Vegetable Stir Fry w/ Noodles & Tahini Dressing
This is really just a love letter to cabbage - a vegetable I once hated.
This quick, weeknight meal comes together fast over high heat. Cabbage is the real star, second only to the dressing (a great addition to your pantry for salads, roasted vegetables, or dipping).
Vegetable Stir Fry
Stir fry:
4-5 tbsp neutral oil like grapeseed or canola
1/2 head cabbage, very thinly sliced, stem discarded
1 head broccoli, thinly sliced including stems 1
3-4 medium sized carrots thinly sliced 1
1 large white or yellow onion thinly sliced
1-2 tbsp red chili flake or minced jalapeño
1/2 tsp kosher salt
7-8 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated
2-inch piece of ginger finely minced or grated
1/2 lb buccatini or soba noodles, cut in half
Dressing:
1/3 cup tahini (or any nut butter, cashew is good)
1-inch piece ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp honey or tamarind
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce or liquid aminos
1 tsp rice wine vinegar or lime juice
a few drops fish sauce (optional)
1-2 tbsp water to thin dressing as needed
Sesame seeds, chopped roasted cashews or peanuts, chopped fresh herbs (mint, cilantro, basil), and chopped green onions for serving
Materials & Methods
Cheap, easy to cook, and even easier to enjoy when it tastes good - cabbage is by far one of the most underappreciated vegetables in the world. Growing up, I only knew it as the main ingredient in coleslaw and the gross mushy stuff (boiled cabbage) that we were forced to eat on New Year’s Day. Along with ham and black-eyed peas, cabbage is part of the traditional New Year’s Day trio that brings health, luck, and financial fortune (respectively) for the year to come.
[ 1 ] The dressing
It should be fluid like a dressing, but thick and glossy enough to coat a spoon. Any nut butter can be substituted for the tahini. Cashew and peanut butters work really well. Make extra to keep in the fridge. Another tip for dealing with nut butter: if it is separated (which is pretty inevitable), empty the contents into a small food processor and blend until smooth. Drop it back into its jar and store in the fridge. It will stay pretty smooth for a long time and this is much less of a headache than trying to manually re-combine the oil and solids in the jar with a spoon!
[ 2 ] The vegetables
Chopping the vegetables should definitely be done ahead to allow you to stay focused on the stir fry.
Consistency is more important than style here. However you choose to cut them, make sure they are all roughly the same size and proportion to ensure an even cook time in the stir fry. You can also buy some of them pre-shredded (like carrots and cabbage) to save some time.
For this shoot, I used a vegetable peeler to ‘shave’ the carrots into thin strips. This is also a very flexible recipe. Bok choy or brussels sprouts are great additions or substitutions.
I have also made this with red bell pepper and mushrooms added into the mix. Make it your own.
Use bowls to collect everything as you chop.
Take your time breaking down the cabbage. It requires a little force and a sharp knife.
Thinly slice cabbage similar to coleslaw.
Add or substitute your favorite vegetables.
For this recipe, buying pre-minced garlic and ginger is also perfectly acceptable since there is so much chopping. Using a microplane or grater instead of mincing with a knife is another time-saving device. Use a vegetable peeler to get some of the brown skin off of the ginger to make grating much easier.
[ 3 ] The stir fry
It will seem like a ton of vegetables at first, but vegetables contain a lot of moisture that will evaporate during cooking. The volume will reduce by about half by the time you are done. High heat and frequent stirring ensure that all the vegetables get some quality browning time with the bottom of the pan. Use tongs to turn or rotate the veggies throughout the process to make sure everyone gets a turn. The heat is then lowered and our aromatics (ginger and garlic) get added. They can burn easily, hence the low heat. They are minced to maximize flavor extraction and ensure they get fully softened. The last thing you want is a hard, raw chunk of ginger or garlic to blow up your mouth.
Finally, the dressing and pasta are folded in. Use a little pasta water as needed to keep things saucy!
Tight on space when the stir fry begins.
Rotating or ‘turning’ the veggies to give everyone a chance to brown.
Water in the vegetables escapes as steam.
Folding in the pasta. Don’t forget to add the dressing and a little pasta water during this step.
