Rainbow Carrot Stir-Fry Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do you pre cook carrots before stir-fry? ›

Blanching the carrots before stir frying ensures that they are perfectly cooked while retaining their vibrant color and crunchy texture. To blanch the carrots, bring a pot of water to boil and add a pinch of salt. Carefully place the carrots into the boiling water and cook them for 2-3 minutes.

Purple carrots are high in anthocyanins, which are rich in antioxidants. Yellow carrots contain xanthophylls, which is linked to having good vision. Red carrots are a good source of lycopene, which can help fight against heart disease and some cancers.

Some veggies, like snow peas or scallions, don't need the head-start, but woodier root vegetables, like carrots or turnips, will benefit from being par-cooked. You want the vegetables to maintain their crunch, but not be raw.

“Purple carrots are sweet and delicious both raw and cooked but can lose much of the gorgeous colour when boiled. Serve them fresh from the garden whenever possible.” Steam: Forget boiling: steam carrots for maximum flavour and nutrition.

Extra virgin olive oil has a very low smoke point with a strong flavor, making it completely unsuitable for stir-frying.

Cook 1 pound carrots, covered, in a small amount of boiling salted water until crisp-tender. Here's how long to cook carrots on the stove top depending on how they're cut: 7 to 9 minutes for ¼-inch slices. 4 to 6 minutes for strips.

All varieties of carrots are extremely nutrient dense and a great addition to a healthy diet – they're high in fiber and rich in potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin K. However, each individual color contains a specific set of phytonutrients (antioxidants) which offer slightly different nutritional benefits.

The taste difference between different colored carrots like orange, purple, red, white, and yellow isn't extreme. It isn't even as wide a range as different colored tomatoes. Yet there is some bit of a change to the flavor. It's often slight and it's subtle, mainly showing up when eating carrots raw.

Rainbow carrots are packed full of vitamin A, fiber, potassium, and phytonutrients such as beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and anthocyanins all of which support heart health, eye health, a healthy immune system, AND may reduce your risk of certain types of cancer!

Food & Dining

The first is to cook your protein and your vegetable separately, and combine them only after both are fully cooked. A second rule of thumb for stir-frying: Choose one vegetable per stir-fry. Finally, always remember to add liquid only after everything is more or less finished cooking.

What not to put in stir-fry? ›

Because stir-frying uses a very high heat, you want a cooking oil that has a high smoke point. Vegetable, canola or peanut oil are my trustee go-tos, and all have a neutral taste, so won't affect flavour. Do not – I repeat, DO NOT – use butter!

Not Preheating the Wok or Pan: A hot wok or pan is essential for stir-frying. Preheat it properly to get a good sear on the ingredients and maintain their crispness. Using the Wrong Oil: Use an oil with a high smoke point, such as vegetable oil or peanut oil, to prevent burning.

They are formed wholly of tissue, which is also responsible for their pristine white color. Their flavor is more smooth than orange carrots, and they contain a high amount of antioxidants than other varieties.

Loaded with vitamin A and beta carotene, these brightly-colored beauties support healthy vision and a balanced diet.

Purple carrots are rich in anthocyanins, the antioxidant compounds that give blueberries their distinctive color and superfood health benefits.

To prepare vegetables for stir-frying, blanching is the perfect way to jump-start the cooking process, especially for dense vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower (which usually take a while to stir-fry and often get soggy).

Blanching Times for Vegetables

The broccoli should turn bright green and barely tender. Carrots: Blanch small whole carrots 5 minutes and cut-up carrots 2 minutes.

Carrots sliced into 1-4-inch slices take 4 to 5 minutes to cook to crisp tender. You can cook them a little longer if you prefer carrots that are even more tender. Just make sure not to boil them too long! Boil them over 10 minutes and the carrots will turn to mush.

Keep your stir-fry dry until everything is cooked. Wet vegetables and the extra water drop the temperature of your wok or skillet and can turn your stir-fry into a soupy braise, causing your veggies to lose their crunch and turn soggy.