Stir-Fry Sesame Veggies

(Serves 2 people)

Ingredients:
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrot
1 small zucchini finely sliced
4 medium mushrooms finely sliced
4 shallot stems finely sliced
2 teaspoons oil
< 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce (to taste)

1. Heat your oil in a wok until very hot. Traditionally, an oil that can handle high temperatures is best eg. peanut oil.
   
2. Add the mushrooms and the white/pale green sections of the shallots to the wok. Stir-fry for one minute. Set aside the darker green parts to be added at the end of cooking.
3. Add remaining vegetables (except shallots) and stir-fry.
4. Add soy sauce and sesame oil. Toss through veggies for another 1 - 2 minutes. The veggies don't take much cooking.
5. Add the green shallots, toss through and serve. Mmmmm.
   

VARIATIONS:

1. Serve the vegetables in a deep bowl and top witha scoop of packet soup. Make the soup mix according to directions and pour it over the top of cooked vegies to create a tasty Asian-style soup.
2. Add a little finely chopped garlic or fresh red chilli to the wok at step 2 along with the mushrooms.
3. Add a little Ayam Light Sweet Chilli Sauce to your dish at the table.
4. Use Asian greens and mung beans for a more true Asian-style soup.
5. If you can't deal with the thought of eating a stir-fry without rice then finely chop 1/2 cup of cauliflower per person and microwave it for approximately 2 minutes until tender. Use this "virtual rice" as a bed for the stir-fried veggies.

A note about sesame oil:
The sesame oil gives this dish a really nice full-bodied flavour. The amount of fat added to the dish from sesame oil is negligible and yet the flavour really pays out big. Also, keep your sesame oil bottle in the fridge as the oil goes rancid very easily if left out in warm weather.