Edamame Stir Fry

"If you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy and colorful and lively."~ Mel Brooks. This quote says a lot to me simply because life is too short to just go about it in a boring, dull way. Lately, my life has been nothing but boring (if not subtly chaotic) but I'll take it over a hum-drum life any day! This week I'm slowing down a bit in order to gear up for my upcoming trip to Portland, OR on Friday. There, I'll be meeting up with a dear friend, Peabody of Culinary Concoctions of Peabody. She and I are participating in the International Food Bloggers Conference and I'm looking forward to what it has to offer. I've never been to Portland so it will be a delicious experience I'm sure! If you've been, do you have any recommendations, suggestions or any must visit Portland hot spots? Technically, I've got 2 days in Portland (I head back to Chicago Sunday morning) so hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in some sight seeing within the conference agenda.

Aside from that upcoming trip, I'm also in the midst of packing. Again. So much for the plan of settling in 10 months ago. {Man, I hate moving... well, the packing/unpacking process, really.} My second childhood home that I took over from my parents has sold - far quicker than I anticipated, even in this market. But I shouldn't be too surprised. It's quite a beautiful place that I am so thankful to have called home for the past 20+ years despite the various places I've lived after graduating college. It will be hard to say goodbye but the good thing is, I'll be moving to a new place with Joel a few miles away. I thought about buying a single family home, but since it's just me and Joel, a small condo/apartment seemed more fitting {and I don't want to clean and have more upkeep than I need to lol}. The crazy thing is, we move in 2 weeks. I've already started packing up a majority of our stuff so after I get back from Portland this coming weekend, I'll be finishing up the rest next week. Before I leave for Israel the week after. Yep. That's my life at the moment, noisy, colorful and lively.

Speaking of which, here's a dish that captures the essence of Mel Brook's quote. This Edamame Stir Fry is full of color, textures and it's a healthy dish too boot. Sugar snap peas and red bell pepper are sauteed with ginger, garlic and sesame oil before adding sweet pineapple juice and tossing with brown rice. With all the things going on, I love that it's a quick stir fry, allow for dinner to be ready in a few minutes tops!...

This recipe comes from the book of the amazing, Dawn Jackson Blatner. When we were shooting pics for her cookbooks and diet plans last year, she introduced me to this dish. I finally had a chance to make it at home and loved it! Joel loved it too because it made for a colorful dish and he enjoyed eating the edamame and sugar snap peas. {Seriously, any dish that can get him to eat more vegetables is a winner in my book!} Feel free to adapt this recipe by incorporating more protein such as chicken, pork, beef and/or shrimp. The pineapple juice is a great addition to add some sweetness and balance all the flavors out!

Edamame Stir Fry

recipe adapted from The Flexitarian Diet

½ inch piece of ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
dash of salt
1 red bell pepper, sliced
¼ cup sugar snap peas
2 teaspoons sesame oil
¾ cup shelled frozen edamame
¼ cup pineapple juice
1 cup cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons chopped almonds for garnish

In a skillet over medium heat, add oil and saute ginger, garlic, crushed red pepper, salt, bell pepper and sugar snap peas until vegetables starts to soften. Add edamame and pineapple juice and cook for 8 minutes on high heat.

Add cooked brown rice to skillet and toss to combine.

Plate and garnish with chopped almonds.