Is simply asia the name of the spice blend, or the brand? The brand Simply Asia has spice blends on their website, but then are further broken down into Kung Pao, etc. But then, their spice is in packets not jars. I'm curious because I'd like to acquire it or replicate it? Something like that. I love an Asian sauce on zucchini then grilling it. This sounds like it'd be perfect for what I want. :)

Yes, there is such a thing as a "little bit of stir-fry" and you can make enough for one or two by following a simple ratio of ingredients. I have a meal plan where I place stir-fry on Wednesday's menu. I use vegetables (and often leftover meat) from the previous two or three days of meal preparation (if I'm chopping vegetables for Monday's meal - I'll just do enough for subsequent meals at the same time), occasionally I'll add something from the freezer, and I also use rehydrated freeze-dried veggies in stir fry - but any and all of those choices will work. I figure 2-3 ounces of meat per serving along with 3/4 to 1 cup of vegetables per serving, and 1/2 a cup of rice on the side. Use a ratio of ingredients that fits your serving size requirements. I sprinkle it with lemon pepper if I want to skip the sauce, or adapt a favorite sauce to this small amount.

Okay, I'm telling you this to be informative, not to brag, but the leftover toppings made the awesomest taco salad! I think the veg survived so well because the only small plastic bags they had were heavy freezer bags. (I'd forgotten my containers.) No more fry bread, of course, but I'd picked up a packet of taco sized yellow corn tortillas at TJ's that are more like homemade than any I've seen before. I'd picked them up as a backup plan in case the fry bread was a disaster. I was in no mood to actually cook (low air pressure makes me sleepy), even to toast tortillas, so I used the toaster oven. It worked remarkably well. Very similar to using a comal. Made a nice accompaniment to the salad, but I wasn't about to make actual tacos and grill them and everything either, so I'm proud of myself for actually toasting them (not really palatable raw (no really really raw--they're par grilled--but not good without further cooking). I'm being literal about the "toast". My toaster oven has a specific toast setting with a timer that acts like a drop lever on a pop-up toaster. The meat was TJ's shaved beef, dry marinated with a sample packet of Penzey's fajita spice mix, augmented with their adobo because there wasn't enough quantity in the packet. I casually seared them in cast iron--casual as in taking a clump and kind of spreading it with the tongs rather than carefully laying out each shaved slice. Removed from pan, which was deglazed with leftover flat beer (Corona), which was then augmented and reduced some with a can of Ro-Tel tomato/onion/pepper which I'd bought for a specific recipe to try, and not used and I've forgotten what it was for anyway. Beef added back for a good combined then returned to the Pyrex square I'd been holding it in, which has a cover. Reheated in the oven at Mother's house for about 25 minutes. Today, just zapped for warmth. The toppings included sour cream, jarred salsa picante, sharp cheddar and pepitas. The veg were a made up slaw from TJ's of shredded cabbage, kale, carrots and broccoli stems, and chopped tomato, avocado, Spanish onion, and green and orange pepper (that's one bell pepper with two color striation, and it tastes like a mellower version of a green bell pepper, or less sweet/more green version of an orange one). Made a bed of the slaw, added the warmed meat, topped with the veg, pepitas and cheese, then used a couple spoons of sour cream and salsa instead of dressing and mixed well. Okay, I admit it, I've gone into such detail because I want to keep it as a recipe because the salad was so danged good. I've made a lot of taco salads, but this was way better than the conventional ones, and easy to reproduce the seasonings and slaw without the packages.

I finally made the cabbage dish. I didn't have a recipe, just an idea I'd heard somewhere, so I kind of cribbed a lot from the Molly Stevens braise, which is a standard for me. I did learn that it needs more stuff than I used (I added it to the ingredients, but it was all eaten up. :) I thought it was delicious. Layer-stuffed Cabbage 1 nice tight white or green standard cabbage, about 2 lb., wedged 5-6 oz., approx., sliced prosciutto (thin, salty, tasty). I use domestic humane. A crime to use the best of Parma for this. 1 small block (inch slice off the wheel or wedge, about half a pound) of good Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 18 mo. is fine. 1/2 cup Cuban citrus garlic sauce, or 1/2 cup garlic infused and seasoned chicken stock with a little lemon juice 1 fat carrot 1 baseball sized yellow onion Olive oil Choose a baking dish that will fit your cabbage wedges. They can be packed in tightly. Oil generously with olive oil (cooking quality, not your best EVOO). Preheat to 330° F (or so). Cut cabbage into enough wedges so everybody gets one. Wide on the outside, and not too deep into the middle of the cabbage works really well, but however it comes out should be fine. Use a madoline or slicing blade to slice the onion paper thin (.5 mm), the carrot and cheese card thin (1.3 mm). Chop the last bits of the veg and throw into the bottom of the dish, with some of the slices. Gently separate the leaves of each wedge, keeping them stacked together. Layer the leaves with the prosciutto, onions, carrots and cheese. Be generous. Reserve a slice or two of the prosciutto and a little of everything else for the top. Place the layered wedges in the dish, scatter the reserved ingredients over the top, and pour the garlic sauce around. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 330° F (or so) for an hour, covered with tucked but not tight foil. After the hour, carefully remove the foil (in case something sticks) and bake another half hour to hour until the cabbage is at your desired tenderness. A berry spoon works well for serving.