Shrimp Stir Fry

This is a very simple recipe I learned from a friend a couple summers ago. You can easily shake up the ingredients to customize it to your palate. Basic ingredients are vegetables, a meat product, dressing/flavoring and some rice.

For the pictured dish, I used:

Broccoli

Red & Yellow Peppers

Onions

Mushrooms

Other veggies I typically use or have tried include Carrots, Boc Choy, Green Peppers, Zucchini, Snap Peas.

Shrimp

Other meats I have used are Chicken, Beef.

Italian Dressing

Other flavoring I have used includes Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce.

Prepare the meat the night/day before by deveining the shrimp (if necessary), or cutting up the chicken/beef to bite-size morsels. Marinate the meat overnight in your flavoring, you want the meat super saturated so be generous with the dressing. I will either put the shrimp/meat & dressing in a large plastic bag or in a large bowl. The next day, when it's dinnertime, cut up your vegetables, again into morsels. Peppers work better if you employ the "box cut" technique for vertical strips, as opposed to cross-section slices. Carrots you can julienne if you have skill or ambition, otherwise cross-sections are swell.

Now you can cook. Begin with the meat, either on the grill (tastes best), or cook it before the vegetables in your fry pan/wok. Once the meat is cooked, start dropping in your vegetables, being cautionary to cook speed (onions go in first, then carrots, then broccoli, save peppers and mushrooms for last). Basically it's just stir frying 101. Drop in some dressing/flavor whenever you feel it's drying up or needs some more sizzle. This veggie/meat combo is best over some white rice, so you can fire up a cup or two in the microwave or stovetop when you're starting the meat.

For portioning, I usually gauge it something like, 1 carrot per person, 1 pepper per person, a decent clump of broccoli per person. So a 6-person meal involves 6 carrots, 6 peppers and so on.

I will say this is an excellent dish to reactivate some leftover meats or vegetables. Also, if the meal produces leftovers they are an easy lunch the next day at work.