can use any number of oils.

Filling: Look in the fridge for leftovers. I will try to add some leftover meat, veggies and maybe an egg.

Extras: You can add a number of complimentary flavourings. Fresh ginger, soy sauce, hot sauce, salt/pepper. Experiment and try to find the flavours you enjoy.

There you go. That’s my routine for cheap, healthy, easy meals throughout the busy workweek.