Stir Fry For Those Days That Drive You Stir Crazy

Is the weight of your schedule bearing down hard on you today? Do you wish you had time to prepare something from fresh ingredients, that was healthy, tasted good, took little time, and, more importantly, made little mess? Well here is your one "pot" or wok solution!

(Though in order to serve with rice or noodles you will need a second pot, it's a small cheat.)

And it's a great way to recycle some left over vegetables or protein, if you have any around.

Ingredients
1 medium yellow or white onion, halved and sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 pepper, any color, cored and sliced
6 fresh mushrooms, sliced, or one 6 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
2 large carrots, julienned if you know how, sliced thin if you don't
2 stalks of fresh celery, sliced into 1" pieces
1/2 cup chicken or beef stock
2 chicken breasts sliced thin, or 3/4 lb lean beef or pork, sliced across the grain into 1/8" thick strips
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 lb cooked noodles, rice noodles, or thin spaghetti (angel hair or vermicelli) or 2 cups cooked rice.

Putting it together
If you have a wok, (or a 12" skillet if you don't have a wok) set it over high heat, add the oil, and the meat, tossing frequently to stir fry until browned all over. Remove the meat to a platter or bowl.

Add the onion, celery, carrots and garlic, stir frying for two minutes, then add the remaining vegetables Stir fry for 3-5 minutes or until they begin to soften, but they should remain "crisp-tender". If you have left over peas, broccoli, cauliflower, etc...this is a good time to add them in too!

Add the soy and broth and meat, combine together and cook over high heat for 1-2 minutes.
If you prepared any noodles or angel hair spaghetti to serve with this, you can add the pasta to the wok or skilled and combine...

Serve and relax! The cleanup will be a breeze too!

Some extra ideas
There are lots of ways to supplement this recipe. Use leftover meat in place of the meat or chicken ingredients.

Also, for a treat, substitute cooked shrimp or other shellfish, or calamari, or even a mix of those.

Sliced water chestnuts add some crunch, as would canned bamboo shoots, drained.

It's hard to mess this one up!