Try this side dish for your Easter meal

In just over a week, we will be celebrating Easter Sunday once again. Lent seems to have flown by this year.

I have sad and happy news to share with you. The sad, is that we had to have our beloved dog Sam euthanized last week. He was our sweet Sam for 12 years, full of happiness and joy and he loved when I would disguise myself and he would howl until I shed a fake moustache or tea cozy from my head. Silly but fun for us to play. Everywhere I look, I can still see him.

The happy is that Gary and I will be celebrating our 52nd wedding anniversary this coming week. I can’t imagine how the time has flown by. We have a wonderful family, our three daughters and their husbands, nine grandchildren and one great grandson born this past January. We are very blessed in many ways.

I invented this stir fry of vegetables with great results. It is similar to the vegetables you would order at a Chinese restaurant. I will definitely make this again. I hope you will try this for a change.

My wish to you is to have a Holy and Happy Easter with your families.

CHINESE VEGETABLE STIR FRY INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp. vegetable oil
6 large cremini mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced
10 or so baby carrots, cut julienned
2 celery ribs, sliced on the diagonal
1/2 a large sweet onion, sliced lengthwise If you have any sweet orange, red or yellow peppers,use some here as well. Seed and core and slice them lengthwise, then in half
2 baby bok choy, sliced
1 broccoli head, broken into florets, then sliced
1 cup or more sugar snap peas, sliced on the diagonal

THICKENING SAUCE TO ADD AT THE LAST OF COOKING:

1 tsp. minced garlic in oil
3/4 cup of water
1 tsp. of ginger puree OR grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp. low sodium soya sauce
2 tbsp. or more modified cornstarch (We carry this at Sharyn’s Pantry. It is an excellent cornstarch; it is more stable and stops sauces from breaking down. It can be used with great success in pie fillings.)
3/4 cup of water
1 heaping tbsp. of Better than Bouillon chicken seasoning (we carry this at Sharyn’s Pantry)

METHOD:

-Prepare all of the vegetables. I have listed them in order how you will cook them.
-Have them in piles on your cutting board, ready to add them into the frying pan.
-Mix the ingredients for the thickening sauce in a small bowl, ready to add at the last of the cooking.
-Now, in a hot, deep sided frying pan, heat the oil. Add the sliced cremini mushrooms, sliced baby carrots,celery slices and onion slices. Saute these for a few minutes, stirring often.
-Lastly add, the sliced baby bok choy, sliced broccoli florets and sliced sugar snap peas.
-You just want to saute these vegetables for a minute or two at the longest.
-Add in the mixed sauce thickening now, stirring to coat all of the vegetables. Cook until the sauce begins to boil and the sauce turns shiny over the vegetables. Serve now. ENJOY!