How to Make the Perfect Summer Stir Fry

Okay, it's Sunday morning, maybe afternoon. Maybe you're starting to think about what to eat tonight or later this week. I've been there. I usually do our menu planning on Sundays, and I'm always looking for fresh, delicious, seasonal options.

Good news! I have an easy meal you can make tonight with just a quick stop at the store or farmers' market, and you can adjust it to your tastes or what's available near you.

Here's what you'll need:

Vegetables! Lots of 'em. I used one zucchini, two yellow squash, 1/2 yellow onion, a small bunch of asparagus, one bell pepper (would have preferred red, for some variety in color, but only green was available), and white mushrooms.

You also need olive oil, garlic (garlic powder is fine), salt and pepper, cooked brown rice (I like Trader Joe's brown rice), and spices to your taste. You could go Mexican, as I did with my Mexican Stir-Fry, or you could do an Asian flavor. Tonight I went with dry ginger, red pepper flakes, and soy sauce. I would have used pineapple if I had it on hand.

To make the magic happen, it's quite simple: heat up some olive oil and garlic (don't be shy--garlic is a fantastic base flavor for stir fry) and then chop and cook up your veggies. If using mushrooms, those go in the pan first and cook until they're lightly browned. Add the sliced onion and cook until translucent. Then throw the rest of the chopped veggies in there for about 5 minutes (don't let them get mushy!). Add the rest of the spices and sauce and stir in the brown rice.

It's magical. It all comes together beautifully.

Stir fry is a fantastic go-to meal, especially in the summer. All these vegetables are easy to find at our local farmers' market, and they're even tasty at the grocery store right now. It made for an easy and delicious summer dinner--with leftovers!

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

Tonight's meal actually incorporated a treat from this month's Foodie Pen Pal package, which came from Jen from Juanita's Cocina! She sent some seriously fun stuff from Texas:

Ready-to-freeze sorbet

Key lime curd (perhaps a new pie recipe in my future?)

Fancy honey

Garlic oil

Super sweet coconut

I'm sure you guessed it, but that garlic oil was terrific in our stir fry tonight! The flavor made the kitchen smell incredible.

Based on her blog and e-mails, Jen is such a sweetheart, and I hope you'll check out her amazing posts over at Juanita's Cocina! Thanks for an awesome package, Jen! *Note: If you're interested in joining Foodie Pen Pals, check out Lindsay's information at The Lean Green Bean. It's so fun!*

That's it for tonight. I plan to post all about our Cabo trip tomorrow (photos - finally!), and I need a few good workouts this week before I head out for one more start-of-summer vacation.