Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry

Here’s one more November-y recipe before I dive into the treats of December (or at least the plans for some. It looks like it’s going to be a busy month.) It’s even a fairly healthy recipe, relatively low in calories and stuffed with vegetables. It’s a spicy stir fry with spaghetti squash at its center. Really.

I found myself intrigued by several recipes I came across on the internet for spaghetti squash Chow Mein.  I was all set to gather ingredients, when I thought: why have Chow Mein when I could have Kung Pao? And so I tapped into this chicken stir fry recipe for a spicier sauce, replacing ingredients based on what I had on hand, and coming up with a rather satisfying supper.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this dish. It turns out that spaghetti squash is a really good player in stir fry. It keeps its shape, rather than turning to mush in the wok, but has a delicate texture on the tongue, not feeling stringy or extra fibrous. Its flavor is gently sweet, but mild, so that takes on the flavors of the sauce surrounding it.

In addition to the fragrant, spicy sauce (which you can vary in spiciness as desired), I threw in some other vegetables, but nothing too fancy. I think bell peppers would be a good addition, as would thinly-sliced bok choy. Whatever goes in this dish, the spaghetti squash is really the surprising star. Cooked spaghetti squash in a hot wok with a spicy sauce. Who knew? Well, now we all do!

Spicy Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry

While I like this method of roasting spaghetti squash to get the tender, noodle-like strands, use whatever method you like. Also, feel free to cook the squash ahead of time to streamline your dinner-time prep.

1 medium spaghetti squash (about 2 ½ - 3 pounds)

½ cup Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey

¼ cup rice vinegar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

3 tablespoons canola or peanut oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

4-6 dried red chile peppers

1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, sliced or chopped

1 cup chopped green onion

½ cup peanuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Pierce the skin of the spaghetti squash. Place the squash on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan. Roast at 350 F for 20 minutes. Remove the squash from the oven and let cool until easy to handle. (The squash should now be easier to cut.) Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds and seed membranes.

2. Return the squash to the oven and roast another 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the flesh of the squash can be scraped out to form strands. Cool the squash until easy to handle and scrape the flesh into a bowl. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, combine the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, honey, and rice vinegar. Whisk in the cornstarch until the mixture is very smooth. Add the sesame oil. Set this sauce mixture aside.

4. Pour the canola or peanut oil into a wok or large skillet. Heat on high heat until very hot. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes or until the onion is browned. Stir in the garlic, ginger and chiles. Cook about 30 seconds more, being careful not to burn the chiles.

5. Add the cooked spaghetti squash and water chestnuts. Cook and stir until the squash has begun to brown. Stir in the green onions and cook about 1 minute more.

6. Pour the sauce mixture into the pan and stir. Bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened. (It should boil quickly.) Stir in the peanuts. Remove from the heat. Serve with rice.

Makes about 4 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Root Vegetable and Cabbage Stir Fry with Ginger and Lemon, Spicy Cabbage and Noodle Stir Fry, Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

Early Summer Stir Fry

Once the farmer’s market is in full swing, it’s hard to stick to recipes. It’s the time for improvising, for flinging together the best, freshest vegetables and herbs to make salads, toss with pasta, or stir fry in a hot wok. This week, I went with the wok and made a delicious, zesty stir fry with radishes, carrots, celery, edamame, scallions, and cilantro.

Normally, I don’t measure anything when I make a stir fry. I just chop up all the good stuff that I have, blast it in a wok, and drench it in what has become my go-to simple sauce: a combination of soy sauce, dry sherry, rice vinegar and Thai sweet chile sauce. I wanted to be able to tell you about this if it was good, however, so I paid a little more attention to the quantities. Of course, the measurements in the recipe below are more like guidelines, as are the actual vegetable ingredients.

I really recommend this combination of early summer vegetables (actually, in your part of the world, these might very well qualify as spring vegetables). The zingy, slightly bitter radishes become tender-crisp chunks when stir fried, as do the sweet carrots. The chewy, protein-packed edamame form a nice textural contrast and provide a pleasant, more neutral vegetable flavor. I kicked everything up with a whole teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, but you could use less for a milder dish, or you could use fresh chile peppers to taste if you happen to have some. I had garlic scapes, another early-season favorite, so I used those, but they are easily replaced with minced garlic cloves.

Since radishes tend toward strong-flavoredness in the bitter, astringent direction, I added a bit more sweetness to my sauce in the form of mirin, a sweet rice wine. I really liked the final balance of flavors, especially with the slightly floral addition from a bed of basmati rice. Brown rice would be just dandy, too. Really, whatever is in season is usually just dandy in a stir fry. Let your imagination run wild….and eat your veggies!

Radish and Edamame Stir Fry

Based on a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine

Trust me on the radishes here. They’re delicious! If you like radishes.

2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil

½ cup chopped garlic scapes or 4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 ½ cups radishes, cut into ½ -inch chunks

1 ½ cups carrots, cut into ½-inch chunks

½ cup chopped celery

1 cup shelled edamame, thawed if frozen

1 cup finely chopped scallions

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons sherry

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons mirin

2 tablespoons Thai hot chile sauce

1 cup chopped cilantro

½ cup chopped cashews

1. In a wok or a large skillet, heat the oil over high (or as high as you dare) heat. Add the garlic scapes and ginger and cook about 1 minute, stirring frequently. If you are using garlic cloves, just cook about 30 seconds. Add the crushed red pepper flakes and cook about 15 seconds.

2. Add the radishes, carrots, and celery. Cook and stir about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp and are beginning to brown. Stir in the edamame. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in the scallions.

3. Add the soy sauce, sherry, rice vinegar, mirin and sweet chile sauce. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and cashews. Cook just until the cilantro has wilted. Remove from heat. Serve with hot rice.

Makes about 4 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Mustard Greens and Green Bean Stir Fry with Peanuts, Szechuan Broccoli and Water Chestnut Stir Fry

One year ago: Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce

Spicy Cabbage and Noodle Stir Fry

Yes, it’s time for cookies. But until I can carve out some time (and get some decent photographs), I’ll have to talk about other things I’m eating. There have been some more really good muffins that I’ll post later, and I hope to dive into the butter-and-sugar food group for some more treats before January brings austerity calorie legislation, but a particular stir fry supper is worth spending some time on right now.

Of course, stir fry is just about right for busy nights, and there have been a few of those around here lately, but the real reason I like to make one this time of year is to star in a dinner-and-a movie night with A Christmas Story. You can eat anything you want – candy, cookies, turkey or ham or prime rib dinners – with any other Christmas movie, but you’ve got to have Chinese food with A Christmas Story!

 

This satisfying vegetable-based dish is quick and easy, especially if you have a food processor to shred the vegetables. I like to use the slicing blade on my Cuisinart to shred cabbage and the shredding blade for the carrots. I kept this pretty simple and used what I happened to have on hand. You could use or add other vegetables, such as bok choi or daikon radishes or scallions, but I really recommend starting with a good quantity of cabbage.

The sauce for this stir fry is spicy, and I love it that way. I used Sriracha for the bulk of the zing, with some Thai sweet chile sauce (which I adore). All those need to carry them in sauce form is some soy sauce (I used tamari) and an acid (I loved lime juice here). The combination of this spicy sauce with cabbage cooked over high heat and noodles is almost addictive, leading you to munch more and more and more, leaving no room for cookies, cocoa, or eggnog. Proceed with caution.

I added some beaten eggs to this dish for some protein. You could add some cooked chicken, beef, shrimp, pork or if you want it vegan, use tofu, seitan or finely chopped peanuts or cashews. I suppose you could even serve the cooked vegetables over rice instead of tossed with noodles. I really loved the way this whole dish came together, though. I liked this so much, in fact, that I may be watching A Christmas Story several times this year, just to have more excuses to make it!

Spicy Cabbage and Noodle Stir Fry

I cooked the scrambled eggs in the same wok as everything else here, but you could cook the eggs in another pan and add them to the pan just before the sauce.

¼ cup soy sauce or tamari

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon Sriracha or other hot chile sauce

2 tablespoon Thai sweet chile sauce

2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ medium green cabbage, shredded

2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded

2 celery stalk, thinly sliced

3 large eggs, beaten

8 ounces cooked fettuccine noodles or wide rice noodles

1. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, lime juice, Sriracha, and sweet chile sauce. Stir to combine. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil over high heat in a wok or large skillet. When very hot, add the onion. Cook, stirring constantly until softened and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook and stir 30 seconds.

3. Add the cabbage, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring often, until the cabbage is wilted and tender-crisp.

4. Push the vegetables to one side of the wok, leaving a space to cook the eggs directly on the pan surface. Add the eggs. Cook eggs, stirring frequently, until soft curds form (like scrambled eggs). Mix the cooked eggs in with the vegetables.

5. Add the noodles and mix in with the vegetables (a pair of tongs works well for this). Pour in the soy sauce mixture and stir to coat. Remove from the heat and serve.

Makes about 4 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Root Vegetable and Cabbage Stir Fry with Ginger and Lemon, Pork and Tangerine Stir Fry

One year ago: Mint Chocolate Cookies and Rum Raisin Oatmeal Cookies