Are you interested in learning how to make stir fry vegetables at home? They really are a quick and yummy way to enjoy vegetables on a regular basis.

One of the good things about making stir fry vegetables is that you can use just about any vegetable that you have in the house: onions, carrots, green beans, zucchini, bok choy, mushrooms- the list can go on and on.

What I feel is the most important part of making a stir fry is the order that you cook the vegetables and what you use to add flavor to the dish.

When I say the “order” of the vegetables, I mean to be mindful of which vegetables cook faster or need longer cooking than others. Sometimes, as with carrots, if you cut up these longer cooking vegetables into small thin pieces then you can shrink the cooking times. Vegetables such as onions, carrots and peppers are great when they are cut a little bit smaller for a stir fry.

So you are asking “what are fast –cooking vegetables”? These include softer vegetables such as mushrooms, snow peas, spinach or bean sprouts. These sorts of veggies are best when added right at the end of the stir fry.

Now if you are using a frozen bag of veggies like the Trader Joe’s Stir Fry Vegetables, just pour the whole bag into the pan and start to cook from there.

Beyond the order that you add the veggies to the pan, what you are using to flavor this dish is very important. There are certain flavors that are special to stir fry or Oriental cooking in general. These flavor makers include:

• Garlic
• Ginger
• Soy Sauce
• Sesame Oil

When you add a combination of these 4 ingredients, you are going to create the best stir fry veggies.

So what we do to make Stir Fry Vegetables quickly and easily  is to pour one bag of Trader Joe’s Stir Fry Veggies into a sauté pan and add about ½ inch of water to the bottom. Cook on medium until the veggies are just thawed, about 5 minutes.

Now add 2 cloves of grated garlic and the same amount of grated ginger to the pan (Use the Microplane 35001 Home Series Coarse Grater, Black for best results). Also add a splash of Soy sauce ( ¼ cup) and a Tablespoon of sesame oil. Turn the heat up on the pan and “stir fry” all the ingredients together for 2 minutes or until hot and sizzling.  Taste a veggie and see if you need to add more soy sauce or sesame oil to taste.

It really is just that easy to have a delicious batch of stir fry vegetables ready to serve.

To make it even easier, Trader Joe’s sells small jars of chopped garlic and chopped ginger so that all you needed to do was add a spoonful from a jar to your pan. We used to use these items but now that Trader Joe’s sells fresh ginger root in the produce area and also those wonderful Elephant garlic bulbs right next to the ginger, I just love to use the items fresh and just grate up what I need each night.

So give these 4 super flavor makers a try and see if they don’t make your next Stir Fry meal the best you ever had. You will also see just how easy it is to make stir fry vegetables at home.