picnic fare: couscous salad with cucumber, feta, and arugula

When the weather looks like this:

You have to round up your family:

…and go eat and drink outside:

This is a really simple salad that I threw together for an afternoon at the park. There’s nothing special about it – in fact, it was mostly an excuse to use up some sad-looking cucumbers and soon-to-become-moldy feta that I found in the fridge. Please consider it more of a blueprint for a delicious salad made up of any pasta, rice, or other grain. Don’t like feta? Substitute Parmesan, or omit the cheese altogether. Want some extra crunch? Add some toasted almonds. Feel like there’s not enough color? Add some shredded carrot or diced red pepper. Etc, etc, etc.

Couscous Salad with Cucumber, Feta, and Arugula

serves 4 as a smallish main dish; probably up to 6 as a side

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous
• kosher salt
• 1-2 cups fresh arugula, roughly chopped
• 1 large cucumber or 3 smallish cucumbers (I used 3 Kirby cucumbers that I bought at the Asian market last week; as with eggplants, I find smaller cucumbers to be firmer, more flavorful, and less seedy)
• 1 cup feta cheese, roughly chopped or broken into 1/2 inch cubes
• About 1/4 cup any vinaigrette, plus more to taste (I used I used some leftover Mustardy Vinaigrette)

Directions

Prepare the couscous: set a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. After a minute, add the dry couscous and a good-sized pinch of salt. Toast, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown lightly, about 3-4 minutes.

Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, covered, about 10-12 minutes, or until the water is absorbed and the couscous grains are plump. Dump the warm couscous in a large bowl and add the arugula. Toss for a mute or so until the arugula is wilted and the couscous is starting to cool. Set aside.

While the couscous is cooking, you can prepare your cucumber. Peel the cukes if you want, then cut in half and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Slice the cucumber halves into 1/2 inch wide spears and then cut crosswise into 1/2 inch dice. Toss with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt (I know this is a lot; trust me) and let sit in a small bowl for about 10 minutes. This is going to lightly pickle the cucumber chunks, concentrating their flavor and reducing the sogginess of your salad.

After the cucumbers have mellowed, dump them into a strainer and rinse off the excess salt. Drain well and add to the bowl with the couscous and arugula. Add the feta and your dressing and toss well. Taste for seasoning; it might need more dressing and/or salt.

Refrigerate until well-chilled, then serve with ice water, chilled white wine, and pals.

warm lentil salad with crispy fish

Last weekend I visited my folks in Spokane, and I got to work in the House of Charity kitchen with my mom. Watching my mom and the volunteers at HoC cook is like watching an episode of Iron Chef. On Monday, they had several sheet pans full of frozen wild-caught salmon (given to them by the government; Mom thinks that the fish may have been illegally caught and was confiscated), a bunch of lentils from the food bank and several boxes full of packaged spinach leaves (recently passed the “sell-by” date but still completely fresh). They stewed the lentils, tossed them with a sharp, mustardy vinaigrette, and let them cool. Then we roasted the salmon in the convection ovens and sliced the spinach into thin shreds. Each diner got a plate with a mound of fresh spinach topped with some lentils and a piece of salmon, with extra vinaigrette drizzled on top.

Folks, this was pretty great food.

When I got back to Seattle, I set out to make a scaled down version for the blog. I picked up some really great steelhead trout fillets at Uwajimaya (you could use salmon or any other meaty fish with delicious skin) and pulled my bag of lentils out of the pantry. I forgot to pick up spinach at the store, so I lightly sauteed some bagged collard greens and used that instead (next time I’d probably go with fresh spinach, as I mention in the recipe below). Everything except the fish was a pantry item – the tomatoes, carrots, oil, mustard, etc. was all sitting around already. And while a piece of crispy-skinned fatty fish completely elevates this dish, the lentil salad is great on its own as well. This is also a great dish for packing in lunches as it actually tastes best at room temperature.

Warm Lentil Salad with Steelhead and Greens

serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 8 ounces dry lentils
• 1 large carrot, diced
• salt
• 1 large tomato, diced
• Mustardy Soy Vinaigrette (recipe below), or use your favorite vinaigrette with an extra dollop of Dijon mustard (it should be very strong and sharp tasting – the lentils can handle it)
• Roasted Trout (recipe below)
• 1 10-oz bag fresh spinach, cut in chiffonaded (roll up a stack of leaves and slice into thin ribbons)

Directions

Combine the lentils, carrots, 2 teaspoons salt, and 2 quarts water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover partially and reduce to medium-low. Cook for about 20-30 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked through but still a tiny bit firm (taste them; you’ll want to err on the side of more done rather than less done, but try to avoid making them mushy). Drain in a colander, reserving the cooking liquid. Toss drained lentils with 1/4 cup Mustardy Soy Vinaigrette and the tomato. Taste for seasoning; it may need a bit more salt and/or more vinaigrette. Set aside to cool. If the lentils seem to get gluey or gummy as they cool (mine did a little bit; I think it happens with older lentils that cook a bit inconsistently), add a bit of water or cooking liquid to loosen them up.

Roast your trout or salmon. (You can make your vinaigrette while the lentils are cooking. Also, the lentils will keep at this stage for up to a few days, so feel free to prepare ahead of time).

Plate your dish: place a small handful of spinach ribbons on a plate. Top with an off-centered 1/3 cup of the room-temperature lentils/carrots/tomato mixture. Balance your fish on top and drizzle a little extra vinaigrette over everything. Serve.

Mustardy Soy Vinaigrette

adapted from Serious Eats

• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 small shallot, roughly chopped
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• salt and black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small container and blend with a stick blender until very smooth (or use a blender or food processor). Taste for seasoning: it should be assertively mustardy and vinegary. I also like a lot of black pepper in this (and that’s saying something, since I really don’t like black pepper). If you’ve overdone it on the mustard, salt, vinegar, or pepper, hit it with some more canola oil to smooth it out. If it seems really thick (and it might, because of the mayo), blend in a few tablespoons of warm water. This vinaigrette lasts forever in your fridge, and is great on bitter greens or in a pasta salad.

Roasted Trout (or Salmon)

• 4 4-oz fillets trout or salmon, very preferably with skin
• salt
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and preheat for 1 minute. Add oil and continue to heat until lightly smoking. Salt the skin sides of the fish and place them in the pan, skin side down. Salt the tops of the fish. Cook without moving for about 2 minutes, occasionally checking the skin side. After 2-3 minutes, add the butter and place the fish in the oven and roast for about 2 minutes. Pull the fish out and peek into them with a sharp knife: you want the insides to be cooked through but still fairly pink.

Remove to a plate to rest for a few minutes, then plate.

friday fry: homemade tortilla chips!

Who doesn’t love tortilla chips? When we were growing up, my mom didn’t keep many snack foods in the house (“if I buy them, they’ll just get eaten!” — sorry, Mom! You were right!). However, I could usually count on finding a bag of tortilla chips and a big jar of salsa in the fridge, and it was always a really satisfying snack.

While bagged tortilla chips from the supermarket are a decent value and can certainly be tasty enough, you can get much better results for a lot less money by frying them yourself at home. I used to bake my chips. This works pretty well, but after a while I realized that about as much oil was going into the baked chips as it was the fried chips (effectively oven-frying something is a real pain in the ass, and you always end up using more oil than you think you will. Plus, even if you have a great oven — which I don’t — your chips will not brown evenly). Frying chips works really well because they cook quickly and you don’t have to be really fastidious about oil temperature. With even a few cups of oil in a small saucepan, you can pump out a party’s worth of chips in less than half an hour, and all for about a dollar or two.

First, consider your frying vessel. I’m using a wok, but you can use any pan you like, as long as it can hold about 2″ of oil with a few more inches of space above that (so while your straight sided saute pan or cast iron pan would actually probably work fine, you probably want something with taller sides).

Second, consider your oil storage system. For small-batch frying, I like to buy a fresh container of vegetable oil and use it only for frying. If you’re just using this for chips, a medium-ish container is fine – something that costs about $3.19 at the grocery store. Label it “FRYING OIL” and strain your cooled oil back into it when you’re done; you’ll be able to re-use this for a long time, especially if you’re not frying meat in the oil.

Third, consider your tortillas. Flour tortillas make especially light and crispy chips, because the tortillas themselves are made with fat. While these are a delicious indulgence every once in a while, I usually avoid them at home and instead opt for my favorite fridge staple: corn tortillas. A stack of 75 corn tortillas costs about $3 and will give you between 450 and 600 chips, assuming you don’t waste any of those on tacos .

Looking for something to enjoy with your tortilla chips? Try guacamole or any homemade salsa , or do what I do when I don’t feel like making salsa: pick up a can or jar of Herdez brand Salsa Casera. You can find this in the Latin foods section of your grocery store — it’s usually sold in smallish cans for about $2/can (I saw some larger jars on sale at the Grocery Outlet and I bought a whole flat of them… we have almost depleted our stock, and I am regretting not buying more). This is THE JAM. I really don’t know how they do it, and I can’t even place the flavor that makes this stuff so great — I guess it’s pretty salty and garlic-forward, with a good dose of vinegar — but seriously, it is hands-down the best prefab salsa you can buy. If you take one thing away from this post, it should be this: you need to buy and eat more Herdez Salsa Casera.

Ready to fry? OK! Let’s go!

Heat your oil over medium-high heat. You want it to get up to about 350 degrees. A thermometer is best, but if you don’t have one I give you permission to cheat a bit here: drop in a bit of tortilla. Does it brown fairly quickly and consistently? Then you’re probably fine. Go for it.

While the oil is heating, prepare your tortillas: cut the tortillas into sixths or eighths.

Get your draining rig ready. I like to have two bowls: a medium-sized bowl lined with paper towels for draining and salting, and a larger bowl for the drained, hot chips.

When the oil is ready, carefully drop in about 10-15 chips. Stir gently with a skimmer until they are golden-brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove with a spider or skimmer to your paper towel-lined bowl and toss with a good pinch of salt, then start on your next batch.

If you’re not sure whether or not your chips are delicious, I have a small bear who would be happy to taste them for you and let you know.

This one, for example, was so tasty that Walter took it back to his crate to enjoy in peace and quiet.

Fried Tortilla Chips

makes as many chips as you want — figure about 4-5 tortillas per person for snacks and appetizers

Ingredients

corn tortillas (stale are fine)
vegetable oil for frying
salt

Directions

Cut the tortillas into sixths or eighths. Pour the oil into a pan for frying (saucepans are fine; you’ll use less oil but you won’t be able to cook as many chips at once. I prefer a Dutch oven or wok). Heat the oil over medium-high heat until the temperature reaches about 350 on an instant-read thermometer (or use a candy thermometer clipped in the pan).

When the oil is ready, carefully drop in about 10-15 chips. Stir gently with a skimmer until they are golden-brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove with a spider or skimmer to your paper towel-lined bowl and toss with a good pinch of salt, then start on your next batch.

Continue until you have as many chips as you’ll want / need. Cooked chips will stay warm and crisp in their bowl; if you’re using a metal bowl, you can place them in a 200 degree oven for up to an hour or so if you want to serve them warm.

Sealed in a bag or plastic container, these chips will keep for a few days.

pan-roasted broccoli with fish sauce and almonds

I really believe that almost all self-professed broccoli haters just haven’t had it prepared the right way. Most folks who think that they don’t like broccoli have only had it boiled to death: when broccoli is cooked too long, it grayish, mushy, and farty smelling.

The secret is to not overcook your damn broccoli. One of my favorite ways is also the most simple: par-boil your broccoli florets by cooking in boiling water for a minute or two, then toss in a skillet with some hot oil and/or butter and garlic (I will try to get a recipe up for this soon, but in the meantime, Google will get you pretty close). But broccoli also benefits from direct, high-heat cooking, such as roasting. When blasted with dry heat, broccoli stems turn sweet and the florets shrivel up a bit into concentrated little bombs of flavor.

But hey, we’ve talked about this before. I have since moved on from the oven-roasting method and settled on this one, which I think is easier and a little more versatile. Also, the kitchen in our new place has a sink that is too small to easy wash a half sheet pan, so I avoid cooking with large pans where possible.

First, you need to prepare your vegetable. I cheated yesterday, and used pre-cut broccoli florets from the restaurant supply store ($3.50 for 4 pounds of trimmed, cut broccoli, and none of that goes to waste? Yes please!). But you can easily dispatch your broccoli on your own, just make sure to peel your stems well (see the Jacques Pepin link at the blog post above).

Regarding service: this is great as a hearty lunch on its own, perhaps topped with a poached egg or sprinkled with some sharp cheese. It also works well as a side with any meat, and slips just as easily into Asian dishes as it does Mediterranean dishes.

Finally, a word on fish sauce: yeah, it smells funky. But even if you don’t think you like the taste of fish sauce, give it a try in this recipe. It contrasts with the sweetness of the roasted broccoli and brings out the funkier, more caramelized notes that you get when you roast anything. And the amount you’re using here isn’t even enough to make it register as “fish sauce” on your palate – in fact, I don’t think most people would be able to name the secret ingredient if they didn’t know ahead of time.

serves 1-4, depending on how hungry you are

• 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 lb. broccoli florets and/or peeled stems, cut into 1″ pieces
• 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
• Salt
• 1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds (optional)
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional, but please do try it once with the fish sauce)
• Lemon wedges and dry grated cheese like Parmesan or Romano , for serving (optional)

Place a 12″ pan (preferably cast iron or nonstick, although a regular pan works fine as well) over medium heat and preheat for a good two minutes. Add the oil, broccoli, garlic, and a pinch of salt and toss well. Cook over medium heat, stirring few minutes, for about 5 minutes, or until the broccoli begins to get some nicely browned bits. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook until the broccoli is almost done to your liking (mine took about 10 minutes, but it could have gone a little longer). You’re looking for the stems to be crisp-tender and the florets to pop a bit in your mouth.

When the broccoli is almost done, add the almonds and turn the heat back up to medium. Cook, stirring more frequently now, until the almonds are nicely toasty and the broccoli is good to go. If you like lots of garlic flavor, remove the cloves, mince or press any or all of them, and stir them into the broccoli. Toss the broccoli with the fish sauce and taste again for salt – it might need another pinch (or if you absolutely insist on doing this without the fish sauce, just add a bit more salt. I have tried it with soy sauce and I don’t like it as much).

Serve with lemon wedges and sharp grating cheese if you’d like. This dish is good piping hot or at room temperature.

choose your own blogventure

OK, Internet. It is time for me to discover, cook, and write about some new recipes and I need your help. Vote for your favorite of the following 4 chicken recipes! Poll closes at 1:00pm on Tuesday 4/17! I will make the winner on Wednesday night and blog it up!

What chicken recipe should I make next?
(polls)

friday fry: crispy chicken bites with sauce

I avoided deep-frying at home for the longest time, mostly because I was afraid of the mess, the expense, and, (to a lesser extent) the safety. I am here today to completely assuage your home-frying fears. Let’s tackle these one by one:

the MESS: yes, frying can be a bit messy and spattery. However, if you use the right-sized pan and the right amount of oil (more on this later), deep-frying doesn’t need to involve any more cleanup than normal pan frying or sauteeing.

the EXPENSE: yes, oil is more expensive than, you know, water. But despite what some Internet weirdos will tell you, you can (and should!) REUSE your frying oil. I buy a gallon jug of vegetable oil from the Asian grocery store for about $6 and this lasts me up to 10-15 frying sessions. Not too bad!

the SAFETY: not a big deal if you are attentive and careful, which you should be doing anyway when cooking. Use a thermometer. More on this later.

I like to deep fry in my wok, but you can use any large, straight-sided pan. A big Dutch oven works well too. For really small batches of fried food, you can get away with a saucepan (this also lets you use less oil), but you can’t cook as much at once without crowding the pan and bringing the temperature of the oil way down). Speaking of which, this is one of my favorite frying tips: use more oil. Seriously. If your pan is large enough, use up to 3 quarts of oil. This doesn’t mean that you’re going to end up eating any more oil (in fact, if you believe the allegation that hotter oil = less absorption, you’re going to consume less oil) — but the larger amount of oil means that the temperature in your frying rig is more stable, requiring you to do less futzing with your stove to maintain your temperature.

Other deep-frying gear you’re going to need: a thermometer (I like to use a probe thermometer like you’d use for a roast, but you could also use a candy/deep frying thermometer), a pair of tongs, and some sort of slotted spoon. My favorites are the ones that are referred to as “spiders”, which you can find cheaply at an Asian grocery or restaurant supply store. I sometimes also like to have a fine-mesh skimmer handy, for running through the oil and removing browned bits that sometimes accumulate in your fryer. Finally, you’ll need something to drain your fried items on – I like to use a baking sheet with a cooling rack set inside.

For more on deep-frying, check out Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Wok Skills 101: How to Deep-Fry at Home. Whether or not you use a wok, there are some really good tips here.

OK. For my first post in the Friday Fry series, I’ve got a simple recipe for fried chicken “bits” (nuggets? popcorns?). You can eat these on their own, but I like to toss them in a thick, flavorful sauce and serve them with rice and a side of greens. Here I’m using some Thai Three Flavored Sauce that I had in the fridge from a few weeks ago (someday I need to do a post on my favorite homemade, make-ahead, lasts-forever condiments that can really take a meal in a new direction). However, if you don’t feel like making this complex, spicy-sweet-sour sauce, you can make a great orange chicken sauce or even a buffalo-style sauce, which are all excellent. Or just serve them on their own with dipping sauce, or tossed with some iceberg lettuce and croutons for a salad that tastes like you paid $13 for it at Applebee’s.

When the oil has cooled completely, strain it through a fine mesh strainer and pour it back into your container for re-use. I like to keep one big jug of oil just for frying (it even has a label “FRYIN’ OIL”). That way, you can keep your frying oil separate from your cooking oil. When it starts to get really cloudy and/or really funky smelling, throw it out. I find that frying fish seems to quicken the funkification of the oil, so while I don’t shy away from making shrimp tempura, baja-style fish tacos, or fish and chips, I usually wait until I’ve got some older oil that I know I’m going to throw out soon. Further fried fish on future Fridays.

Hey, let’s see some more photos!

(most photos by Sarah)

Crispy Boneless Chicken Bites with Sauce

serves 4

Chicken

adapted from The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook

Ingredients

1.5 pounds boneless chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika (optional, but it’s a nice addition if you’re serving the chicken on its own or with the Buffalo sauce. While not unwelcome, it’s not necessary with the Asian-style sauces)
3 egg whites
vegetable oil for frying – at least 2 quarts

Directions

Marinate the chicken in the soy sauce and 1/4 cup water. Let sit for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour. Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cayenne pepper, and paprika in a medium large bowl. Beat the egg whites in another medium bowl. Prepare two baking sheets with racks set inside them.

Drain the chicken well. Working in 3 or 4 batches, toss the chicken chunks with the egg white and then with the flour-cornstarch mixture. Place on one wire rack and let air dry for 5-15 minutes.

Pour the oil into a large, deep, wide, heavy pan — either a wok or a Dutch oven. You should have at least 2 inches of oil but there should also be at least 4-5 inches of clearance between the oil and the top of the pan. Place a thermometer in the pan and heat over medium-high heat until the oil has reached 375 degrees.

Carefully place 1/3 of the chicken in the hot oil and agitate gently for a few seconds to make sure they don’t clump together. Continue to fry, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. You want the oil to stay right around 350-360 degrees F, and you’ll probably have to regulate the heat pretty constantly. When the chicken is done, remove to your clean wire rack/sheet pan rig and repeat with the rest of the chicken. You will probably have to do at least 2 more batches for a total of 3 batches. Don’t crowd the pan!

Serve chicken on its own or tossed with 1.5 cups of any of the three sauces below.

Thai Three-Flavored Sauce

I can’t even say that I “adapted” this recipe — I completely copied it from Leela Punyaratabandhu’s excellent blog She Simmers. Rather than reproducing it below, just check out her recipe here. Be warned that the Three-Flavored sauce is quite hot, especially if you let it sit around in the fridge for a few weeks like I did. You may want to add a bit more sugar and/or use a smaller amount of chiles. As always, taste frequently, and when you’re tossing the chicken with the three-flavored sauce, go easy — a little goes a long way.

Orange Chicken Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions

Combine the orange juice, orange zest, sugar, chicken stock, and soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons cold water to make a slurry, then mix the slurry into the orange juice mixture. Continue to cook until lightly thickened, about 1 minute.

Buffalo Sauce

Ingredients

1 stick butter
1/3 – 1/2 cup hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot

Directions

Melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave and combine with the hot sauce.

Gai Lan with Chinese Sausage

We eat a lot of greens here at the Hershmossi household, and some of our favorites are Asian greens: bok choy, choy sum, yu choi, and gai lan. These can be found inexpensively at Asian markets, almost always packed in 2-lb. bags that cost well under $5. A bag of greens can serve 6-8 people as a side dish or as a component in a stir fry, or 4-6 people as the main part of a meal (by the way: greens have a ton of protein. Don’t ever listen to anyone who says you have to eat meat, dairy, or even legumes – wonderful as they are – to get your daily allotment of protein. It can totally all come from delicious, cheap greens).

photo from Flickr user World To Table

I usually stir-fry greens with some soy sauce and oyster sauce, usually like a simpler, chicken-free version of this dish. But at our last trip to Dong Hing, Sarah threw a package of Chinese sausage into our cart. Chinese sausage (lap cheong) is a smoked sausage that you can buy either loose or in vacuum sealed packages. They’re usually near the meat aisle or the produce aisle, and may or may not be refrigerated (once opened, throw ‘em in the fridge). When cooked crisply, Chinese sausage has a pleasant crispy, bacony, pancetta-y texture and a nice sweet-smoky flavor.

photo from Flickr user modomatic

Tonight, while my catfish was simmering, I thew some diced sausage in a cast iron skillet and turned the heat up to high. By the time the skillet was ripping hot, the sausage had started to render out some fat and was beginning to get nicely browned. In went some trimmed and cleaned gai lan, which I seared for a minute or two before adding the liquid and simmering it to doneness. And while the catfish was delicious, the side of gai lan and sausage could have easily stood on its own.

photo from my damn hipster, Instagrammed self

Stir Fried Gai Lan with Chinese Sausage

serves 4 as a side dish and 2-3 as a main dish with rice

Ingredients

1.5 pounds gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
2 links (about 1-2 ounces) Chinese sausage (any type)
vegetable oil, maybe (probably not)
1 tablespoon minced or pressed ginger and/or garlic
1 tablespoon Asian chile paste (Sriracha works)
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions

Prepare your gai lan: trim off any woody ends, then cut into 2″-3″ segments. Rinse in cool water and dry well. Dice the Chinese sausage into 1/4 inch pieces.

Place the sausage in your largest, heaviest skillet or frying pan (preferably cast iron) and turn the heat up to high. Stir occasionally and let the sausage begin to brown as the pan heats up. After 2 or 3 minutes, your pan should be almost smoking and your sausage should be browned. You should see about 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan; if you need to, drain it or add more oil to bring it to this point.

Dump in your greens and stir occasionally for about 1 minute. You’re looking for some light browning on the stalks, which is going to bring out a great nutty flavor (don’t be afraid to let it sit there and sear for 20-30 seconds at a time). Add the garlic, ginger, and chile paste and cook, stirring almost constantly, for another minute.

Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and 1/4 cup water and cook until the stalks are done to your liking. Depending on the size of your broccoli, the thickness of your stalks, and your vegetable doneness preference, this could take anywhere from 1-5 more minutes. Feel free to add more water if it looks like it’s threatening to dry out. Serve with plenty of white or brown rice!