Szechuan Broccoli, Asparagus,and Mushrooms

The Cinnamon Girl has started a new Food Blogger Event - Side Dish Showdown. I think a Side Dish Collection great idea and have been thinking about my first entry... Here's how it happened.

First let me give you some family history. My mother in law was a big book club fan. Being a shopaholic, she liked buying the reading material as much as she liked reading! Years ago the boys held a yard sale for her. Mom had what seemed to be fifty cook books on the table and maybe as many recipe card sets. Funny thing about that, my father in law was the 'house chef'. Anyway, she told me to take whatever books I wanted. I was tempted to keep all of those cook books don't you know. I ended up keeping a few, including the Light and Easy collection. The collection is organized in a nice binder, and the recipes fit perfectly with my cooking style.

So, I was in a hurry up dinner situation the other night; needed a side dish to go with my Teriyaki pork chops PDQ. This Szechuan Broccoli was the perfect side dish. Of course I added a few things, and used what I had on hand.

Szechuan Broccoli, Asparagus,and Mushrooms

Ingredients
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 Tbsp fresh garlic, minced
3 cups fresh broccoli,chopped (1 medium)
1 cup fresh asparagus, chopped (20 thin shoots)
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (4 large)

Directions
Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar in a bowl; set aside. Heat skillet(or wok)and toast the sesame seeds, remove and set aside.(I didn't do this, wished I had for appearance sake) Add the oil, red pepper, and ginger, mix well. Next add the vegetables; gently stir fry for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce, mix well, cover and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

This vegetable stir fry has a great flavor and just the right zing. The guys were impressed with it. In fact, we liked it so much there were no leftovers!

I think this is perfect for my first entry, don't you?

♥