Chicken and Veggies Stir Fry

I don't cook often, but when I do I try to do it in a creative and healthy way.  And, yes, I'm always messy.  And while I believe cookbooks serve a very valuable purpose, I don't really like to follow them too closely.  Instead, I prefer to just go for it and create whatever strikes my fancy.  This is one of those recipes...

You start by cooking the rice.  I prefer to cook the rice in the oven because it comes out dryer and more fluffy.

Want to know the secret to cooking rice?  For every 1 cup of rice, you should have 2 cups of water.  Usually I have rice already cooked ahead of time and sitting in an air-tight container in the fridge, but not this time.  And because this dish was cooked as a last minute dinner, I ended up cooking the rice on the stove top.  Stove top rice is a bit more gooey and not as fluffy - fair warning.

About 30 minutes before the rice is to be pulled out of the oven, I cook up the chicken.  I use about 4-5 chicken tenders.

I cook the chicken tenders in a little EVOO (that is Extra Virgin Olive Oil - in case you're wondering).  I broken them up really good.  That's Mum's hands your seeing there... She makes a good assistant (and is going to punch me in the arm when she reads this posting).

EVOO provides just enough oil for the chicken to cook properly without distorting the taste of the chicken.  And, it also makes a great base for the veggies when I drop them into the pan.  Once the chicken is cooked, I pull it out of the pan and sit it aside on a plate to cool.  It's now time for the veggies.

Make sure it is a good selection of veggies.  I always use red and orange bell peppers, carrots, and green onions.  Mum is a fan of celery (I'm not), so I add a bit in for her as well.  I usually use half a red pepper, half an orange pepper, about a cup of baby carrots, and 4 green onions (more than that and the green onions begin to over-power the dish).

I also make sure I have baby corn and water chestnuts to throw in as well.  It just isn't good stir fry without those water chestnuts and baby corn.

I rough dice everything.  This is Mum cutting up the baby carrots into bite sized portions.  While she is doing that, I begin to throw in my diced carrots, peppers, onions, and celery into the pan.

I also add about 1/2 cup of chicken broth.  I prefer the no MSG and low sodium kind.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any low sodium on my shelf.  The biggie, at least for my family, is the no MSG.  I'm a migraine sufferer, and MSG is one of the triggers for me.



I make sure all the veggies have been added and let it simmer for a good 5-7 minutes on medium before I add the chicken back in.

By now your chicken should be cooled enough for you to dice.  I dice my chicken up into bite-sized chunks - nothing too uniform.

And once that is done, I simply add it in with the simmering veggies.  I also add the water chestnuts.

And at the last minute, after the chicken and veggie mixture has cooked for another 5-7 minutes - I then add some herbs and spices.  I use about 2 tablespoons of parsley, a teaspoon of ginger, and Cayenne pepper to taste (for us, that is about 1/2 teaspoon). 

It is important to remember that with Cayenne pepper, a little goes a long way.  So unless you like it really hot, don't be too generous with the spice.

  

Once that is added, I mix it thoroughly and let it simmer for about 2-3 minutes while I get the rice out of the oven.  By now, your veggie and chicken mixture should start to dry up a bit - the chicken broth and remaining EVOO being cooked down by the heat.

It is then time to add the rice.  I use a spatula to mix the rice in with the veggie and chicken mixture.  Once it is thorough mixed, the rice will begin to absorb the remaining broth and EVOO that is still in the pan.

After a few minutes, I add soy sauce.  I'm very particular about my soy sauce.  I go for low sodium, low (preferably no) MSG.  While I don't measure out my soy sauce (as you can see from the photo above), but I put in roughly 2 tablespoons.

I mix the soy sauce in thorough and let the rice, veggies, chicken, herbs, and soy sauce cook in the pan, on medium heat, until the remaining brother is cooked off.  Of course, it is always important to sample the mixture as it cooks to ensure you have the right amount of soy sauce, herbs, and spices.

Then I serve it as is.  It's a great, warm dish that is more on the healthy than not.   This, to me, is comfort food.  And nothing is better than to watch a kick-butt martial arts movie while enjoying this bit of nosh.  Enjoy!

Chicken and Veggies Stir Fry

1/2 diced red bell pepper (clean out seeds)

1/2 diced orange bell pepper (clean out seeds)

1/2 cup of diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

4 green onions - diced

1 can water chestnuts

1 can baby corn (diced to bite size)

4-6 chicken tenders

1/2 to 1 cup of chicken broth

2 tablespoons EVOO

2 tablespoons parsley (chopped)

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Cayenne Pepper for taste

2 tablespoon Soy Sauce (more for taste - if needed)

1.5 cups of brown rice

3 cups of water

Put brown rice and water in a dish and cook in oven on 350 for 1 hour. 

In a deep skillet, cook chicken tenders in EVOO until brown.  Put aside to cool.

In same deep skillet add veggies (bell peppers, carrots, celery, onions) and chicken broth, cook for 5-7 minutes on medium.  Dice cooled chicken tenders and add to veggies.  Add water chestnuts and cut up baby corn.  Cook for another 5-7 minutes, add herbs and spices (ginger, parsley, and Cayenne Pepper).

Add cooked rice into deep skillet with veggies and chicken.  Mix in soy sauce (add more, if needed, for taste) and allow rice to absorb remaining chicken broth, EVOO, and soy sauce.  This usually takes 2-5 additional minutes.  Then serve.