sweet potato stir fry with honey & ginger sauce

As Autumn moves in, some flavors best kept to cooler nights, and mainstays during holiday meals come into play. For now, it’s sweet potato.

I swear there is sweet potato in there… You maybe just can’t see it… Oh, sup, flash?

Sometimes the fridge is bare. Sometimes it’s packed to the gills. Sometimes you have more beers than anything else (or maybe that’s just us…), sometimes more cheese. It’s a magnificent thing, the contents of a fridge – ever-changing (let’s hope…) and frequently pulling you towards different flavors from one week to another. For days at a time, you could have italian food, or Asian inspired meals dependent upon the contents. Curries, or grill-able meals.

When things start to wind down, in the fridge department, and before it gets it’s next influx, here the things to make are: fritatta, stir fry, or an omelette.

Empty out that crisper drawer onto the counter. Pull all things that may taste good together. Find a protein, or two.

I threw myself into the kitchen, and was cooking alongside two other people so thought it better to keep the camera out of play and in a safe place until the end. Thus you will not see any prep, which is too bad, cause I instantly adore my new cast iron skillet.

Sweet Potato Stir Fry with Honey & Ginger Sauce
feeds 2 very hungry people, or 4 people with normal appetites

In your fascinating and new 12″ cast iron skillet:
2-3 pieces of bacon, diced
1 small yellow onion, minced
1 lg clove garlic, minced
3-4 chicken tenderloins, cut into 1/2″ (or smaller, bite sized pieces)
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 unripe (still yellow green) cubanelle pepper, roughly chopped
2 small heads broccoli, trimmed to a short stem, pulled apart to bit sized “trees”
1 small-medium summer squash, sliced into 1/4″ thick slices
2 medium sweet potatoes, in 1/2″ chunks, par boiled drained and set aside

*The vegetarian option: obviously, omit bacon and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil, omit chicken and use tofu, or more veggies.

Sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1-1/2″ x 1″ piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

Start with bacon, onion, and garlic. Cook until oils are released, and onion and garlic are tender, but not browned.

Add chicken and cook until almost cooked through. Add veggies. Cover and cook on low.

Take small prep bowl, and mix up sauce, not a science so if you want a different flavor maybe add some soy sauce, or more or less of anything.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Slice up sweet potatoes in thin pieces, and mix in, cooking thoroughly.

Make a cup if basmati or jasmine rice, and maybe a few poached eggs (I seemingly can never make enough poached eggs for my famished dinner partner…) and either toss cooked rice in with stir fry or serve with it.

It has a hint of sweet potato, but enough vegetables to fill you up, and clean out the fridge. This dish could also be called “98% of the crisper drawer” but it doesn’t have a very nice ring to it…

Tagged: $10 dinner, autumn vegetables, cheap meal, Cook, cooking with honey, csa share, dinner, easy dinner, easy food, food, fresh vegetables, Honey, olive oil, poached eggs, quick dinner, recipe, recipes, rice dish, stir fry, Sweet potato, what to do with cubanelle peppers

Posted in: chicken, eggs, pork, rice, Summer, Vegetables, vegetarian options, weeknight meals, zucchini