Stir-fry and rice is one of the simplest Asian recipes you can make at home, and it takes almost no time at all.  All you’re really going to do is use a little oil to fry vegetables in a wok or saucepan on the stove top.  Add a little soy sauce and any other ingredients (like chicken, beef, tofu, etc.), and serve it over rice.  That’s it.

Each month, tens of thousands of people go to Google in search of instructions on how to cook rice.  While rice is very versatile, it’s not at all hard to cook.  You can even purchase rice cookers and other utensils that will make the process easier, but when it all comes down to it, a pot and some boiling water is all it takes to get the job done.

This stir-fry recipe is fairly generic, comes together in just a few minutes, and best of all: It’s cheap.

Ingredients:

1. 2 Chicken breasts (Optional)
2. 2 bags of frozen vegetables
3. Soy sauce
4. Turmeric and Crushed red pepper (Optional)
5. 2 Cups of dry rice
6. 4 Cups of water

The Process:

1. In a pot on the oven, boil 4 cups of water (use 2 cups of water per cup of dry rice you’re cooking).
2. When the water boils, add your 2 cups of dry rice; cover the pot, and let it sit for 20-30 minutes (or until the rice doubles in size and is no longer very wet or sticky).
3. While the rice cooks, cut 2 1-lb. chicken breasts into bite size pieces.
4. Heat a saucepan/skillet on the stove top to medium heat; add vegetable or olive oil to the pan, followed by the pieces of chicken.
5. Cook the chicken on the stove top until white all the way through, then remove from heat.
6. A large wok makes this next step easier, but if a wok is not available, a large pot with a handle will suffice: Empty bags of frozen vegetables into a wok or pot on medium heat.
   
7. Add a little vegetable oil, and begin stirring the vegetables as they thaw and fry.
8. Add soy sauce to taste (It doesn’t take much).
9. To spice up the stir fry, try adding a little crushed red pepper and turmeric (Again, it doesn’t take much).
10. When the vegetables begin to look al dente (soft on the outside, but crunchy when bitten), add the chicken to the vegetables.

Stir the chicken into the vegetables so that they’re well mixed.  Remove the vegetable stir-fry from the heat, and serve  with the cooked rice.  Yields approximately 4-6 servings.

The most time-consuming part of this recipe is waiting for the rice to finish cooking.  If you have a rice cooker, this can be a very simple process; some rice cookers even come equipped with a timer similar to the “delay brew” feature on a lot of coffee pots, meaning you can place your rice and water into the cooker, and set it to have the rice start cooking about the time you get home from work or class; mixing up the stir fry is a snap, and you won’t even have to wait around for the rice to finish cooking.

You can half this recipe if you’re only cooking for two (or if it’s just you, and you want some leftovers the next day).  If you want more chicken, you can add as much as you like.  If you don’t want chicken at all, you can remove it from the recipe altogether (that’s why we say it’s optional).

This is a very straightforward stir fry recipe that doesn’t cost much and goes a long way (and it’s really good leftover, making for an easy, microwaveable lunch the next day).

If you want, you can try substituting noodles instead of the rice.  The options with this recipe are almost limitless.

A tip for cooking on a shoestring: Rice is a very cheap ingredient that goes a long way. It may not be very palatable as a meal unto itself, but it’s very filling, and really comes alive when served with something as simple vegetables or a little chicken and gravy.  If you plan to cook rice regularly, consider investing in a rice cooker.  We own and use this one, and it works very well.