If the cafeteria doesn’t have something that suits your fancy, maybe it’s time to check out the dorm kitchens.  Time is of the essence though, because a mini fridge can only hold so many supplies. 

The beauty of this stir-fry recipe is that it’s simple and extremely flexible. 

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Ingredients:

Protein: any protein will work. Beef, seitan, chicken, tempeh, pork, tofu, even peanuts. Be sure to know the proper cooking time for safe preparation. 

Veggies: some common stir-fry ingredients are carrots, snap peas, garlic, green beans, bok choy, eggplant, basil, button mushrooms, onion, bell pepper and celery. Solid stir-fries usually have between two and four kinds of veggies. Realize that they will cook down some.

Dillons sells a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies for $1.29 (or $1 if you catch them on sale). If using just this and a protein, you’ll get about two servings. Add rice or noodles, and you can bump it up to four. 

Sauce: a true stir-fry sauce has equal parts soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, some sugar and a fragrant, such as garlic, ginger or galangal. For a simple sauce though, just dilute about two tablespoons of soy sauce with one tablespoon of water. 

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How to cook:

1.   Make sure all ingredients have been prepped. The protein should be cut to bite-sized pieces, and vegetables need to be washed and chopped. 

Spray a frying pan, skillet or wok with non-stick spray and set to med-hi heat. If the oil starts to burn, remove the pan from heat immediately, reduce the heat and replace the pan. If the oil is really burned, you may have to start over.  

2.   Once the oil is heated, toss your protein in (if using nuts, save this for later). Give the pan a shake or stir every few minutes until it is mostly cooked. 

3.   Toss your veggies in. Dense vegetables (carrots, eggplant, potatoes, etc.) take longer to cook. Put those vegetables in a little earlier, then add the rest of them.  Continue to stir for even cooking.

If you are using nuts, now is the time to add them. 

4.   With about a minute left, add in your sauce. Don’t overdo it. The soy sauce soup found at some buffets is not how to properly prepare a stir-fry dish. You want to taste the other ingredients too, right? Start off light, and add more as needed.

5.   After the sauce has had a chance to heat up and meld with the other ingredients, remove the stir-fry from heat and enjoy.