Vegetable stir fry

Ingredients

• Sachet or stir fry sauce.. These days they come in a wide range of flavours - just check that they're vegan (don't think I've ever come across one that isn't). I like my food flavours strong, so often use a packed that serves two to make a portion for one person
• Assorted vegetables. The best one are those that will stay crunchy after frying such as carrots, courgettes, French beans, sweet peppers, baby corn, mange tout, etc. A few 'non-crunchy' veg can also make a nice variety of flavours - broccoli and peas are toe of my faves.
• Protein hits. This meal can be quite low of protein, so think about adding nuts (cashews or peanuts work especially well), soya beans (edamame) and mushrooms.
• Noodles. Use either vermicelli (rice) noodles or make sure that wheat ones are egg-free.

Method

1. If you're using nuts, put them in a bowl, cover with boiling water and let then soak for around 30 minutes. This softens them up a bit.
2. Cut the veggies into small batons - around 2" long.
3. Cook the noodles as per the instructions on the pack and put them to one side in a colander.
4. Heat a very small amount of oil in a wok. I don't own a wok, and find a frying pan works equally well. The oil should be so hot it starts to smoke.
5. While the pan is heating up, put a kettle of water on to boil.
6. Add the veggies (and nuts if your using them) to the pan. Keep flipping them over every few seconds. A trick here is to not try and cook too many veggies in one go else they'll go soggy. In my large pan I can cook enough for two people. If I do more, I cook the veggies in batches and put one set to the side while I cook the rest.
7. When the veggies have softened, add the stir fry sauce. Remove the pan from the heat, but keep stirring them.
8. Pour boiling water over the noodles to make them hot again.
9. Serve the noodles on a plate or bowl, and add the veggies on top.

Variations

You can use rice instead of noodles. White long grain or jasmine rice works best.

General vegan cooking tips