Super Simple Stir Fry

This is one of my go to meals when I'm either in a hurry or want to pack in a lot of veggies if I feel like I've been slacking in the healthy eating department.  It's really easy but has great flavor.

1/2 pound chicken, pork or beef, cut into bite size pieces
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup sliced baby carrots
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced red pepper (I didn't have any on hand today)
2-3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use reduced sodium kikkoman)
1/4 water

Start by marinating the meat in the teriyaki sauce (I used pork this time, but have used chicken and beef as well and they all turn out yummy).  You can let it marinate in the fridge for several hours, or if you're in a pinch you can skip the marinating step and just add the teriyaki sauce and meat to the pan at the same time.

Heat the oil in a large frying or sauce pan (or wok if you're super fancy) on medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the marinated meat and any remaining teriyaki sauce that hasn't been absorbed yet.  Stir frequently so that the meat cooks evenly.  Once the meat is cooked through, remove from pan and set aside in a bowl.

Almost done cooking!

Next, put all of the veggies to the pan you were just cooking the meat in.  Add the soy sauce and water.  Cover pan so veggies can steam.  Check veggies every few minutes with a fork until they reach your desired level of tenderness (I like mine firm but not crunchy).

Mmmm....look at all that healthy goodness!

Add the meat back into the pan and stir everything around until the meat is heated thoroughly.

 
Serve over udon noodles or rice.  If serving with udon noodles I recommend thickening the sauce.  To do this I add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 1-2 tablespoons of cold water to the pan.  Let the sauce boil for one minute.  This helps the sauce stick to the noodles better.  No need to thicken if using rice; the rice will absorb the sauce on its own.

Hunter's Chicken

It's what's for dinner! Well, what was for dinner yesterday. And lunch today.

Can I just say that I love my pressure cooker? It was a totally unexpected wedding gift from my aunt (thanks!) as I didn't even know what a pressure cooker was at the time. Let me tell you - it's like magic. If you don't have one, go buy one. Mine is a 2.5 qt braiser from this company and HOLY WOW, AUNT NAN! That was one helluva wedding gift (she gave us 2!). But seriously, go buy one. You will go from frozen meat to super tender and perfectly cooked in under 30 minutes - hello last minute dinner!

I've been experimenting with mine a bit and this is a recipe I've been tweaking for a while based on my picky eaterness and what I've got in the fridge.

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen)
2 strips of bacon, cut up into small pieces
1/4 sweet onion cut into thin strips
1 clove garlic
1-2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 can tomato sauce
1/4 ish cup (or less) apple juice or white wine
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbs olive oil

Put the pressure cooker on the stove (lid off!) on medium/medium-low heat. Add the bacon, onion and oil and cook until the bacon starts to crisp and the onions start to caramelize (or at least get translucent). Toss the clove of garlic in there at some point, too. Now, I'm not gonna lie, this smells not-so-appetizing. That's okay, keep going. It'll be fine.

Add the juice or wine to deglaze the pan a bit. Then add the tomato sauce, salt, sugar and pepper, then stir it up a bit. Add your mushrooms and toss your frozen chicken in (I like using the prepacked stuff from Costco). Now put the lid on, increase the heat to medium/high.

Cook at the 2nd pressure ring for 24 minutes (give or take based on the thickness of your chicken and if you thawed it ahead of time). Turn off heat and use touch release method to remove the lid of your pressure cooker. At this point I like to scoop out the chicken and mushrooms and turn the heat back on to medium and reduce the liquid a little. Then I add them back in.

Last night I paired it with steamed brocolli and penne noodles. Normally I'd serve this over wavy egg noodles, but the hubs had a long day at work and penne noodles are one of his favorite foods, so I opted for those. Voila!

And look, I multi-tasked cooking the brocolli and noodles!

See that? That's my pot with a steamer basket. I've got the noodles in the bottom and the brocolli on top. That means one less pot to clean! Woohoo!