EASY-PEASY STIR FRY

Lemony Chicken and Greens
One of many variations on the stir fry

A stir fry is one of my "go to" recipes for a busy night.
I can put on a pot of rice and have dinner on the table in around 30 minutes.
Hey!
30 Minute Meals!
Where have I heard that before?

The "How-To's"

Protein
I had a package of organic chicken tenders in the freezer and had them deforsted in no time.
Cut them up in bite sized pieces and tossed with about 2 TBL of dry sherry and 2 TBL soy sauce and set aside.
You could also do beef, shrimp or pork.
Or no protein at all.
It's all up to you!

Veggies
Cut up my greens in fairly uniform pieces, with the leaves just sliced in about 1" strips.
Cut a medium onion in 8 chunks.
Clean and quarter a few mushrooms.
Or not.
You can add nearly any fresh veggie to a stir fry.
Carrots, celery, chinese cabbage, pineapple....
Your choice!

Aromatics
Chop 2-3 cloves of garlic and about a 1" piece of fresh ginger.
Set aside.

Stir fry sauce
Oh, the possibilities!
I chose a lemony sauce, which I think pairs very well with chicken or shrimp.

Mix in a small bowl and set aside....
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
zest of one lemon 2 TBL soy sauce
a bit of sugar to balance the lemon juice, maybe 1 TBL

Glaze
A glaze simply thickens the liquids in the stir fry sauce and pulls everything together.
I use about 1TBL of cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup of water or chicken stock.
Set aside.

OK....let's begin!
Drizzle about 1TBL oil in deep fry pan or wok.
Let it get wicked hot.
Drop in 1/2 of your protein.
Leave it alone.
Don't move it around yet.
Let it caramelize on the one side then give it a toss.
This is REALLY important.
You WANT those bits of brown....they add flavor!
Usually takes 3 min or so.
When cooked through, put in a bowl.
Repeat with the rest of the protein.
Set aside with 1st batch.

Drizzle a bit more oil in pan. Maybe 2 TBL.
Add the onion first and brown for a couple of minutes. Add the next crunchiest veggie and stir fry for a minute. Lastly add the greens and continue till all the veggies are tender yet still crispy.
This does NOT take long, so watch carefully.
I then, and only then, add my garlic and ginger.
Stir fry an additional 30 seconds...you don't want to burn that garlic!

Return protein to pan, add your stir fry sauce (lemon, in this case), and toss around with veggies.

Lastly, add your cornstarch glaze mixture and stir to coat. Let cook for another minute or so to lose the raw cornstarch taste.

Serve with rice or noodles or all by itself!

See?
I told you!
Easy-peasy!

The above "demo" will be repeated at our CSA farm this Thursday.
I'll be set up with a couple of fry pans and all the ingredients (minus the protein) and be demonstrating how easy it is to put together a delicious meal, using the bok choy, chinese cabbage, and scallions from the farm, plus some carrots for a bit of color.

Are these instructions simple enough?
Let me know if there's something I've missed, eh?

xoxo,
Cindy