How to make a big bowl of awesome.

August 5, 2010 by Sarah | 11 Comments

A big bowl of awesome is pretty much just lots of meat & veggies all cooked together to perfection. It’s a staple in my life for many reasons:

» quick & easy,
» flexible depending upon available ingredients, &
» unbelievably delicious.

I suppose you could call this a stir-fry, but I think the taste factor & how all the flavors mix together moves this dish beyond a simple stir-fry (hence the name).

I’ve used an electric griddle for this recipe, which I personally suggest using for this sort of dish. I’ve made it on a stove, but this is nice & big, cooks consistently, doesn’t heat up the whole house in this miserable summer we’ve been having, & I can control the temperature a bit better. If something is cooking too fast, I can quickly turn it down. For this dish, I set it to about 300° F. But please, try this using whatever you’ve got! I just happen to not own a wok.

As I mentioned, the ingredients for this are completely interchangeable. It’s great as an entree, perfect as a side, & wonderful for any meal of the day. I’ll be using shrimp for this particular dish, but I’ve made the same thing with chicken, steak, & any combination of the three. If you’re veg, don’t feel left out! Just use coconut oil in place of the bacon, & you’re golden. Add some apples when autumn hits, or some aspargus in early spring. Honestly, any vegetables that you like will work, just add them in order of how well you’d like them cooked – thickness of the veggie in question is a good rule of thumb. If using carrots, that’s one of the first veggies added, but spinach always goes in last. Make sense? Good.

Now, here’s what we’ve got going on with this dish:

Cilantro, basil, onions, tomatoes, zuchini, squash, mushrooms, green peppers. Not pictured is three strips of bacon, raw shrimp, or spinach, but we’ll get to those ingredients soon. The great part about something like this is that the quantity of ingredients doesn’t really matter; you can make as little or as much as you want, & the process is the same. The only other thing you’ll need is some sort of oil – I prefer to use my leftover bacon drippings, but feel free to use butter, ghee, coconut oil – whatever you ‘d like. Now, on to the first step:

Start cooking your bacon. This is close-up, so never fear – there are three strips here, cut into smaller pieces. I prefer my bacon quite crispy, so I let it cook by itself for a bit. Once it’s reached about halfway to that perfectly crispy quality, I add a spoon or so of my leftover bacon drippings. Once that’s perfectly melted…

It’s time to add the green pepper & onion. I let those cook for a few minutes, & then I add the zuchini & squash…

Soon after, it’s time to add the mushrooms. I seem to have not snapped that step, so just imagine adding the mushrooms…

Once those have cooked down a bit, go ahead & add your tomatoes. For me, it’s the addition of this ingredient that really melts everything together. I add my herbs (in this case, cilantro & basil) now as well, so that all those flavors can mix…

We’re nearing the end of the process. If you’re using chicken, go ahead & add that at the same time as the tomatoes & herbs – it takes a bit longer to cook than other meats. At this point, I add my shrimp, but if I was doing steak in this, I’d save that for last – that way it’s not too well-done…

Once the shrimp are turning pink, I grab two big handfuls of raw spinach & throw it on top. I apologize for the quality of the photo, but all that steam makes it hard for the camera to focus…

I just allow the spinach to wilt, so as to not lose all the yummy things in the leaves. & we’re done! Doesn’t that just look delicious?

When you serve this, as a main entree or as a side, be sure to scrape all the good stuff into the bowl. You don’t want to lose any of the flavors you’ve just created! This is divine as is, or you can toss a bit of goat cheese on top. The tomatoey herby flavor mixed with the cheese reminds me of the mac & cheese with tomatoes my mom used to make me, & I’ve got to tell you, it’s nice to have that familiar flavor without any of the guilt.

So what are you waiting for? Come back here & tell us all about your big bowl of awesome adventure!

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