Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

One of the great things about cooking for yourself is that you always know exactly what is going into your food. If you go to a restaurant or order takeout, you don't know WHAT chemicals, animal parts, or other nasty bits you are consuming. Perhaps most mysterious of all is Asian food.




Fortunately (no pun intended), making your own Asian food is fast, delicious, healthy, and less mysterious. You are what you eat, and no one wants to be chicken necks cooked in monosodium glutamate!

My recipe for Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry was adapted from one by a Food Network chef I have yet to introduce, Robin Miller. I made it a little easier and user-friendly. It is absolutely delicious.... enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

• 1/2 bag frozen stir fry vegetables. No need to thaw. You can use fresh vegetables if you want, but frozen saves you time, money, and even nutrients, so take the short cut!

• 2 tbsp. sesame oil. Robin Miller's recipe used peanut oil, but sesame oil gives the dish such a rich, Asian-y flavor.

• 2 cloves minced garlic

• 1/2 tbsp. minced ginger. I used a delicious minced ginger paste I found at the grocery store, but you can also mince your own fresh, or even use ground ginger powder if you must.

• 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

• 1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

• 1 tsp. cornstarch

• Brown rice. Optional. You can also serve this stir fry with white rice or noodles.

Directions:

As so many of my recipes begin, cut up your chicken breast into small, bite sized pieces.




Heat your sesame oil to medium high in a large, high-sided sautee pan (or wok if you are a bad ass and own one) and add your garlic and ginger.




Let the oil, ginger, and garlic cook for a minute until nice and fragrant, and then add your chicken pieces, stirring to coat in the mixture.




Once the chicken is white/brown on all sides, add your frozen veggies and soy sauce.



At this point, you might wanna make your rice or noodles. I used brown rice cause it's fast and healthy.

TIP: To add more flavor to rice, use some chicken broth instead of water when you prepare it! Since you have to open up some chicken broth for this recipe anyways, you might as well make the most of it!




Back to the main event. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the cornstarch into the chicken broth until it is incorporated. This mixture will help thicken your sauce.




Pour the broth/cornstarch into the pan and let the mixture simmer for several minutes until the veggies are warmed through, the chicken is fully cooked, and the sauce has thickened.





Put your rice in a bowl, top with the stir fry, and dig in! You should have plenty for leftovers, too.





Do YOU have any easy Asian recipes?