This Is Why I Cook In A Bikini: Plus A Bonus Recipe!

Let's set the scene: South Florida, full sun, zero breeze, and a boat full of veggies that weren't going to use themselves. Naturally, the only logical outfit for the day was a bikini. Bright orange. Happy. Working on the tan while I worked on lunch. A girl's got priorities. You can also bypass all of this and go straight to the video here. 😉

We're making our way down the ICW right now, and if you've never done it, here's the deal — it is bridge, after bridge, after bridge. These things run on their own little schedule and they do not care one bit about yours. You push the throttle trying to make the 10:30 opening, the math says you'll roll up at 10:32, and that bridge tender is like "nope, sit tight." So we sit. Half an hour, waiting on a bridge, in the heat, in a bikini, feeling pretty good about the situation overall.

The ICW is a love-hate thing. It keeps us moving when it's too rough offshore — but the toll is currents, timing, and approximately one thousand bridges standing between us and wherever we're going.

So I Turned Bridge-Wait Time Into Cook Time

Here's the thing about sitting around waiting on a drawbridge — you might as well get something done. And what I had to get done was a fridge full of veggies that were living on borrowed time. I refuse to throw good food away, so I did what any hot, bored, slightly impatient boat girl would do: I turned the galley into my own little cooking show. Watch it now on episode #357.

Veggies out, sauce whisked, bikini on, camera rolling. And every time the whole boat started rattling like it was falling apart? Yep — another bridge. Forward, reverse, forward, reverse, right on cue.

Cooking underway, mid-tan, mid-bridge chaos, in a bikini because the AC can only fight so hard against South Florida in the summer. This is the glamorous life, people.

The Recipe: Fridge Clean-Out Veggie Stir Fry

Zero plan required. Just a fridge full of odds and ends and a sauce that makes it all work.

Veggies (use whatever's about to turn — this round it was):

• Broccoli

• Carrots

• Snap peas

• Bell peppers

Sauce:

• 2 cups chicken broth

• 1/3 cup soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons sesame oil

• 1 scoop garlic (fresh or minced — no judgment either way)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch (arrowroot works too, that's what I used)

• 2 tablespoons honey
  

How it comes together: Chop up whatever veggies are on their way out, whisk the sauce together, and toss it all in a hot pan until the veggies are just tender and the sauce thickens up nice and glossy. Serve over rice. Done. Ten minutes, one pan, and a fridge that owes me nothing now.

Come Watch the Whole Thing on YouTube

There's way more to this than this post can hold. Head over to YouTube and watch this week's episode for the full, sweaty, delicious mess of it.