Have you ever created the perfect sautéed meal? I have sautéed many meals in my lifetime, and they are usually made with leftover ingredients from dinner the night before, vegetables from the bottom of my fridge drawer, and random herbs and spices I can grab while cooking. But, once in a while I create something that I absolutely LOVE! I just had to share it!
First, a word about stir-frying and sautéing: Whenever possible, use water as the medium to cook your food in. If you can use water as much as possible you avoid using vegetable oils, which often are heated too high in the pan or wok, resulting in the oil being damaged. If you are going to use oil, opt for an unrefined grapeseed oil or olive oil, and do not heat the pan to the point of smoking. Or, use a small amount of coconut oil, a saturated fat, which has a less chance of being damaged.
My meal was made with an organic chicken bought at a local farm, many different vegetables from my garden, and a few vegetables I had on hand in my fridge as staples (you know the ones: bell peppers and broccoli!).
I started cooking up a pot of quinoa. I used black quinoa, a very beautiful looking seed that 
makes meals look bright! There are only two of us in our house, so I cooked up ½ cup of quinoa. Add ½ cup of quinoa to 1 ¼ cups of water, bring to a boil, put the lid on the pot and simmer on low-medium for 15-20 minutes, or until quinoa is soft, light, and fluffy. To double, cook 1 cup of quinoa to 2 ¼ cups of water.
I cooked a whole organic chicken the night before and had leftovers. I cut the chicken into smaller pieces and set them to the side.
I heated up my frying pan, and added a small amount of water (1/4 cup) and 1 tsp of coconut oil. I then added:
1 medium onion (freshly picked from my garden)
1 clove of minced garlic
1 large grated garden carrot
½ head of broccoli (finely chopped)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small kohlrabi (from my garden), diced
½ cup of frozen lima beans
Sea salt to taste
2 tbsp Bragg’s Seasoning (a natural soya sauce-found at Superstore or Community Natural Foods)
Herbamare to taste (herbamare is an aromatic herb seasoning)
Once everything was in the pan I added ½ cup of water and simmered the ingredients with the lid on for about 10 minutes. I then added the cooked chopped chicken.
Once this had been cooked, I served the sautéed meal over the cooked quinoa. It was delicious! The flavour of the salty Bragg’s soya sauce mixed with the light coconut flavour from the oil. The vegetables were complimentary, and I had a variety of types and colours!
I love using kohlrabi in recipes as many people have never heard of it before. Kohlrabi is a type of cabbage that you can find at your local health food store or grocery store. It is delicious if sliced and lightly steamed and then served with a small amount of organic butter. I love chopping it up and adding it to soups, stews, and stir-fry’s. It tastes similar to broccoli stems, but sweeter.
Try my recipe and see what you think. Maybe you can come up with some delicious alternatives!
