A while back I made a recipe for some Beef and Broccoli (wight watchers recipe), and I noticed that the sauce was delicious. I decided to try it with just some veggies, and it has been the base of all my Chinese food in the last 6 months. The sauce tastes just like any sauce you would get from a Chinese restaurant, but doesn’t have all those unknown ingredients. I love being in control of making my own ‘take-out’, because I know exactly what is in it, and I can make it a lot healthier. This is also such an easy recipe because you can really take any veggies that you have on hand, and any meat too. I used broccoli and zucchini for this time, but have also made it with peppers, cauliflower, eggplant, yellow squash, water chestnuts, tofu…you name it. It is so yum, and so quick and easy! I usually serve my veggies with a side of rice (because the sauce is amazing on rice, too!), or some Hot and Sour Soup.
Easy Chinese Broccoli and Zucchini
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1 cup reduced-sodium veggie broth (can use chicken as well, divided)
- 5 cup uncooked broccoli (about a 12 oz bag, florets)
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 TBS ginger root (fresh, minced)
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 1/4 cup water (s)
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce (s)
- 3/4 TBS Corn starch
- **any other veggies you want can be added (see WW recipe above if you want to incorporate meat)
- 1. Add 1/2 cup broth to pan. Add broccoli and zucchini; cover and cook, tossing occasionally and sprinkling with a tablespoon water if needed, until broccoli is almost crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Uncover pan and add ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes; stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- 2. In a cup, stir together water, soy sauce, remaining 1/2 cup broth and 3/4 tablespoon cornstarch until blended; stir into pan. Reduce heat to medium-low and bring to a simmer; simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
- Serve over rice or alone. Enjoy!
187 calories (for 1 of 2 servings), 1.7g of fat (see below for full nutritional information)
Chinese Broccoli and Zucchini Nutritional Info
Yum yum! You are making me hunnnnngry! I love take out but I agree, you never know what is in the sauces and I like cooking fresh when I can.
I have found too, that I get headaches from MSG, so while I love chinese food and it tastes awesome when I;m eating it, I feel terrible about an hour later. This is such a better healthy option…and it’s not covered in oil like most chinese food!
would love to serve this as a side dish, my hub loves chinese food and wants some every time we go out, so this would be perfect for him. I will print this one now 🙂 I will give it a try next weekend
It is so good! It’s a quick and easy recipe to have on the back burner since most of the ingredients you probably have on hand already! Let me know how you like it!
you should try oyster sauce! you could probably omit some of the soy and end up with a thicker sauce. there is even a vegetarian version made from mushrooms! see if you like it.
Thanks for the tip, Jessica! I am going to look into that! You don’t happen to have the recipe, do you?
i never make it, i just buy it in the bottle. you should be able to find it in the asian section of most supermarkets. i usually buy the lee kum kee brand: http://id.lkk.com/sitecore/content/ID/Enterprise/Products/ConsumerProduct/Oyster%20Flavored%20Sauces/vegetarianoysterflavouredsauce
Thanks! I am definitely going to look for it!