Thursday: Chicken Stir Fry

Chicken Stir Fry

I think this may be the healthiest thing I make.  It contains 7 vegetables!  I have a few other super-healthy dishes, but this one is for sure in the top three.  It's perfect for using up leftover veggies and getting a rainbow of colors in one meal.

I'm not gonna lie, it's a little work to chop up all the fresh veggies, but I think it's so worth it in terms of nutrition and flavor.  It's a great recipe to have kids help make.  If you prep all the veggies in advance and keep them in Ziplock bags in the fridge, you can pull this out and have a meal in about 15 minutes.

The first thing I do is prep the chicken.  I use breast meat, but you can use your favorite cut.  Don't tell anyone, but you can also use beef, pork, tofu or whatever your favorite protein is.

Start by trimming off any chunks of fat, bones (if any), and any parts that just look yucky.  Yes, this is the technical culinary term.

Next, I split the breast in half horizontally so that I have two thinner cutlets (I usually do this with all my chicken breasts to create a 4 oz portion size).  

Next, but each cutlet in half vertically then each half into small strips.

Look for the lines running through the meat.  This is called the grain (like wood grain).When cutting the strips, you want to cut opposite the "grain" of the chicken.  This holds true for cutting all meats. This keeps the meat more tender when eating it because you can easily bite off pieces without having to bite through connective tissue.

Next, dump your strips in a bowl and cover with 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce, 1/4 cup water and 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Cover and leave on the counter if you will be cooking the chicken within 30 minutes or refrigerate if not.

This is the perfect time to make the rice.  I have never been very good at making rice.  It was never cooked enough and I could never produce light, and fluffy rice.  That is until I followed Jamie Oliver's Method.  It uses basmati rice which costs a little more, but it is worth every penny.  This rice comes out perfect every time, cooks faster and is easier to make ahead and keep warm.  The method is like cooking pasta then you finish it by steaming it.

Assemble your veggies: 1/2 red bell pepper, 2 medium carrots, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 yellow squash, 1 zucchini, 1 small onion, 2 small (or 1 large) stalk of celery, 1 broccoli crown.  You could also use 1/2 cup frozen corn, 1/4 head of cabbage, 1 cup cauliflower, snap peas, or any other vegetable your family really loves.

I cut up the vegetables for even cooking.  When stir frying, you cook foods at a high temperature for a short period of time, so it's important to cut longer cooking foods (like carrots) very thin and faster cooking foods (like broccoli) into larger pieces.  We will do a tutorial on cutting vegetables later, but here is a quick run-down on what I did:

Yellow squash: Cut off the ends, cut in half lengthwise then cut each half lengthwise again, then cut into 1/4" slices.

Celery: Cut off ends, cut into the thinnest slices I could.

Red bell pepper:  Cut into 1/4" slices then cut those in half to make 1" long julienne strips.

Onion: Cut off the ends, cut in half lengthwise, cut into small julienne strips.

Garlic:  Pounded the flat side of my chef's knife onto it then chopped it into small pieces (or use a garlic press).

Carrots:  Peel and cut off the ends, cut the thinnest slices you can on the narrow parts, then cut the larger parts in half lengthwise and slice as thin as possible.

Zucchini:  Same as the squash.

Broccoli:  Cut off the florets into small florets.  Peel the stalk and slice it into very thin rounds.  I added the stalk pieces to my celery.

Heat a wok (or large skillet) between medium-high and high.  Drain marinade off chicken, getting it as dry as possible.  Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to the skillet and then add chicken.  Toss it around every few seconds.  Drain off any liquid that appears in the pan because we want it to brown.

Cook the chicken until it is cooked through and starts to brown up, like this.  Remove from pan and set it aside.

Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan and add the hearty vegetables:  celery with broccoli stalks, red bell pepper, onion and carrots.  Cook for 2 minutes tossing it about every 10 seconds.

After too minutes it should look like this.  The vegetables aren't cooked through, but are starting to soften up.

Add remaining vegetables along with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.  Cook for 3 more minutes, tossing every 10 seconds.

Return the chicken to the wok and drizzle teriyaki sauce over it (as much or as little as you like).  Cover and allow it to steam for 1 minute.  If you are like me and sometimes eat raw ramen noodles and have leftover seasoning packets, it would be good to toss one of those in here too.  This stir-fry doesn't have a strong Asian flavor.  It's pretty much just chicken with a lot of veggies.

For a fancy (portion controlled) serving, take a small cup or bowl (I'm using my toddler's snack cup), spray it with non-stick spray and firmly press rice into it almost to the brim.

Turn it onto your serving plate and tap it out.

The the same cup back up, overfilling it slightly, with stir-fry and pour it over the rice.  This recipe makes 4-6 servings.