Stir fry zucchini with kung pao sauce and cashews is an easy weeknight dish, loaded with flavor and a great way to work a little zucchini into the diet.
The keys to this recipe are zucchini cooked to retain some of it’s firmness and cashews for texture and richness. Any stir fry sauce can work. I chose kung pao because it was available in the international food isle at wal-mart when I went shopping for this dish, and I had just enjoyed a kung pao chicken lunch from Panda Express a couple of days before – so kung pao became the flavor of my zucchini stir fry.
The journey to zucchini enlightenment
I have come a long way with zucchini.
It wasn’t until my early twenties that I discovered perfectly cooked al dente zucchini. Until then, my experience with it had been over-cooked, soft, almost-mushy zucchini.
When I saw it on the table in my youth, I either avoided it or consumed it in whole bites without tasting or breathing.
I’m sure it wasn’t always bad like that — my family has several great cooks, but it happened enough to shape my perception of it, so much so, that eating it al dente was a culinary revelation as an adult.
In my family, I am three generations removed from nearly 100% subsistence farming and the genuine regular threat of food-born ailments that came with a home grown diet.
If you learned to cook in a certain way as a means of survival – experimenting with al dente or medium rare came with a little more risk than not liking the flavor of well done. This habit would be tough to break, even generations later.
Once I started cooking for myself and eating out more, zucchini was one of a handful of foods I rediscovered through a simple change in preparation.
That change was cooking it less.
Fresh cooked zucchini has an earthy and mild flavor. Allowing it to retain it’s moisture and firmness makes it a great canvas to deliver other flavors.
Zucchini is perfect for stir fry
A hot skillet or wok will help apply enough heat for some surface browning, yet allow enough control to easily monitor it’s level of doneness.
I’m no zucchini expert, but one thing I have learned cooking it in it’s raw form is to treat it like meat when it come to applying heat. Like a steak, the rest is the final step in cooking the plant’s tender flesh, and should be factored into to it’s preparation.
In this dish, I surround the zucchini with what I call a souped-up store sauce. This combines the aromatic base of fresh onion, ginger and garlic with a bottled sauce (in this case kung pao stir fry sauce) to enhance the flavor.
The sauce provides a tasty binder that becomes the signature flavor of the dish overall. The zucchini is really just the delivery method, which is why its doneness is paramount to the quality of the dish.
Zucchini stir fry essential: The cashews!!!
The nuts provide a texture contrast to the zucchini and their rich flavor compliment the spicy kung pao sauce. Their inclusion really did make this memorable, especially since there is no protein.
Final thoughts on zucchini stir fry
This dish aligns perfectly.
Zucchini cooked just right, quick semi-fresh sauce and salty cashews walk a culinary tightrope here to form a trio of texture, flavor and richness that provide the most with the minimum.
This can be served as a side dish with any meal but can easily be turned into a delicious dinner bowl by serving it over rice and adding a few slices of grilled chicken.
However one decides to serve this dish, or any similar zucchini offering, I say one thing – Don’t over-cook the zucchini!
East well, cook often.
Stir Fry Zucchini with Kung Pao Sauce and Cashews
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger minced
- 3 cups zucchini 1-inch dice
- 1/2 cup kung pao stir fry sauce
- 1 cup cashews
Instructions
- Saute aromaticsIn a large skillet over medium-high heat, add oli1 tbsp olive oilve oil and onio1 cup onionns, cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add ga1 tsp garlicrlic and gi1 tsp fresh gingernger. Cook two minutes more.1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp fresh ginger, 1 cup onion
- Cook zucchini, finishLower heat to medium, add zucc3 cups zucchinihini and cook until slightly softened, stirring occasionally, four to six minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in ku1/2 cup kung pao stir fry sauceng pao sauce until well combined, cook two minutes. Turn off heat, stir in cash1 cup cashewsews, let rest 10 minutes before serving.3 cups zucchini, 1 cup cashews, 1/2 cup kung pao stir fry sauce
- Make it an entreeServe kung pao zucchini with two cups of cooked rice and one pound of sliced grilled chicken to make this recipe a full meal.
Leave a Reply