On the Table: Mighty Green Stir Fry

I had a whole bunch of vegetables in the refrigerator last night, so I decided to make a veggie-filled stir fry.  The vegetables were predominately...green...hence the name!  Stir fries are really easy to prepare - the main consideration is making sure that everything is cut to the proper size so that it will cook evenly.  I don't have a wok so I just used a big skillet, and it worked great. 

The only possibly-unfamiliar ingredient in here is fish sauce, which is made from fermented anchovies.  I got it at the Thai grocery store, where a man who was originally from Thailand helped direct me to the best brand.  I learned that the darker the color, the stronger flavor - so I went with a light-ish one:

To prepare:

Prepare a cup of rice (I used brown rice), over which the stir fry will be served.  While the rice is cooking, prepare the stir fry.

Clean and cut up the following: one green bell pepper; half a pound of green beans; a quarter of a pound of mushrooms; and two garlic scapes.  Cut everything to eating-and cooking-appropriate sizes.  For example, I cut the ends off the green beans and then cut them into approximately one inch pieces, but I cut the scapes much smaller because you probably don't want a big mouthful of garlic scape. 

Put a large skillet over medium-high heat and coat the bottom of the pan with canola oil.  When the oil gets hot, add in the green beans.  I did not blanche the green beans before stir frying them, so they needed a little more time to cook than the other vegetables. 

While the green beans are cooking, mix together the following in a small bowl:  one tablespoon of sugar; two tablespoons of soy sauce; four tablespoons of fish sauce; and two teaspoons of crushed red pepper (or less pepper, if you don't want it too spicy).  Thinly slice four scallions.

When the green beans start to get tender, add in the mushrooms.

Cook for a few minutes.  When the mushrooms start to brown, add in the green bell peppers.

Cook for a minute, then add in the scapes and the sauce.  Cook for a minutes or two, then add in the scallions.

Stir well to combine, and cook until everything is heated through.

Serve over rice.

Enjoy!