Stir-fry, the technique and the dish, seems so straightforward and adaptable to so many ingredients that you don’t need a recipe. But a quick Web search pulls up endless recipes and varied methods for making them. Some geek out with tools like a wok burner, blow torch, or outdoor grill to mimic the ultrafast, high-heat smokiness achieved by a commercial range. Others vie for the title of easiest stir-fry by tossing sautéed vegetables with store-bought teriyaki sauce.

Whether you trend toward geeky or easy on the stir-fry scale, the recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon fits into your regular meal rotation. It runs through the essential dos and don’ts and includes a quick, flavor-packed homemade sauce. The fresh vegetables you use make each one-dish meal unique.

Learn more about stir-fry techniques and get the complete recipe for Mixed Vegetable Stir-Fry in my column.

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Twice as Tasty

I’m in New York this week, and within 12 hours of my arrival, I stumbled on the New Roots Community Farm mere blocks from the friend I’m visiting. Miss Cheryl and Mr. Arthur made me feel right at home as we explored the half-acre makeover of a vacant city lot that now teems with raised beds of organic vegetables, fruit trees, and even beehives whose bounty is offered for free to the community—and visitors. I took more than 5 pounds of greens, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, turnips, and even quince back to the apartment. We’ve been feasting on it all week, and the first meal was—you guessed it—stir-fry.

At home, I make stir-fry with asparagus, snap peas, walking onions, and garlic scapes in spring. The colors expand in summer as green broccoli, zucchini, and peppers are joined by red onions, orange and red cherry tomatoes, and yellow summer squash. Fall’s variety includes brightly colored bell peppers, beans, and carrots.

Besides an array of seasonal vegetables, stir-fries can feature tofu, shellfish, and other meats. Raw shrimp cook so quickly that you can toss them into the pan in the final minutes, but many other proteins are best cooked separately and then heated with the vegetables until warm just before you add the sauce. To give them even more flavor, you can make extra or a different sauce to use as a marinade.

Here are just a few other fun stir-fry additions on the blog and in my cookbooks. You can find more ideas in the recipe index.

• Home-Smoked Chili Peppers
• Spiced and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
• The Garlicy Marinade I use for Veggie Shish Kebabs
• Crispy Pan-Fried Tofu
• Vietnamese Bean Sprouts and Chinese-Inspired Brined Beans in The Complete Guide to Pickling
• Crispy Brine-Glazed Tofu in The Pickled Picnic

For another protein that doubles as a fun topping, check out my recipe for Crispy Sprouted Lentils on the Clean Plates website.

Want more Twice as Tasty recipes? Get my books! Click here to order a personally signed, packaged, and shipped copy of The Complete Guide to Pickling directly from me. I also share tasty ways to use pickles in The Pickled Picnic; it’s only available here.