Fast and Delicious Broccoli Stir-Fry

Dinner is a never-ending conundrum in my house; I'm not gonna lie.

Despite the fact that I have a well-stocked pantry, and regularly cook meal after meal for my family, sometimes I just come up short with new ideas.  Couple that with the fatigue, extreme nausea, and all-day-sickness I had for the first five and a half months of this pregnancy and, well, let's just say my family hasn't eaten all that well for a while now.

Not that it hasn't been homemade....it's just been a lot of sandwiches on homemade bread and pizza on homemade dough.  Maybe some chili or soup thrown into the mix.  Maybe a roast thrown in the crockpot every other month.  And a LOOOOOT of requests from me to the Hubster for Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, and french fries from Whataburger.  Because when I couldn't keep a potato down any other way, I somehow miraculously could if it was a french fry.  Go figure.

But I digress.  Now that the pleasantries of pregnancy are random and not daily, I find myself with more energy and actually eager to eat lots of green veggies.  So the pendulum can swing both ways!

I found this recipe in the January issue of Southern Living and my whole family absolutely adored it.  So last night, when I came up short on ideas for dinner for me and the Kiddo, I decided to make an even faster variation on this theme....up-ing the ginger quotient and minus the heat to please my preggo palette.

Fast & Delicious Broccoli Stir-Fry {with Basmati Rice & Lentils}
Serves 4. 

2 Tbsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 16 oz. bag of Organic Frozen Broccoli
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup low-sodium organic beef broth
1 Tbsp. organic light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice (or lime, I used what I had on hand)
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
Mix of 1/2 cup organic Basmati rice and 1/2 cup lentils, cooked

Rice and lentils are my friend because you don't have to pre-soak either the way you do beans!  For this meal I added 1/2 cup Basmati rice and 1/2 cup dried lentils to my trusty rice cooker, along with 2 cups of water, a splash of extra-virgin olive oil, and about 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt.

Once I got the rice/lentils going, I pre-heated my cast-iron skillet on high heat.  Once it was hot and smoking I added 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and let the oil heat for about a minute or two, then I added the bag of frozen broccoli.  (Warning!  Since it's frozen broccoli and you're adding it to hot oil, the oil will have the tendency to splatter a bit.  This shouldn't be a problem if you use fresh.)  I tossed the broccoli a bit with tongs to make sure it was evenly coated and allowed it to cook for about 5 minutes.

While the broccoli was cooking, I mixed the salt, pepper, broth, lemon juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisked to combine.  Once the broccoli was nice and browned, I added the broth mixture to the skillet and let cook for another 2 minutes while I grated the fresh ginger and sliced the garlic.  Then I added these last two ingredients to the skillet and stir-fried with the tongs for about 5 more minutes.

It smelled amazing and I was so tempted to eat all the broccoli straight out of the pan!  Since my stir-fry was finished before my rice and lentils, I lowered the heat to simmer and covered with aluminum foil to keep it warm.  Once the rice and lentils were done, I served the stir-fry over the rice and lentils and added a tiny drizzle of extra soy sauce to each plate.

This was such a fast and easy way to make sure the Kiddo and I both got our protein and green veggies...and we both cleaned our plates!  That child hasn't eaten broccoli in FOREVER, so I'm calling this one a success.

The fabulous thing about this recipe is you can absolutely modify it with what you have on hand.  After I cooked up the stir-fry it occurred to me that I should have also tossed in some carrots and turnips which are looking a little wilty in my refrigerator crisper drawer.  No worries...if I don't add them to a soup soon, I'm sure I'll be craving this dish again within the next couple of days.  :)