Orange chicken stir-fry

Chicken stir-fry.

I tend to shy away from making stir-fry. I can never seem to get the pan the right temperature so more often than not the veggies turn out mushy and the chicken over cooked. 

But today I had a big success - a low-sodium stir fry that looked amazing and tasted even better.

Broccoli, red pepper, cabbage, water chestnuts and chicken over a bed of quinoa.

 

 

I started by marinating some sliced chicken breast in rice wine vinegar, orange juice and sesame oil. 

I chopped the vegetables and mixed together some minced pickled ginger, garlic and some green onions to toss in at the end.

The best thing about making your own stir-fry is that you get to add as much of your favorite ingredient as you want.

For me, this means I use a whole can of water chestnuts. I just can't get enough of them.

And, for once, I managed to get a nice sear on the chicken. I pulled out the chicken after it had browned on both sides and put it aside.

While the veggies were sizzling away in the pan I mixed together some Hoison sauce, chicken broth and corn starch. 

When the veggies were almost done I added back in the chicken and added the sauce mixture to the pan. After a few minutes I tossed in the garlic and ginger.

I am so proud of how this turned out that I am now contemplating getting a wok:-)

Happy Wednesday all!

Tom kha gai soup

Tom kha gai soup

I have been trying to recreate this dish from my favorite Thai restaurant for a while now.

While I finally found the kaffir lime leaf and the galangal, I was still missing the thai red curry paste.

So, while this version is close - it still lacks the red color that the thai red curry paste provides.


But, other than that, the flavor was pretty close. 


The key to the recipe seems to be using a reduced and concentrated chicken broth. Many of the recipes call for quite a bit of chicken broth which I think dilutes the delicate flavors of the rest of the soup.


I have been to 7 different stores and I could not find any thai red curry paste. It looks like I will have to start ordering that online along with my favorite - massaman curry paste.

Tom kha gai soup

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cans of lite coconut milk

1/2 cup of reduced chicken broth

1" piece of galangal, sliced thin

1 stalk of lemon grass cut into 2" strips and cut lengthways

3 button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup of green cabbage, chopped

3 kaffir lime leaves, torn and left whole

1 tsp of sugar

3 leaves of basil, torn and left whole

3 Thai chilies

1 cup of chicken, sliced thin and cut into 2" pieces

1 1/2 Tbsp of Thai fish sauce

3/4 Tbsp of lime juice

1 Tbsp of chopped cilantro for garnish

Instructions:

Put 1 can of coconut milk in a pan over low heat. Add in the galangal and lemon grass and keep the liquid just under a simmer. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes.

In another pan put 1 cup of chicken broth on medium heat and allow to reduce until you are left with 1/2 a cup.

Let the reduced chicken broth cool. When it is no longer hot, add it into the coconut milk (this seems to reduce the risk of the soup separating).

Then add in the kaffir lime leaf and basil. This is where I added the additional 1/4 to 1/2 can of coconut milk because the soup needed a bit more liquid. Bring the soup up to a slow simmer and add in the chicken. Stir occasionally. The chicken should be cooked through in about 5 - 6 minutes (cooking time will depend on the thickness of the chicken - just make sure it is cooked through).

Then add in the mushrooms, cabbage, sugar, lime juice and fish sauce.  The flavor balance between the sugar, fish sauce and lime juice is a matter of personal taste. Feel free to adjust the ratio to your liking.

Cook until the mushrooms have softened and the cabbage is wilted but still a bit crisp. Turn off the heat and add in the Thai chilies. Let the soup steep for a few minutes.

Serve as a soup or ladle over jasmine rice and enjoy it as an entree. Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top.

Enjoy!

Cold soba on a hot summer day

The temperature has finally started cool down here.

Those days of 90+ heat were tough and even though it was cooler this morning, I wasn't in the mood for anything warm/hot for breakfast.

From the bottom going clockwise: Cold soba noodles, dipping sauce, pickled wakame with sesame seeds, iced green tea and cold cooked chicken.

To start, I put 1 portion (you can see below they are already bundled together in 1 serving size bundles) into a pan of boiling water. I turned down the heat to keep the noodles at a slow simmer.

I let them simmer for 10 minutes. And while the noodles simmered I made the pickled wakame.

I soaked 2 Tbsp. of dried wakame in warm water until it reconstituted.  Then I drained the seaweed well and put it in a bowl with 2 Tbsp. of mirin and 1Tbsp. of rice vinegar and a pinch of salt and set it aside.


I found an interesting way to prepare soba here. I drained and rinsed them according to those directions and plated the noodles.


This is my favorite noodle dipping sauce I have found. 

It is a soup base but I found most dipping sauces too concentrated and salty for my taste so I prefer this. I chopped some green onions to add to the dipping liquid.


At this point, I drained the wakame and squeezed out any excess pickling liquid. A sprinkle of sesame seeds on top finished this side dish.

And some iced green tea - 

I made sure to include a side of protein. 

This was a great breakfast and a wonderful way to start my hump-day. 

Time to go to work!

My new love

It is in the '90s here today and I have been drinking water non-stop. 

When I was making my green drink, I pulled out this sorbet, tasted one spoonful and I was in love!

I have indulged in two bowls so far but since it only has 60 calories per serving, I haven't gotten too far out of control...yet.

My second try at making pizza turned out much better.

I cooked a couple of Rosie's chicken breasts and chopped them into chunks.

And I doctored up the pizza sauce with - 

- 2 tsp. of Tofutti cream cheese
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1/2 tsp. of raw raspberry honey

This turned the sauce from an overly acidic red sauce to a pink colored ambrosia. It was like a really tasty, thick tomato soup.

The chicken went on next.

Then I piled it high with the mozzarella cheese blend and it went into a 450 degree oven for 14 minutes.

I thought it could use some greens so I tossed some baby greens with some raspberry vinaigrette.

The dogs didn't get to have any of this - It was too delicious!

I hope everyone is having a good Monday.


I am going to go open my freezer and stare longingly at the container of Ciao Bella sorbet...

Fun can be measured in blurry photos

I was going to post about my favorite take out meal - but the light got away from me today. Don't worry, I will post it tomorrow.

But, I did forget to tell you about our very fun dinner at Benihana's.

And if fun can be measured by how blurry photos are - you will see that I had a very fun time at this dinner.

The doorway to fun and food.

I am not really a Benihana kind of person - but going there with a bunch of family makes it very fun.

The table - waiting for food.

My niece got the eel roll - she had to remind me to take a picture of it - I was having too much fun!

Everyone got soup.

And a shrimp appetizer. I don't like shrimp so I gave mine to my brother.

 My brother got the teryaki beef.

I ordered the lemon chicken.

 
There were two sauces on the side - supposedly one was for the meat and one for the veggies.

And there ends my Easter weekend posts. 

Night everyone!

Kicking it old school

This was a recipe I used endlessly after I graduated college. 

There is chicken in there - trust me.

Why? Because all you need to do is pull together the ingredients - wrap it in foil - pop it in the oven - it cooks while you decompress on the sofa watching TV- walla! your dinner is done.

It has been a while since I graduated from college - so this is a little more involved. 

Again, no exact amounts because you can do a million variations of this basic recipe. So, I encourage you to embrace your creative nature and make up something totally unique.

For the marinade I mixed together lemon peel, lemon juice, crushed garlic, mustard, ground pepper and some parsley.

One chicken breast went into the aromatic bath for 30 minutes.


Then I placed it on a sheet of tinfoil.

In went the veggies:

Carrots, celery, onion, whole cloves of garlic, ground pepper and slices of lemon.

 All wrapped up.

The package went into a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. 

This is a very reliable recipe. The chicken came out tender and juicy. The veggies were just cooked through and infused with the mustardy/lemon flavor of the marinade. 

My favorite are the cloves of roasted garlic - Yummm!

I am totally procrastinating on the whole 'About Me' page. Was that an easy thing for everyone else to write????

Endless experiments

This is the one salad I keep experimenting with and I still haven't created a version I really love.

Chinese Chicken Salad Take 2:

Red leaf lettuce.

Shredded green cabbage.

Shredded carrot and chopped green onion.

Next, I pan roasted a chicken breast:

The chicken turned out very juicy!

I chopped the chicken into large chunks.

I tossed some almond slivers into a dry, hot pan and let them cook till nicely brown.

And do yourself a favor and don't step away from the stove while they cook (like I did) because you will end up with a pan of burnt almonds (like I did). They really only take about 20 - 30 seconds to toast.

Did the salad turn out pretty? Sure.

Did I love the dressing? Not so much.

I mixed soy sauce, sugar, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and ground black pepper.

It was ok - but not great. 

Does anyone have a recipe for homemade Chinese Chicken Salad dressing that they LOVE?

Oops, I almost forgot my drink:

Cold Chamomile tea.