stir-fry, the ol' dinner fall-back

Bittman over at Bitten- A Good Stir-Fry Hides a Lot of Faults. He talks about how he chopped up leftover veggies in his fridge, some of which were not totally "fresh" by whatever standards, tossed 'em in a pan with some tofu and ended up with a tasty meal.

Um. Sounds like my life, every day. Seriously, if I'm cooking, it's usually something that could probably be called a stir-fry, because to me they are like the perfect meal: healthy (if you just use a splash of olive oil and low-sodium sauce), fast and easy, a tasty way to get lots of veggies, and easily improvised.

Like tonight for dinner, not really sure what I was making but just knowing what ingredients I wanted, I sautéed some tofu and chopped onion and garlic in some olive oil and soy sauce, placed it on a bed of baby spinach and avocado, and sprinkled some salt and squeezed a little lemon juice over it all. I meant to mix in some left-over quinoa but forgot because I was so curious about what I had made. And although it sounds kind of weird, it was probably the best salad I've had in awhile. (I should have taken a picture of it to post on here, as it was actually kind of pretty.) The contrast of hot and cold in a salad is so good if done well. (I'm not sure what "well" is, but I feel like it's always better with leafy greens instead of crunchy ones, although I can't say why.) And from start to finish (and I mean from the fridge to an empty plate), it only took me about a half an hour. Fantástico.

Side-note: I'm realizing now that if we were to get into cuisine semantics, stir-frying involves a slightly different technique than sauteeing, but as I am not a professional chef, this does not matter to me (or, I'd like to think, to most household cooks in America.) It's chopped up food in a pan with a little oil and high heat. There.