Stir-fry Vegetable

Imagine a dish of colorful strips of capsicum, crisp green broccoli, crunchy white cauli flower, slivers of cabbage, baby corn, carrot sticks, beans, mushroom quickly tossed and served in a few minutes, in a little oil made aromatic by brown garlic pieces. This is stir fried vegetables. If you like slivers of meat, chicken or seafood. You have a complete meal. if you are a vegetarian, you can add pieces of tofu.

The Chinese have been stir frying their vegetables this way in a wok for ages. It is claimed that a wok will have even heat, and cook the vegetables evenly. But you don't need a wok if you can get one. Any big pot with a heavy base will work just as well. Remember to stir the vegetable evenly.

The main advantage of stir frying is the speed you cook your food. You don't over cook your food, and some vegetables taste very delicious when they are crispy. It will be healthier to the person slaving away in the kitchen. He/she will spend minimal time in the kitchen, thus you will get a happier cook and hence a healthier one. When you have a dinner party, your cook doesn't have to slave a long time in the hot kitchen and have tempers fray because of it. Instead she will be as cool as a cucumber, and will have time to intermingle with the guests.

The lesser time the food is cooked, the less nutrient is lost. When food is cooked a long time like western boiling of vegetables, a lot of the vitamin C is lost.

Overcooked traditionally western vegetables tend to become brown and mushy. It looks unappetizing and is unlikely to be eaten. Constrasted with the stir fried vegetables, the latter wins hands down. The more appetising the stir fried food is eaten, the more will be eaten, the healthier the people consuming the food will be.

We do not need to eat the large amount of meat in the form of steaks and chops. Too much meat eating can cause cholesterol, liver,gout and kidney disease. Too much red meat can lead to cancers like bowel cancer. In stir frying, you can have options of using a little meat, no meat or meat substitute like tofu.

In stir frying with garlic, we get the powerful antioxidant effect that garlic has. Antioxidants help to protect the body against damaging "free radicals".