Using what we have

We really tested the fridge-life of last week's veggies, and they held up admirably. We were so busy, we didn't use them up until the night before our next box was due. Here's how it all went down:

The collard greens, we steamed with some store-bought kale, then dressed them with oil, minced garlic scapes and a bit of vinegar. They were OK--we think they suffered because of the nasty water that's been issuing forth from our tap.

The scallions became hot dog fixin's, again.

Here's what remained Wednesday: the last scapes of the season, a bunch of peas and some Italian parsley. Exhausted after a long day at work, I reached for the wok and a can of mock duck. I was ready to settle for a healthy, simple, good-enough stir fry.



Patrick was like, "What kind of sauce are you going to put on it?"

And I was all, "You can squirt some sriracha on it at the table or whatever—I don't care."

But he intercepted with an awesome, improvised Szechuan sauce. It was so good, I've already made it again. Here's the recipe:

Use-What-You-Have Stir Fry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 tablespoon sriracha
1 tablespoon cooking sherry
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Like 1/4 cup oil for the wok
A 10-ounce can of mock duck, drained and sliced (or whatever protein you have around)
About 8 dried red peppers
1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns
2 cups random vegetables, chopped

Make the sauce in a small bowl by first dissolving the starch in the soy sauce, then adding the sriracha, sherry and sesame oil. Set the sauce aside. Heat the 1/4 cup oil in the wok. Brown the mock duck with the peppers and peppercorns. Add the veggies. Keep stirring and frying. Once it looks good enough to eat, pour the sauce in and stir it some more. Yum!



What are Szechuan peppercorns? Here's a picture.



We searched high and low for them when we first got into Chinese cooking. People told us stuff like, "They're illegal in the U.S." and "Black peppercorns are a good substitute." Lies. Lies! They're fragrant, subtly floral, mouth-numbing, spicy fruit pods. We finally found them at United Noodle, so you should just go straight there. The flavor is like nothing else.

On the menu at Chiang Mai Tai in Uptown, it says "Spice is the spice of life!" I've always loved that. If you keep enough interesting non-perishables in your kitchen, it's a lot easier to stay excited about vegetables.