Sichuan-Style Stir-Fried Chicken With Peanuts

Not much to say other than yum!  This was a great stir fry, just spicy enough but not overboard.  You can add whatever veggies you like.  I ate every last bite!

Sichuan-Style Stir-Fried Chicken with Peanuts (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

Marinade:

• 2  tablespoons  low-sodium soy sauce
• 2  tablespoons  rice wine or sake
• 1  teaspoon  cornstarch
• 1  teaspoon  dark sesame oil
• 1 1/2  pounds  skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• Stir-Frying Oil:
• 2  tablespoons  vegetable oil, divided
• Sauce:
• 1/2  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 2  tablespoons  sugar
• 2 1/2  tablespoons  low-sodium soy sauce
• 2  tablespoons  rice wine or sake
• 1  tablespoon  Chinese black vinegar or Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/4  teaspoons  cornstarch
• 1  teaspoon  dark sesame oil
• 2  tablespoons  minced green onions
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  minced garlic (about 7 cloves)
• 1  teaspoon  chile paste with garlic
• Remaining Ingredients:
• 1 1/2  cups  drained, sliced water chestnuts
• 1  cup  (1/2-inch) sliced green onion tops
• 3/4  cup  unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
• 6  cups  hot cooked long-grain rice

Directions:

To prepare marinade, combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; cover and chill 20 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken mixture; stir-fry 4 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove from pan; set aside.

To prepare sauce, combine broth and next 6 ingredients (broth through 1 teaspoon sesame oil); stir well with a whisk. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in pan. Add 2 tablespoons green onions, ginger, garlic, and chile paste, and stir-fry for 15 seconds. Add broth mixture, and cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly.

Stir in cooked chicken, water chestnuts, sliced onion tops, and peanuts; cook for 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Serve over rice.

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Pork Stir Fry

This was a FABULOUS meal.  Granted pork loin isn’t the cheapest, but if you find it on sale this would be a great alternative way to cook it.  I loved the sauce and how tender the pork was.  This was great over jasmine rice.  We will absolutely be making this again.  We might add more veggies next time too, I’m thinking red pepper and mushrooms would be an excellent addition.

Black Bean Pork and Zucchini Stir Fry (from Cooking Light, seen in their new Way to Cook cookbook)

Ingredients

• PORK:
• 3/4  pound  pork tenderloin, trimmed
• 1  tablespoon  Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine), dry sherry, or sake
• 1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce
• 1  teaspoon  cornstarch
• SAUCE:
• 1/2  cup  water
• 2  tablespoons  Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine), dry sherry, or sake
• 1  tablespoon  black bean and garlic sauce (such as Lee Kum Kee)
• 2  teaspoons  cornstarch
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• REMAINING INGREDIENTS:
• 1  pound  zucchini
• 2  tablespoons  canola oil, divided
• 1  tablespoon  minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 3  cups  hot cooked short-grain rice

Preparation

1. To prepare the pork, cut pork crosswise into 3-inch pieces. Cut each piece lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices; cut slices into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Combine pork, 1 tablespoon wine, soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch; cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2. To prepare sauce, combine 1/2 cup water and next 4 ingredients (through salt); set aside.

3. Cut zucchini crosswise into 2-inch pieces. Cut each piece lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices; cut slices into 1/2-inch-wide strips.

4. Heat a 14-inch wok over high heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil to wok, swirling to coat. Add zucchini and ginger to wok; stir-fry 1 minute or just until crisp-tender. Spoon into a bowl.

5. Add 2 teaspoons oil to wok, swirling to coat. Add half of pork mixture to wok; stir-fry 2 minutes or until browned. Add cooked pork mixture to zucchini mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining 2 teaspoons oil and remaining pork mixture. Return zucchini mixture to wok. Stir sauce; add sauce to wok. Stir-fry 1 minute or until thickened. Spoon into a serving dish. Sprinkle with onions. Serve over rice.

Approximately 8 WW pts per serving.

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Spicy Thai

Tyler picked this recipe out of the latest Cooking Light.  If you haven’t checked out CL recently you should.  Last month they launched their new design, with a photo of EVERY recipe.  It is fantastic.  Many more recipes than before, and less of the travel/exercise/beauty filler they were using so much of before.  This noodle dish was delicious but SPICY.  I had to take a big drink of milk between every bite.  So next time we’ll probably cut back on the chili-garlic paste  This was our first time using rice noodles and they were yummy, however a little expensive, a cheaper substitute would be linguine or another flat pasta.

Thai Rice Noodles with Chicken (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

1/4  cup  fresh lime juice, divided
2  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
8  ounces  1/2-inch-thick rice noodles
1  tablespoon  brown sugar
1  tablespoon  water
1  tablespoon  fish sauce
1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2  teaspoons  fresh chile paste with garlic (such as sambal oelek)
1/4  teaspoon  salt, divided
4  teaspoons  canola oil, divided
3  tablespoons  thinly diagonally sliced green onions
1  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger
1  teaspoon  minced garlic
1/2  cup  torn fresh basil
1/4  cup  very thinly sliced lemongrass (tough outer stalks removed) our store didn’t carry this so we omitted it
1/4  cup  very thinly vertically sliced shallots

Directions:

1. Combine 2 tablespoons juice and chicken in a bowl. Let stand 15 minutes.

2. Soak noodles in hot water 15 minutes or until somewhat soft but still slightly chewy. Drain well.

3. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons juice, sugar, and next 4 ingredients (through chile paste). Stir in 1/8 teaspoon salt.

4. Heat a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Remove chicken from juice; discard juice. Add chicken to pan; stir-fry 4 minutes or until done. Transfer to large bowl; sprinkle with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add green onions, ginger, and garlic; stir-fry 45 seconds or just until golden and fragrant. Add noodles; cook 30 seconds, tossing well. Stir in sugar mixture. Add chicken; cook 30 seconds. Place 1 1/4 cups noodle mixture on each of 4 plates. Top each with 2 tablespoons basil, 1 tablespoon lemongrass, and 1 tablespoon shallots.

• 1/4  cup  fresh lime juice, divided
  2  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
  8  ounces  1/2-inch-thick rice noodles
  1  tablespoon  brown sugar
  1  tablespoon  water
  1  tablespoon  fish sauce
  1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce
  1 1/2  teaspoons  fresh chile paste with garlic (such as sambal oelek)
  1/4  teaspoon  salt, divided
  4  teaspoons  canola oil, divided
  3  tablespoons  thinly diagonally sliced green onions
  1  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger
  1  teaspoon  minced garlic
  1/2  cup  torn fresh basil
  1/4  cup  very thinly sliced lemongrass (tough outer stalks removed)
  1/4  cup  very thinly vertically sliced shallots

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Thai Chicken with Cashews

Last weekend I finally went through my google reader to get inspiration from my starred recipe.  I’ve had this one starred since last summer and Tyler cooked it up for dinner on Monday night.  It was good but a little too spicy for me (I blame that on Tyler who often dumps spices in without measuring!)  I enjoyed it, but with a big glass of milk to cool my tastebuds!  I love munching on the leftover cashews!

Thai Chicken with Cashews (from Annie’s Eats)

Ingredients:

1 bunch scallions

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 red bell pepper, chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 ½ tbsp. finely chopped peeled fresh ginger (or 1 ½ tsp. dried)

¼ tsp. roasted red pepper flakes

¾ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 ½ tbsp. soy sauce

1 ½ tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. sugar

½ cup salted roasted whole cashews

cooked white or brown rice for serving

Directions:

Chop scallions, separating white and green parts. Pat chicken dry, then cut into ¾ -inch pieces and toss with salt and pepper. Heat a wok or 12-inch heavy skillet (not nonstick) over moderately high heat until a drop of water evaporates immediately. Add oil, swirling to coat, then stir-fry chicken until golden in places and just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add bell pepper, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and scallion whites to wok and stir-fry until peppers are just tender, 5 to 6 minutes.

Stir together broth, soy sauce, cornstarch and sugar, then stir the mixture into the vegetables in the wok. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cashews, scallion greens and chicken along with any juices accumulated on plate. Serve with rice.

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Fabulous Stir-Fry

Oh my goodness friends I can’t believe it’s been 3 weeks since I posted!  School has kept me insanely busy and we are doing easy easy meals for dinner these days, and often Tyler is the one doing the cooking.  I often resort to PBJ when I’m really busy with homework.  This recipe was Tyler’s idea to make, it’s based off the stir fry we made at the KC Culinary Center this summer.  Since I am mildly allergic to shrimp Tyler subbed chicken.  I think this stir-fry is fabulous.  If you live in the KC area, we were unable to find the black bean sauce at HyVee or SuperTarget, but Hen House came through for us.  You could add all kinds of great things to this stir fry, it’s a great base.  Tyler bought dried mushrooms and soaked them, also yummy!

Wok-Fried Chicken with Noodles (adapted from the KCCC recipe we were given)

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup canola or peanut oil
1 t sesame oil
1 T garlic, chopped
1 head baby bok choy, chopped in 1-inch pieces
5-6 pieces of shiitake mushrooms
1/2 red pepper, julienne
2 T black bean sauce
1 T soy sauce
14 oz fresh egg noodles, or cooked lo mein noodles
1 green onion, sliced
1 t chili garlic sauce

Directions:

Pre-heat pan over high heat and add oil.  Cook chicken, add sesame oil, and then garlic, cooking until chicken is no longer pink.  Add baby bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, red peppers, black bean sauce, and soy sauce, cooking 30 seconds longer.  Add the noodles to the pan and stir in the chili garlic sauce.

Plate and garnish with green onions.

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A WW winner

Love this recipe! Hallelujah! I actually didn’t make it since Tyler is the “stir-fryer” in this household, but I chopped up some stuff and “supervised” and ate it and oh my it was delicious! This is from the “15-minute dishes” portion of the cookbook. Can’t wait to have it again

Stir-Fried Beef and Snow Peas

Ingredients:

3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T minced peeled fresh ginger
3/4 lb boneless sirloin steak, trimmed and cut into thin 2-inch-long slices
1/2 lb fresh snow peas, trimmed, or thawed frozen snow peas
1 cup canned sliced water chestnuts, drained
2 T reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 T orange juice
1 t cornstarch
1 T water

Directions:

1. Spray a large nonstick wok or deep skillet with nonstick spray and set over high heat until a drop of water sizzles in it. Add the scallions, garlic, and ginger; stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beef and stir-fry until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the snow peas and stir-fry about 1 minute. Add the water chestnuts and stir-fry 30 seconds. Stir in the soy sauce and orange juice; bring to a simmer and cook 20 seconds.

2. Stir together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl until smooth. Add to the wok and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce bubbles and thickens, about 30 seconds.

serving size = 1 cup (recipe serves 4)

WW points per serving = 2 (wow!!)

I had mine over brown rice and Tyler had his over some leftover whole wheat spaghetti we needed to use up.

Source: Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites, 2008. p.251

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Vegetable Stir-Fry

I was really happy with this recipe! Tyler said he thinks he’d like it more without the ginger, but my taste buds said it was fine You could change this recipe up with many different kinds of vegetables. I couldn’t find shiitake mushrooms (our store NEVER has them) so I used cremeni instead.

Vegetable Stir-Fry (from Weight Watchers)

Ingredients:

3 T reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
1 T canola oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced (I used a mix of frozen peppers)
1/4 lb fresh shitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2 t grated peeled fresh ginger
2 1/2 cups cold cooked brown rice
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 cup frozen peas, thawed (I left these out because I HATE peas)
1/4 t crushed red pepper

Directions:
Combine the soy sauce and vinegar in a small bowl, set aside. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok set over high heat until a drop of water sizzles in it. Add the bell pepper, mushrooms, and ginger; stir-fry until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the rice, stirring well to break up any clumps; stir-fry until heated through, 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the soy sauce mixture over the rice. Add the green onions and crushed red pepper, stir-fry 1 minute. Serve at once.

1 serving =2/3 cup stir fry.

WW points per serving=3

Source: Adapted from Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites: Over 200 Best-Ever Recipes from the Weight Watchers Test Kitchens, Wiley Publishing, 2008.

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Tyler’s turn in the kitchen

Tyler discovered this stir-fry recipe about 6 months ago and it is now one of our favorite meals. We’ve tried other stir-frys but keep coming back to this one. Our recipe is adapted from a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal recipe. You can make this with chicken or beef. We eat so much chicken that we usually make this with london broil just to shake things up. Tyler is not comfortable enough with this whole “food blogging thing” to write an intro himself but here’s what he said when I asked if he had tips for this recipe: “Taste the sauce as you go along, be careful not to let it get too salty.” There you go folks, tips from the chef himself Satay Stir-Fry with Orange Scented Jasmine Rice (made by Tyler) 3 3/4 cups water 2 oranges, zested 2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed 2 tablespoons canola oil Flank steak or london broil cut into thin strips 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 bag of your favorite variety of stir fry veggies. Satay sauce: 4 rounded tablespoonfuls chunky peanut butter 3 tablespoons soy sauce 3 tablespoons honey 1-inch ginger root, peeled and minced 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1/2 orange, juiced Heat water with orange zest to boiling. Add rice, return to boil, stir. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook rice until tender, 18 minutes. Fluff with fork. For stir-fry, heat a large nonstick skillet or wok over high heat. Add beef, garlic and onion, stir-fry 3 minutes. Add remaining veggies and stir-fry 5 minutes more. Heat all ingredients for sauce together in a small pot over low heat, stirring the sauce until all ingredients are combined. Add sauce to meat & veggie mix, stir until coated. Serve over orange-scented jasmine rice.

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