~ TASTY THURSDAY ~ Stir Fry

I'm going to try to start a new weekly post series, on food! I'm not a great cook, but if I find a good recipe, I really enjoy cooking for David, and for myself, if I'm honest. In college I made some pretty strange meals, like a plain steak, all by itself, cooked for far too long under the broiler. Yuck! Dry, chewy steak, without any side dishes? I also ate a lot of boxed pasta, because it's easy.

Since we've been married, I've really tried to find a way to learn better meals to prepare. I don't like to make anything too fancy, but if something is tasty and not too complicated, I'll make it! Most of the time it turns out really delish, but occasionally I feel like this:

Usually this isn't the case!

One of my favorite meals, and David's too, is stir-fry. My mom started making it when I was in middle school or high school, and I love it! Plus, it's really simple. She has a wok in which she cooks all the meat, and then all the vegetables, but I just use a frying pan and it works perfectly fine.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into about 1" cubes
• 2 cups of uncooked rice
• 4 cups water
• Salt
• 3 tbsp butter
• Vegetable Oil
• One package of frozen stir-fry vegetables (You can also use fresh veggies, but I've found that these work just as well, and with a baby to take care of, I prefer the easiness of frozen!)
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• Soy Sauce
• Teriyaki sauce (or marinade...) if you prefer

The first step is to start 4 cups of water, the rice and the butter to boil. I like to add a little bit of salt, about 2 teaspoons. Once the water starts to boil, I turn the heat down to low-ish, and mix the rice. Then I let it simmer until it's done. I usually mix once or twice throughout the process. You could add a little soy sauce to the water beforehand, which I think would give the rice a little saltier taste.

Into a frying pan or wok, if you have one, I pour some vegetable oil, about 1/4 of a cup and turn the heat on between Medium and Medium-High. Then I throw in the chicken and let it fry, until it's cooked all the way through. David likes the chicken to be sort of brown and well cooked on the outside, so I keep it in the oil a little longer until it's golden-ish brown. Now, I always make sure to taste a piece or five, because it's delicious! Kind of salty and very yummy.

When it's done, take the chicken out and set it on a plate to wait while the veggies cook. (You could put it on a paper towel to get some of the oily grease off, but I just leave it. I think it adds extra flavor.

Don't clean the pan or switch to a clean one. I always leave the chicken stuff in there, and pour in the veggies, stirring them occasionally as the cook.

In the meantime, in a liquid measuring cup, I mix 2/3 cup chicken broth with 1/3 cup soy sauce. Stir (with a fork) that into 1 tbsp or so of corn starch. This will make the sauce for the veggie/meat mixture.

Once the vegetables are all hot and ready, I put the meat back in and pour the sauce into the pan. Then I stir it all up and let it simmer for a few minutes. This lets the sauce thicken up, and adds flavor to the vegetables. If you like teriyaki, you can add a little bit (a splash?) of teriyaki sauce to the mix. I acually use Lawry's 30-minute teriyaki marinade to do this, because there's not as much sugar in it, and the consistency is better for mixing in with the rest of the sauce.

Now, after the sauce has thickened up, and the rice is finished, I pour a bunch of the chicken and vegetable mixture onto the rice. Make sure you add a little extra sauce to juice it up a little. (Is that a thing? Juice it up?)

Yum! We also make this with steak sometimes, just substitute beef broth for the chicken. And, when we're feeling really adventurous, we do both chicken and steak! Woohoo!