Ginger Garlic Vegetable Stir Fry

 

Summer means loads of fresh vegetables, and that makes me happy. Today’s recipe is a quick, under-30-minute meal for a meatless night or a great side dish to your grilled meats. There are really no rules about ingredients in my recipe. If you don’t like carrots, leave it out. Not a fan of broccoli, substitute asparagus. As I always say, make this recipe your own. Today I’m using a small head of broccoli, carrots, green beans, red onion, colorful bell peppers, and mushrooms.  A cup of chopped raw broccoli will yield 2.6 grams of protein, while a cup of cooked broccoli contains about 1.9 grams. Broccoli deserves its reputation as a “superfood” because it’s high in fiber, folates, vitamin C, vitamin K, and potassium. Flash sauté them for just a few minutes. Combined with the other ingredients, they make a sassy stir-fried vegan/vegetarian dish. Serve with brown rice or over pasta. For added protein, add 1/2 cup of cooked legumes, raw cashews or walnuts, tofu, or other protein.

  

Group the veggies by the amount of time they take to cook. Start your cooking first with the dense vegetables that take longer to cook, such as, onion and bell pepper. Add the light cookers last, and mushrooms fall in the middle of the sequence. Broccoli placement depends on taste, if you prefer it crisp or softer. Obviously, the softer you want it, the longer it cooks.

 

 

Ginger Garlic Vegetable Stir Fry

Use organic when available. Serves 4

 

Ginger Garlic Vegetable Stir Fry is ready in less than 30 minutes using the freshest summer vegetables. Depending on your additions, it fits most diets: Vegan, gluten-free, dairy free, vegetarian.

 

Ingredients

Sauce

• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
• 1 tbsp grated or minced fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup tamari or low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• Optional for spicy sauce: 1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes or to taste

Stir Fry

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup halved fresh green beans
• 1/2 cup snow peas
• 1/2 cup sliced red onion
• 1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 1/2 medium bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (3 oz)
• 1/2 cup optional raw nuts, sesame seeds, legumes, or tofu

Instructions

• Whisk together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
• Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat
• Add onion, carrots, and bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes
• Add broccoli and cook for 1 to 2 minutes
• Add mushrooms to the pan and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until tender
• Add the rest of the vegetables for an additional minute of cooking
• Optional: add nuts, seeds, legumes, or other protein in the middle of the stir-fry depending on the time needed to cook
• Whisk sauce again and pour over vegetables in pan
• Cook until thickened, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes
• Remove from heat
• Serve over steamed brown rice, noodles, or other grain
• Optional garnish with chopped green onions, sesame seeds, or nuts

Enjoy!

 

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Healthy Chicken Breakfast Sausage

 

Sausage is eaten in many cultures around the world. The ingredients may vary but the idea is the same: ground meat, often pork or a mix of meats and other ingredients with spices mixed together. Since the American culture has influences from many lands, our sausages are borrowed or adapted from those cultures like the American hot dog or frankfurter. Sausages are known for their shape when placed in a skin while many of us in America grew up eating sausage patties for breakfast.

 Here on the blog, I have tried to offer information and recipes to support a healthy diet. Personally I watch my fat and sodium content for my health. Breakfast meats tend to be high in both. For those of us who love sausage, this can be a real problem. My doctor discusses my fat intake every time I see her. I recently had a check-up and my cholesterol was good. Yeah!

While sausages may be delicious, they are often high in total fat, saturated fat, sodium, cholesterol, and calories. When eaten often, this meat product can be unhealthy. In fact, a 2012 study showed that regular consumption of processed red meat increases the incidence of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes.  And a 2013 meta-analysis of processed meat consumption suggested that 50 grams per day (or about 1.7 ounces     per day), increased the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 51% and increased risk for coronary heart disease by 42%.

Healthy Sausage Brands

Regular sausages are high in saturated fat, sodium and nitrates. Research has linked a frequent consumption of hot dogs to cancer in children. I ‘ve eaten very few processed meats like sausage and hot dogs in the last twenty years, but I am starting to eat breakfast sausage more now. Why? I’ve discovered chicken sausage from Applegate Farms. It’s a popular and easy-to-find brand which makes a wide variety of healthy dinner and breakfast sausages that are lower in calories than traditional pork sausage. Poultry sausage contains between 110 and 120 calories, 7 to 8 grams of total fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 310 to 440 milligrams of sodium. Compare that to Jimmy Dean sausage, for example, which contains a lot of saturated fat, sodium, and additives, making it notorious for its high cholesterol levels. 

Another healthy sausage brand is Al Fresco All Natural. The Apple Maple Chicken sausage contains just 50 calories 2 grams of total fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, and 150 milligrams of sodium (17% of the daily value) per link. It is made with skinless chicken, maple syrup, brown sugar, and dried apples. Be sure to read the nutrition labels of processed meat and choose wisely.

Homemade Chicken Breakfast Sausage

 

One way to control what’s in your sausage and save money is to make your own. Not only is ground chicken much leaner, it takes on the breakfast sausage flavors really well. If you prefer, you could also use ground turkey. Be careful of grocery store ground turkey and chicken as they often add flavorings. Read the label. Check out your local store as many grocery butchers will grind a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for you. We’ll start with a recipe of ground chicken breakfast sausage with a more traditional flavor with salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, smoked paprika, allspice, marjoram, sage, and brown sugar with no preservatives. Since the chicken breasts will have a low fat content, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the mix. The oil adds flavor and helps the patties get that sausage crust. Homemade sausage is so easy to make and taste so good. (If you use boneless skinless chicken thighs, you don’t need to add olive oil.)

 

Freeze the patties individually to store and cook when you need them. Place on a cookie sheet and then freeze. Remove from cookie sheet and use freezer containers or bags. If you put each sausage patty on a piece of parchment paper and stack them, you can put more pieces in the freezer container or bag.  They should last up to 6 months. While it’s still grilling season, grill them like hamburgers for a tasty sandwich.

Chicken Breakfast Sausage

Use organic when available. Makes 10

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 4 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
• 1/4 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

• Mix the dry spices and brown sugar in a small bowl
• Place meat in large bowl
• Add 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (for ground chicken breast)
• Mix well
• Add spices to the ground chicken and mix together well
• Divide the ground chicken into 10 pieces
• Flatten each patty between your hands
• Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium to high heat
• Add the sausage patties to the skillet
• Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until bottom is crispy brown
• Flip to other side and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes
• Patties should reach an internal temp of 165ºF
• Transfer sausages to a plate and let rest for a few minutes before serving.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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