Sometimes in the summer, it’s just too hot to cook. We eat salads almost every day for lunch, so in the interest of a varied diet, I don’t want to also serve salad for dinner all the time too. I am increasingly turning to my grill as a heat source for everything.
I was inspired by some beautiful peapods I brought home from a friend’s garden, so last night I made an Asian stir fry on the grill.
Unlike my woks, the grill pans I have are full of holes. To make sure I was getting as much flavor as possible from my sauce, I tossed each of the first few vegetables in the sauce and then poured a bit over everything at the end. Here’s the story:
Sauce:
Dark sesame oil, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, a small squirt of sriracha, a tiny bit of rice vinegar
Veggies, in the order in which I added them to the grill pan:
Kohlrabi, zucchini, green pepper, garlic scapes, sweet peas, swiss chard
*It’s worth noting that all these veggies were grown locally, either by farmers or friends (thank you Sara and Britta!)
I added each vegetable, tossed it a bit, closed the grill. Tossed the veggies, added the next item, tossed again, closed the grill…add, toss, close, toss, add, toss, close…you get the picture. I think the trick is to close the grill to keep it as hot as possible, just like you would with your wok.
Serve over Rice:
Brown rice, boiled in water, ponzu and sauteed onions
Yes, yes, yes, I know that sugar snaps are a more traditional option, but Sara’s peapods were so tender that I could not shell the peas and toss the pods. That would have been a grave injustice and a terrible waste. And chard is probably not all that prevalent in stir-fry, but I also combined sriracha (which has Thai and Vietnamese origins) and soy sauce (Chinese). Oh, and I used ponzu (Japanese) in my brown rice. So I wouldn’t say I was terribly focused on authenticity here. Just in keeping the heat out of the house. And in that, I would call this a success!