Description
When veggies are life, this delicious and comforting Orange Veggie Stir Fry is packed with wholesome ingredients, so easy to prepare, and perfect for busy week nights. Nourishing veggies and hearty chickpeas are coated in a deliciously thick sweet and spicy orange sauce that is pure magic to your taste buds. Mix and match your favorite veggies and plant protein for an awesome meal your family will love, making it this week’s awesome Whip It Up Wednesday recipe.
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
- 4 cups cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 1 – [ 16 oz. package ] frozen Chinese vegetables (about 3 ½ to 4 cups)
- 1 – [ 15 oz. can ] chickpeas, drained and rinsed *
- 3 to 4 cups baby spinach
Sauce Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup orange juice *
- 4 Tablespoons tamari *
- 3 Tablespoons organic maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons molasses
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon tahini
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 1 to 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce *
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch (or thickener of choice)
Other Ingredients:
- Steamed brown rice (or rice of choice)
Optional Toppings
- Sesame seeds
- Sliced green onions
- Sriracha sauce
Instructions
- Place all the Sauce Ingredients into a small bowl, whisk, set aside.
- In an enamel/ceramic lined Dutch oven, skillet or similar stock pot, add the cauliflower and frozen veggies with 3 Tablespoons water, cover with a tight-fitting lid and sauté for 5 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Remove the lid and continue to sauté until the cauliflower has reached the desired tenderness (approx. 1 to 3 minutes). Then add the chickpeas and the sauce, increase the heat, simmer until the sauce thickens and the veggies and chickpeas are completely coated in the sauce. Add the baby spinach, stir to combine and lower the heat and simmer for one minute.
- Remove from heat, serve over rice with your favorite toppings.
Notes
*Traditional Orange Stir Fry: Orange Chicken Stir Fry is traditionally battered, fried, then cooked in a sauce. We’ve swapped out the chicken for plant-based veggies and beans, and we’ve skipped the steps of battering and frying. Please note you will not have the traditional battered texture, but you will have delicious veggies (cooked to desired tenderness) bathed in an awesome orange sauce.
*Frozen Vegetables: We used a package of frozen Chinese vegetables with a mix of carrots, red bell peppers, broccoli, and mushrooms.
*Vegetables: We used a combination of frozen and fresh vegetables. You can use all fresh or all frozen. You may need to adjust cooking time for vegetables as size, fresh, and frozen aspects all play into how long the veggies will need to cook to reach the desired tenderness.
*Chickpeas: If you aren’t a chickpea fan, you can replace with another bean like edamame or other protein-packed options like (rehydrated) soy curls, baked cubed tofu, baked cubed tempeh, or if you don’t need to be gluten free baked sliced seitan.
*Orange Juice: You can use freshly squeezed orange juice, or you can use a store-bought orange juice that is unsweetened, and the only ingredient is 100% orange juice. We used a store-bought orange juice that was 100% pure orange juice for its naturally consistent sweet flavor.
*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
*Chili Garlic Sauce: We used Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Sauce. This brand does have a small amount of sugar. However, this brand is generally accepted by the WFPB community. You can make your own by placing 4 spicy chili peppers, seeded (use gloves) into a food processor along with 1 heaping Tablespoon of minced garlic (about 4 to 5 cloves), 1 ½ teaspoons of maple syrup, 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 Tablespoon water, and a pinch of sea salt. Blend until smooth, do not puree, you want some texture. Place in a small pan and simmer over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Refrigerate in a tightly sealed jar. We used 4 Fresno peppers. If you use hotter peppers, cut back on the cayenne pepper. Note: If you do not like any heat, you can leave the Chili Garlic Sauce out of the recipe. The flavor will be still be great, but the Chili Garlic Sauce really punches the flavor up.
*Serving: 4
*Storage: Refrigerate, use within 5 days