Quick and Simple Suppers

Here is the first of the Quick and Simple Suppers series: Chicken Stir Fry

Okay currently we have a can problem in my house. I already had a ton of canned food, but since Matt has now moved in with me - he brought all his canned food along and we have TONS. Therefore, I'm really trying to eat as much out of the pantry as I can. As you may have seen in my previous post, I made chicken noodle casserole entirely out of my pantry/freezer and didn't even know I could make it! Here is my pantry currently.

Um yeah, see all those cans? So tonight I needed something fast to make when I got home from spin. I didn't have much fresh veggies, so I knew it needed to be made from some canned goods. Luckily, I had everything I needed for Chicken Stir Fry! I'm not a big stir fry fan actually, but every now and then I really enjoy it. Here's what you need for tonight's version of Chicken Stir Fry. I'll warn you, it was a bit bland.. so next time I'll make sure to season it up and add some garlic and onion. Tonight I was in such a hurry that I forgot!!! Also, tonight I made two servings.. so keep that in mind when you are looking at my pictures.

• Sesame oil
• Chicken breast - diced
• Broccoli cut in small pieces
• Can of asian baby corn
• Can of water chestnuts
• Brown rice
• Soy Sauce (I use the low sodium kind)

Pretty simple huh? If you make this, I'd add onion and garlic as I said previously and definitely whatever spices you like. Also this would be incredible with sugar snap peas- I wish I had some!

1. Heat sesame oil in pan.

It looks like a lot of oil, but it's really not. I eyeballed about a tablespoon total.

2. While oil is heating, dice your chicken into chunks. I used two chicken breast halves that I had defrosted over the weekend.

 

3. Cut broccoli into small peices and rinse.

4. Open can of baby corn, drain, rinse and cut into smaller bite size pieces

5. Add chicken, broccoli and corn all into pan at same time and start cooking. Now you could easily add the chicken first and let this cook and then remove and cook veggies after. I threw it all together because I was hungry and I like my veggies a little more on the tender side.

Pretty huh?

6. After everything is almost done cooking (aka chicken is done and veggies are ALMOST at desired tenderness), open a can of water chestnuts, drain, rinse and add to skillet. I let this all cook for another 2-3 minutes just to warm the chestnuts slightly.

 

F

Food looks done

Add chestnuts.

7.  Put rice on plate right before stir fry is done. I made 10 minute rice in a different pan while this was going. That's pretty self explanatory (um read the box) so I didn't tell you how to make that. Here's my rice on my plate.

  Then I added the stir fry and put soy sauce all over the mixture.

Now, like I said.. I was in such a hurry that I didn't add onion or garlic or red pepper flakes, a mistake I won't make again. I was making Matt's dinner at the same time mine was cooking, while I was STARVING after spin - so I definitely would correct that if you plan to make this. I was a little upset my chicken didn't brown more, but that's because I cooked it with the veggies. It's okay though! Cooking the dish in sesame oil definitely adds flavor that you wouldn't get with canola or olive oil - so I highly suggest it if you have it around. I actually prefer beef cooked in sesame oil to chicken, but hey.. it worked tonight.

Stats: Entire dish - 444 calories, 13g total fat, 3g sat fat; 48g carbs; 36g protein; 779g sodium (this is a VERY high sodium meal for me.. it's because of the soy sauce.); 10g fiber.

And just so you know - here was Matt's Quick and Simple Supper I made for him - chicken burritos. WW tortilla topped with refried beans, grilled chicken, cheese, jalepenoes and salsa. He LOVED them!

 

Happy eating and cooking everyone!