It’s easy for me to forget that the kitchen can be tough for some people to navigate. I grew up cooking for my family on a fairly regular basis once I was about eleven years-old, so transitioning into an adventurous and epicurean adult was natural for me. He’s more a chicken fingers and mac and cheese sort, but he’s not intimidated by the kitchen.  Despite his limited kitchen experience, my guy was determined to find a simple way to make a delicious vegetarian dinner for us for a special occasion recently and with a few substitutions he turned out a stellar meal just following this basic guide. Stir fry is great way to start to play in the kitchen and is nearly impossible to mess up. For those of you just getting comfortable with the idea of cooking your own cuisine, check out this real world recipe that gets gourmet results. Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen corn or peas
• 1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded, diced
• 3 1/2 cups previously cooked scented rice
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce or to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• 3/4 cup cashews
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• Salt to taste, optional

We added:

• fresh baby bella mushrooms
• crunchy chow mein noodles for garnish
• a few dashes of La Choy orange ginger sauce

Preparation: Heat oil in preheated wok on medium-high heat. Add ginger, stir until fragrant. Add onion, stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until softened. Push the onion to the sides of wok. Add the frozen corn or peas in the middle, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Push to sides, add red bell pepper in the middle and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add rice in middle of the pan. Stir until heated through (about 2 minutes), using a spatula to turn and move the rice around the pan. (Note: You can remove the stir-fried vegetables before adding the rice if the pan is too crowded, and then add them back before adding the seasonings. It’s generally not necessary though, since the rice is already cooked and just needs to be heated through). Stir in soy sauce, and pepper. Stir in cashews. Stir in green onion. Taste and add seasoning if desired. — Casandra Armour