Thursday, February 16, 2012

Easy Chicken Teriyaki Stir-Fry

This is one of those easy to throw together, cleans out the vegetable crisper, kind of dinners.  It just takes a couple of minutes of prep, but it looks like you really did something worth talking about.  Consequently, um, here I am talking about it.

Colorful, no?
There really is no "recipe," per se.  You can just take what you have and basically throw it in a pan.  Here's what I used:

-One good-sized chicken breast (shrimp is also good)
-1/2 of a red pepper, diced
-1 garlic clove, minced
-2 cups(ish) of sugar snap peas
-1 bunch of baby bok choy, chopped
-1 cup of pineapple, chopped
-2 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce

Start by throwing the garlic into a sauté pan that you have sprayed with an olive oil cooking spray.  While that is softening, slice the chicken breast into chunks.  For the love of salmonella, do this on your designated meat cutting board so that you don't have to scour the other one in a few minutes while loudly groaning, "Ugh, why do I keep doing that?"  No, that has never happened to me.  I *totally* made that up for your edification.  Ahem.

Add the chicken to the pan and let it cook thru, stirring it around quite frequently.  While that is browning, chop up your bok choy, red pepper and pineapple and give the sugar snap peas an extra rinse because you're almost positive you washed the entire bag before, but you couldn't swear to it under oath.  Plus, it couldn't hurt to do it again.

((Confused by bok choy?  It was new to me too.  Just chop off the white-ish end, throw it away, and chop up the leaves.  Don't be scared.))

Pic from Local HS which was captioned, "Not scary."  Not really.
When the chicken is browned and cooked through, remove it to a separate plate.  In that same pan, throw in the red pepper and peas with a small amount of water or chicken broth.  Cover and allow to steam, maybe 4 minutes.  Add the bok choy steam for another two or three minutes.

Return the chicken to the pan, add the pineapple, crank up the heat and add the teriyaki sauce.  Let it get all sizzle-y and keep stirring it constantly.  You may choose to yell some stuff in a foreign language or what you think might be a foreign language to recreate the experience of dining out in a Chinese restaurant if that makes you feel more festive.  ((No, I don't do that either.  Who's asking?!))

When it is good and hot, throw it on some brown rice (or not) and serve.

These proportions serve 2.  Here's the good news:  Even with the brown rice, it comes to just under 300 calories and 4 grams of fat per serving.  ((Read:  Permission granted to feel very self-righteous about your diet and celebrate with some chocolate.  Or wine.  Or chocolate and wine.))



2 comments:

  1. That sounds so good and is making me hungry. I would throw some cashews in there too, yum!

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    Replies
    1. Good idea! I'm still on my "nuts might kill me" track, but I think it is getting better!

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