As I have said over and over, I tend to cook the same things over and over. It is so much easier to just cook what you know than to have to do something new. Half the annoyance with doing something new is shopping for it or making sure that you have it. But I decided to cook a stir-fry. Not that I haven’t cooked it before or not that I don’t stir-fry meat and veggies. But this time I decided to try to give it that stir-fry flavor. Ya know, I really just wanted to use the cornstarch. So, last week I made stir-fry chicken and veggies. My hubby liked it. I will make it again, but next time I will plan better.
This time I thought I had planned well. I spent an hour cutting up the meat and making the marinade and cutting up all the veggies BEFORE I went to teach my evening yoga class. I thought I would come home and cook it up fast. But it took longer than I thought. I had meticulously planned on how I was going to cook the veggies. The idea is to cook the ones that take the longest to cook first. Now we might not agree on cooking times because I like my mushrooms a little caramelized . . . and my carrots, broccoli, and bell peppers a little raw.
When I cut up the veggies I put them in the bowl in the order in which I would cook them. So while I was driving home from class I was thinking about throwing the stuff in the pan in the order in which I put them in the bowl. Then it dawned on me that I had not even thought about when to cook the chicken. That threw a little wrench in my wok. 😉 I ended up cooking the mushrooms and chicken in one pan while the remaining veggies cooked in another. It was just faster. So here is what I did:
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Chicken and Vegetables Stir Fry
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
1 + lb chicken breast
2 tablespoons olive oil
garlic salt
1/4 onion
6 mushrooms
1 small baby bok choy
2 bunches of broccoli
4 small carrots
handful of snow peas
1 bell pepper (red)
rice
Mix the cornstarch in the water. Stir until it is completely dissolved. In a dish that will fit all the chicken, add the cornstarch water, the soy sauce, the brown sugar, the ginger, garlic powder, vinegar, and the teriyaki. Mix it up. Cut the chicken into about bite sized pieces. You want to cut them up so they are all about the same size so the cook evenly. Put the chicken in the dish with the marinade. Put the dish aside.
After you wash the veggies. Chop the onion. Slice the mushrooms. Cut up the baby bok choy. Chop up the broccoli. Slice the carrots. (I just sliced the ones I had because they were small, so they were little rounds). Slice the snow peas. Chop up the bell pepper. Decide which veggie you like cooked the most and start cook them first.
I cooked the mushrooms first. I put a tablespoon of oil in the pan. Let it heat. Then added the onions. Cook the onions. Then add the mushrooms. Add some garlic salt. When the mushrooms are almost cooked to your liking add the chicken. Add some of the marinade.
When the chicken is almost half of the way cooked, heat up the olive oil in another pan. Then when the chicken is half cooked put the bottom part, the white part of the baby bok choy in the pan (the one with out the chicken and mushrooms). Then add the broccoli. Add some of the marinade to the pan. Add the top (the green part) of the baby bok choy. Let things cook a minute.* Then add the snow peas. Add more marinade. Let it cook a bit. Then add the carrots. I don’t like cooked bell peppers so I add them last.
*In between the veggies cooking add almost all of the marinade to the chicken and mushrooms. Save just a little to use for cooking the veggies.
Make sure you cook the marinade with the chicken or vegetables. Since the raw chicken was sitting in it you don’t want to pour it over your rice without it having been cooked.
Once everything is cooked to your liking serve it over rice.
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My pictures show all the veggies in two bowls, that is because I prepped everything, then had to leave to teach yoga. I would not have piled everything in bowls if I were just prepping and cooking.
I loved all the veggies in this dish. This might not be a typical stir fry. Not even sure what that is. But it was good. We will be having it again!
What do you think? Does it sound good? Does it look good?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 