A few weeks ago I hurt my knee. Nothing big but it takes 6-8 weeks of resting it to heal. If it does not heal after that then we start talking surgery. It will heal! I am trying to stay off it as much as possible which is difficult. In and out of the car, even just going up and downstairs in the morning and evening. I have gotten pretty good about making sure I am completely done upstairs when I go downstairs in the morning so that I am not back tracking during the day. But, I delayed grocery shopping as long as possible. Meaning cupboards were very thin before we went.

I decided to use up the vegetables in the vegetable drawer which were carrots, red peppers and orange peppers. I had a package of extra-thin rice noodles and enough ingredients to make an Asian Brown Garlic Sauce for stir-fry. One great thing is that this meal is ready, start to finish, in about 30 minutes!

If you do not have a sauce like this in your cooking arsenal you need to find one quick. This is easy to pull together at the last-minute and tastes great in a stir fry with beef, chicken, pork or plain with vegetables. I have three or four stir fry sauces that I can use to change-up the flavor of the dish. Find a good Sweet and Sour Sauce, Brown Asian Garlic Sauce and a slightly spicy hoisin sauce based sauce and you have the makings of many quick, easy stir-fry dinners.

I also had a small chicken breast so I fried it up separately for anyone that wished to have a few small pieces of chicken mixed in with their stir fry. Though my son continues to be vegetarian/pescatarian the rest of us still crave meat from time to time and are making this transition just much more slowly. Overall, we are eating meat less than twice a week and in much smaller quantities.

Verdict:

This dish was a hit. It had a hint of spice but was not too hot. It had a bit of sweetness but was not too sweet. We loved it. Next time I am going to add more vegetables and maybe some shrimp or serve it with some fish.

I served this meal with a green side salad.

The best part is I used gluten-free soy sauce so this dish was gluten-free and vegetarian for my mostly gluten-free vegetarian son.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup + 2 TBSP soy sauce
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 5 1/2 TBSP sugar
• 1 TBSP sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tsp powdered garlic
• 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
• dash of hot pepper flakes
• black pepper
• 2 TBSP cornstarch
• 2 TBSP water
• Thin rice noodles and assorted vegetables and meat for stir fry

Directions:

1. In a bowl combine soy sauce, vegetable stock, rice wine vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and black pepper. Stir until well combined. Taste and adjust spices as necessary. Set bowl aside.
2. Make stir fry using your choice of vegetables and or meat. Remember to start with the longest cooking vegetables such as carrots and end with ones that need less time like mushrooms and pea pods.
3. As stir fry is finished cooking prepare rice noodles according to directions.
4. Stir sauce into stir fry. Create a slurry using mixing the cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl until the cornstarch has dissolved. Stir the slurry into the stir fry and continue cooking until sauce thickens.
5. Once noodles are drained toss with the stir fry and serve.