Stir Fry with Brown Rice Wraps

I make this often, mainly for James, because he loves stir frys.  I have been making variations of this dish, and I finally got it to taste the way I wanted it to.  It's easy, and great as a last minute hot meal.

I use Europe's Best frozen vegetable medley, they have two Asian inspired variations, Zen Garden, and Imperial Blend.  I usually buy a few bags when they're on sale, and keep them in the freezer.  You can use fresh vegetables, but then you have to plan ahead.  I like frozen fruit and vegetables for certain dishes and shakes.  I don't use canned, because of the sodium content, the poor taste, and the squishy texture.  Frozen on the other hand, in some cases, tastes better than fresh.  Reason for this being that in order for produce to be sold fresh in a supermarket, it has to be picked while it's still green and it ripens on it's lengthy journey.  Ripening in a transport box won't make it taste as it would if it had a chance to ripen on the vine, tree, shrub, etc.  Frozen fruit and veggies are picked when they are ripe, and then frozen, which preserves the yummy sweet taste.  Try this little test, buy a box of strawberries (which are not in season locally), and compare the taste to frozen strawberries.  Amazing, right!

So, back to the stir fry.  I heat up a bit of sesame oil, this gives the dish a great base flavour.  If you don't have any, buy some, you can use it in salad dressings as well.   Into the oil add: garlic and ginger - fresh is always best, but again, if this is a last minute thing, use powder, black and white sesame seeds, a bit of soy, some Worcestershire sauce, a bit of pepper, a pinch of cayenne or hot pepper flakes, I don't add salt, as the soy is plenty salty already.  If you like a bit of sweetness, add some honey or agave nectar.  Mix it all up, then add the frozen veg.  The amounts of spices depend on how many vegetables you're making, and your flavour preference.  Use a lid to speed up the defrost process, once the vegetables are defrosted, uncover the pan, so that excess liquid can evaporate.

You can use this with rice, I usually use brown, or use rice paper and make stir fry with rice wraps.

I kind of packed these ones, and layered the veg with the rice, but you can mix it all up before wrapping.  The front two have veg on top, the back one has rice on top, just to show you how it looks.  Sometimes I add shrimp, which can be mixed in to the veg, or layered separately in some pattern, so they add to the presentation.  In that case, layer the shrimp first, then the rest.  I usually add a bit of spices to the rice as well while it's cooking, so that it's not plain tasting, but also not overwhelming to the vegetables, and / or shrimp.

Enjoy!