Some days you just need a super-food kind of lunch that packs in a gob of vegetables. Today was one of those days for me. Motivated to get some good nutrients in my system, I set out to create this deliciously healthy Vegetarian Honey Teriyaki Stir Fry. As I placed the zucchini, carrots, bell pepper, mushrooms, green onions, and chickpeas on my countertop, I felt proud of what I was able to create before I even started to create it. It was a good feeling and I wanted you to experience it too so I am sharing this recipe with you! 🙂  This stir fry recipe is perfect for those times when you have been eating out too much, enjoying too many “treats”, or for those times when you just got back from camping, like me…

After camping for 5 days and coming home tired and uninspired, it took me a little while before I had both the time and energy to create a new blog-worthy recipe again. As I planned my meal plan for this week, I decided I wanted to create the kind of recipe that would make up for all my poor eating over the past two weeks. (It works like that, right?) 😉

A brief peak into my “Recipe creating notebook”.

When I sat down to type out this recipe, I looked down at my scratch pad where I scribble out my ideas for new recipes,  and I just had to laugh. You guys, I have re-worked this recipe to death… and now I love it… but I just have to show you what this Honey Teriyaki Stir Fry recipe looks like in my notebook so you can get an idea of what my brain has been like lately:

What is going on here? 🙂

I started with some inspiration from a recipe I found in my Taste Of Home Comfort Food Makeovers cookbook, and by the time I was done, there was basically no resemblance to the original recipe except that it had zucchini and carrots, and even those I cut differently. I added some chickpeas and water chestnuts for some extra protein and crunch. Other ideas I had for this recipe that didn’t “make the cut” were to add shrimp, rice, an egg, bean sprouts, spinach, peanuts, and kale. Feel free to add any of those things if you like. Make this stir fry your own… Who knows, maybe by the time you are done altering this recipe to fit your tastes it won’t resemble mine anymore either. 🙂

Have I mentioned lately that I love doing this stuff though?

Truly, I love the feeling of creating a recipe, tasting it, enjoying it, getting pictures of it, and sharing it with you… especially when it comes to recipes like this one that are healthy, colorful, and delicious! So fun!

Let’s talk a little bit about this recipe:

How to prepare the vegetables.

You really could slice and dice your vegetables however you like, but here is what I did…

• I used my spiralizer to spiralize the zucchini.
• I bought carrots that were already cut into matchsticks to keep things easy.
• I sliced the red bell pepper, mushrooms, and green onion.

Easy, right?

You can find carrots cut into matchstick slices in the part of the produce section that has bagged baby carrots, or you can cut them yourself. I found this fun little picture on Simply Scratch, showing how to cut matchstick carrots and I thought I would share in case if it is helpful to anyone who is cutting the carrots themselves.

(photo credit: Simply Scratch)

If you are looking for matchstick carrots in the store they will look something like this:

About the Honey Teriyaki Marinade.

This is not the first time I have used Honey Teriyaki Marinade in a recipe on Meal Planning Mommies. The kind I always use on here (and in my kitchen) is the KC Masterpiece kind.

Other recipes that use the same marinade.

I first discovered the KC Masterpiece marinade when I was making a Pineapple Pork Chops recipe a long while back, and I fell in love with it. Seriously, you could put this stuff on anything and it would taste amazing. The flavor and texture of this marinade reminds me of the sauce they put on the Jack Daniel’s burgers at the TGIFriday’s restaurant. (SO GOOD!)

Since making the Pineapple Pork Chops, I have also used the marinade in my Bleu Cheese Stuffed Teriyaki Burgers recipe. (If you haven’t tried those burgers yet, you are seriously missing out! They are one of my favorite MPM recipes.)

So, there you have it. If you are looking for a way to use some of that extra marinade, you’ll definitely want to give the Pineapple Pork Chops and Bleu Cheese Stuffed Teriyaki Burgers a try!

Okay, I think that is all you really need to know to make this recipe!

Are you ready to make a super-food meal? Alright then! Let’s do this!

Here is what you need:

1 tablespoon sesame oil
1-1/2 cups matchstick sliced carrots
1 medium zucchini, spiralized
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup Honey Teriyaki Marinade (I use KC Masterpiece brand)
1 (16 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained
1-2 green onions, sliced
1 teaspoon salt

Here is what you do:

In a large stir fry skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.

Add carrots, zucchini, red pepper, mushrooms, and garlic to the skillet and cook 5-7 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Drain water from the skillet.

Mix in honey teriyaki marinade, chickpeas, water chestnuts and green onion. Cook 2-3 more minutes, mixing everything together as it cooks. Sprinkle with salt.

Serve warm.

Makes 6 cups.
One cup is 6 Green, 3 Blue, and 3 Purple points.

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Print Recipe

Vegetarian Honey Teriyaki Stir Fry

6 Green, 3 Blue, and 3 Purple points per serving.

Makes: 6 servings

Calories: 175

Author: Alisha Hughes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1-1/2 cups matchstick sliced carrots
• 1 medium zucchini, spiralized
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup Honey Teriyaki Marinade (I use KC Masterpiece brand)
• 1 16 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 8 ounce can water chestnuts, drained
• 1-2 green onions, sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• In a large stir fry skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Add carrots, zucchini, red pepper, and mushrooms to the skillet and cook 5-8 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Drain water from the skillet.
• Add garlic and cook and additional 30 seconds.
• Add in honey teriyaki marinade, chickpeas, water chestnuts and green onion. Cook 2-3 more minutes, mixing everything together as it cooks. Sprinkle with salt.
• Serve warm.