Garlic Girl’s Kung Pao Zucchini and Brown Rice

I know I named this dish Kung Pao Zucchini, but really the star in this dish is the red bell pepper. Oh my goodness, red bell peppers are so underrated in my mind! This past week I got sick and actually had to spend a few days in bed. Needless to say, I didn’t feel much like eating. Today I returned to work and found myself doing all the normal stuff again, and after around 4:00 I even started to think about what to make for dinner. There’s nothing like appreciating every LITTLE thing when you’re even a little sick. You know, like being able to walk around, work and EAT. Excuse the side rant, I’m just sayin’. Anyway, somehow I couldn’t get the idea of something Kung Pao-ish with red peppers and peanuts out of my head. But since I’m still on the mend, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t too heavy. Tasty for sure, but not too heavy. And so I stopped at a fruit stand, picked up some fresh zucchini, red bell pepper, peanuts, fresh basil, and the rest is history. The great thing about this dish is that it’s quick, colorful, savory, spicy and healthy. What more could you want on a Thursday night for dinner? ; )

Garlic Girl’s Kung Pao Zucchini and Brown Rice

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 cup brown rice, cooked
3-4 zucchini, cut in small chunky pieces (about 1 inch)
1 red bell pepper, cut in small pieces
1 white onion, cut in small pieces
1-2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
5 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
5-6 fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup peanuts (salted or unsalted)
a few tablespoons cooking oil
3 tbls tamari or soy sauce
2 tbls rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
optional, a couple pinches of sugar

Preparation
– Before you stir fry, make sure all the veggies are chopped and the rice is either done, or almost done.
– Heat large wok or fry pan to very hot
– Add a little cooking oil to coat bottom of pan
– Stir fry onion until edges start to brown and then remove from pan
– Add a little more oil and stir fry red bell pepper, remove from pan (just keep a large bowl next to the stove and add the veggies to the same bowl as you stirfry).
– Once you’ve removed the red bell pepper, add the jalapeno and the peanuts and stir fry for about 45 seconds and then add the zucchini. Just make sure that there’s always a coating of oil on the bottom of the pan (not a lot, just enough to help the veggies move around the pan as you stir fry).
– When the zucchini is almost done, add the garlic and the basil and stirfry for another minute.
– Now add the other veggies that you put aside to the zucchini in the pan and stir fry everything together.
– To that same pan, add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and toss quickly so that everything mixes together.
– Add about a half a cup of water, enough to steam everything together for another minute or two. Make sure to cover immediately after adding the water.

Serving suggestion: This dish is great on it’s own served over your favorite rice.
Enjoy!