Rainbow Stir-Fry
This is one of those recipes we keep coming back to, week after week, because it's just so satisfying to make and even better to eat. A big, colourful wok full of crispy veg, tossed in a punchy, garlicky sauce with lime, chilli and sesame running through every bite. It takes about 25 minutes, which means it's genuinely on the table before you've even had time to get properly hungry. The colours alone make you feel good before you've even tasted it. Honestly, make this tonight and you'll see why we're a bit obsessed.
Before You Start
- Blender
- Wok
- Sieve
- Microplane or box grater
Ingredients
- 1 red onion
- 5cm piece of fresh ginger
- 40g cavolo nero
- 1 red bell pepper
- 50g tenderstem broccoli
- 50g baby sweetcorn
- 1 carrot
- 50g frozen edamame beans
- ½ tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 60g mangetout
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 150g wholewheat noodles
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 limes
- 1 fresh red Thai chilli
- ½ tbsp soy sauce
- 1 ½ tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 20g fresh coriander leaves
- 25g cashews - toasted
- 4 radishes
- 1 lime
- 1 spring onion
- 10g fresh coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp mixed sesame seeds
Method
First, make the sauce
- Peel and roughly chop the garlic
- Halve the limes
- Rip the stems from the chillies, cut them in half lengthways and remove the seeds if you wish
- Put the garlic cloves, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, chillies and coriander leaves into the blender
- Squeeze the lime juice into the blender and blitz to make a sauce
- Taste, tweak and season to perfection with salt and pepper
- Keep to one side
Now, prep the vegetables
- Peel and thinly slice the red onion
- Peel the ginger by scraping off the skin with a spoon, then grate
- Trim, halve and core the red pepper, then thinly slice
- Remove the tough stalks from the cavolo nero and thinly slice the leaves
- Trim and quarter the Tenderstem broccoli lengthways
- Halve the baby sweetcorn lengthways
- Peel the carrot and cut it into matchsticks
- Cook the edamame following the packet instructions
- Trim and thinly slice the radishes
- Trim and thinly slice the spring onion
- Cut the lime into wedges
Now, prep the noodles
- Cook the noodles following the packet instructions
- Drain the noodles in a sieve, tip them back into the saucepan, pour over the sauce and toss to combine
Time to make your stir-fry
- Heat the rapeseed oil in the wok over a high heat
- Add the red onion, ginger, pepper and a pinch of salt and stir (or toss) for 1 minute
- Add the broccoli and baby sweetcorn and stir for 1 minute
- Add the cavolo nero, edamame and sesame oil and stir for 1 minute
- Add the carrot and mangetout and stir for 1 minute
- Tip the cooked noodles into the pan and stir for 1 minute
Time to serve
- Plate up the stir-fry, sprinkle it with the cashews, radish, spring onion, coriander leaves and sesame seeds and serve immediately with the lime wedges
Tips & Variations
- Get the heat right: We can't stress this enough. Hot pan, quick cook. The veg should sizzle the moment it hits the wok. If it steams, it goes soft and you lose that lovely bite.
- Swap or add protein: This works brilliantly with tofu, tempeh or even a tin of drained edamame thrown in. Henry always adds extra tofu because honestly, why wouldn't you.
- Dial the chilli to your taste: If you're cooking for people who don't love heat, leave the seeds out entirely. If you're cooking for yourself at 9pm on a Friday, leave them in. Trust us on this one.
Why This Works
The trick here is getting the sauce blitzed properly so the garlic, chilli and coriander all meld together into something really fragrant and punchy rather than just sitting on top of the veg. The rice wine vinegar and sesame oil do a lot of heavy lifting too, giving you that sour, nutty depth that makes this taste like it took way longer than it did. Keep your wok or pan really hot when you cook the veg and don't overcrowd it, that's what keeps everything a little crisp rather than going soggy.