Stir-fries For The Health Conscious

If you are on a diet or trying to keep your cholesterol low and are looking for a healthy recipe for dinner that is full of flavour, filling (and not a salad), why not try a stir fry using a recipe from Schwartz Cooking Club?

Many people who are not great fans of vegetables worry about not getting their five a day but a stir fry is a great way of getting plenty of veg, all cunningly disguised in a tasty sauce! It is also a great dish for sneaking vegetables into children’s diet, so is a winner for all the family.

Vegetables are fat free and low calorie and if you also use chicken, another low fat food, you can afford to serve the dish on a small portion of rice or noodles. Of course if you want to feel really virtuous you can skip the carbs altogether and, as vegetables are so efficient at filling you up, you won’t feel hungry.

The secret to a good stir fry lies in the preparation. Make sure all your ingredients are chopped up before you start. Separate your ingredients according to cooking time i.e. things that take longer to cook need to go into the wok first. When cooking your stir fry you need to use an oil with a high smoking point such as corn oil rather than olive oil.

You can use all sorts of ingredients for your marinade but a few favourites include stock (chicken or vegetable), soy sauce, garlic, chilli sauce, hoi sin sauce, cornflour, brown sugar, rice wine or dry sherry. As anyone who has tried the Schwartz Cooking Club will know, the holy trinity of Chinese cooking is garlic, chillies and spring onions, so make sure you add them to your stir fry to give a true Chinese flavour. A stir fry is a great way of using up whatever vegetables you have, so don’t be afraid of experimenting.