If you learn to make only one dish, there’s nothing easier, more versatile, and healthier than a good stir-fry. You can include just about any vegetables and meats, and the whole thing comes together really quickly in a single pan. Of course, there are a few things you’ll need to know before getting started, but once we get these out of the way, you’ll be whipping up excellent stir-fries before you can say “Kung POW!”

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First of all,  don’t worry if you don’t have a wok. It turns out the standard stove burner isn’t powerful enough to heat the tall, curved surface of the wok completely. You’re better off with a large frying pan, preferably nonstick.

Next, choose your ingredients. Pretty much anything will work, like broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, eggplant, spinach, and carrots on the vegetable side, and chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp on the meat side. And if you think it’s the kind of thing your wife would appreciate, you should seriously consider tofu as a meat substitute. Pick a few different vegetables and one meat.

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Preparation is really the key to keeping the stir-fry fast and easy. You want to get everything chopped and prepared ahead of time, so you can just throw them into the hot pan, give a few quick stirs, and you’re done. Chop the vegetables and meat into nice, bite-sized pieces, collect them in small bowls or plates (you should cut meat on a separate board with a different knife, and always Wash your hands immediately afterward to avoid any possible salmonella contamination).

For the vegetables, group them together in the order they’ll go in the pan, from the longest cooking to the shortest. The longest cooking veggies (Group I) are peppers, onions, and carrots. Then you’ll want to add broccoli and green beans (Group II). Next is celery, mushrooms, and zucchini (Group III), and finally scallions, tomatoes, spinach, and any other greens or herbs (Group IV).

Regardless of which meat you’re using, you’ll want to marinate it for at least an hour or so, for extra flavor. It’s really simple: Just cut the meat into bite-sized slices (thin slices for beef, pork, or chicken, one-inch cubes for shrimp or tofu), place them into a Ziploc bag, then pour in equal parts soy sauce and dry sherry. To keep all the meat covered with marinade, force all the air out of the bag, to the point where the marinade is just about to spill out the top. Then seal the bag, and you’ll see that all the meat stays covered.

Any good stir-fry should have chopped garlic and fresh ginger. Here are some quick techniques for preparing these “aromatics”:

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Garlic: Chop the flat, root end off each clove. With the heel of your palm, give a solid smack to each clove. This should loosen the husk and make it easy to peel off. Then lay a large chopping knife flat over the clove, with the blade facing away from you. Using the heel of your palm again, smash the clove under the blade. With a quick couple of chops you’ll have perfectly minced garlic.

Ginger: The hardest part about preparing ginger root is figuring out how to peel it. The best way is to use the edge of a spoon, and just roughly scrape it clean. Then cut off about an inch of the root and chop it as fine as possible.

Finally, you’ll need a sauce for your stir-fry. To keep things simple, I’d recommend buying one of those small packets of stir-fry sauce mix in the Asian foods section of the supermarket. Follow the simple instructions on the package and set the sauce aside until you’re ready to add it. In a pinch, just combine some soy sauce, sherry, and a little sesame oil.

Now that you’ve got everything prepared, let’s get a-cookin! This recipe creates about four servings. You can either halve the recipe if it’s just the two of you, or make the whole thing and enjoy leftovers.

3-4 tablespoons oil (peanut or canola are best)

1 pound meat, shrimp, or tofu

Equal parts (about 1 tablespoon) soy sauce and dry sherry

1-1/2 pounds vegetables

1 tablespoon chopped garlic, or more to taste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger, or more to taste

Handful of unsalted peanuts or cashews (optional)

Stir-fry sauce mix

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1. Place a large frying pan over high heat for a few minutes, until you can feel the heat coming off it. Add about I tablespoon of oil and heat until it just starts to smoke.

2. Drain the meat as much as possible, and add to the hot oil (you may want to keep a large lid handy to keep the initial oil spatter to a minimum). Stir-fry the meat until ifs not quite cooked completely, about 20 seconds for shrimp, 1 minute for beef or pork, or 3 minutes for chicken. (For tofu, try to brown the pieces on all sides.) Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat to a bowl.

3. Keeping the pan very hot, add another tablespoon of oil.  Cook each group for about 2 to 3 minutes before adding the next group, then add the last group and stir-fry for about 30 seconds.

4. Clear out a little space in the middle of the pan and add the ginger and garlic with a little additional oil. Stir them up quickly and firmly, then turn off the heat and mix everything together.

5. Crank up the heat again, and return the meat to the pan. Add the nuts, if you want. Then give a quick stir to the sauce and pour it over, stirring to coat everything. To thicken the sauce, combine the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water and stir it into the sauce. Serve immediately over white rice, and be sure to use a serving spoon to drizzle the sauce over the top.

Once you get the basics down, you can improve in all kinds of cool ways. Try different combinations of vegetables and meats, or add a kick with a bit of chili paste, which you can find in many supermarkets these days (or any Asian market).