Dear Readers: Please don't be mad, but I made stir fry.

I hear from vegetarians and vegans near and far that the ubiquitous stir fry is a despised dish, reminiscent of their early days of meatless eating, when they just didn't know what to make. The mere mention of stir fry can send some of you into sour-faced shuddering spasms. I know. I've seen it.

I'm not going to give you a recipe for stir fry. What I am going to do is offer up a simple, flavor-packed Asian-inspired sauce that can turn your average, every day, run of the mill stir fry into a delicious dish that even your omnivore friends will love. This recipe also makes a great dipping sauce for springrolls and other appetizers, so feel free to skip the stir fry is you're in the aforementioned spasm camp.


Sesame Ginger Sauce 
Yield: 2 servings

2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
4 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp mirin (or sherry)
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (I use both white and black)

1. Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl. 
2. Toss with desired ingredients and serve. 

If using for stir fry, prep your choice of veggies totaling about 5-6 cups. I like a combination of mushrooms, red bell pepper, lacinado (dinosaur) kale, broccoli and mung bean sprouts. Fry veggies in a dry nonstick pan, adding a little water if needed, until everything is cooked the way you like it. Remove from heat and toss with Sesame Ginger Sauce before serving.

For noodles, cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain but do not rinse, and then toss with Sesame Ginger Sauce.

If you want to combine your noodles with your stir fry, I recommend dressing them separately and then portioning them out. I'm not sure why, but it just seems to work better that way, as opposed to mixing the cooked noodles with the stir fried veggies before adding the sauce.