Honey Chicken Stir Fry

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carrot, chicken, chicken stir fry, dinner, easy dinner, food, foodie, honey chicken, meal, quick and easy, quick dinner, red bell pepper, soy sauce, stir fry, yellow carrot, zucchini

Finally back in the kitchen! I haven’t taken a complete hiatus, but I haven’t cooked anything new over the holidays. Our lives are busy, I never feel like I get as much do as I actually want to get done. So it’s time to start prepping meals ahead of time.
I like to buy and cut/slice/dice veggies and chicken ahead of time and vacuüm seal them for later use. This is a fantastic use of a surplus of summer veggies, just vacuüm seal and freeze. Stir fries, casseroles and soup tend to be the best meals to prepare this way, as well as anything you want to put over pasta or rice. Tonight’s dinner was simple to cook, since I prepped everything ahead of time.*

Honey Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, 5 Tbsp. honey, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 tsp. minced ginger, 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1 orange carrot, 1 yellow carrot, 1 zucchini, 1/2 red bell pepper, green beans, steamed brown rice

Directions:
Cut, dice, slice, julienne and chop veggies anyway you like (I played around with all of these techniques, have I mentioned before that I love my crinkle cutter and julienne peeler?). Cut chicken into small pieces. Warm oil, garlic, and ginger in wok. Add soy sauce and honey and stir until dissolved. Add chicken pieces and cook until chicken is done. Add veggies and sauté until tender. Serve over hot brown rice.

*Disclaimer: I did find the yellow carrots already sliced in the freezer section, this was a score because I love love love them and can never find them in our regular produce section. That’s one root veggie I plan to grow this year.

What’s on your dinner plate?

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Spinach, Star Fruit & Pistachio Salad

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bleu cheese, carambola, chicken, chicken salad, cooking for two, entree salad, food, foodie, fruit, lunch for two, pistachio, postaday2011, recipe, red bell pepper, side dishes, spinach, star fruit, vegan, vegetarian

The other night Hubster and I stopped by a grocery store that we don’t normally get to. I was amazed when I spotted a few fresh star fruit, since I haven’t be able to find them in this area since I moved here. I ran over to them and started squeezing them to check their firmness, Hubster looked completely confused and asked what the are. After I replied, the 5-year-old boy in him came out. “They can’t ever taste good if I’ve never seen them in the grocery store before. That’s the ugliest fruit I’ve even seen, they don’t even look good.” I then held up an Ugli fruit for him to view… conversation was derailed.

This day, I did something simplistic and used them in a salad. Two variations, a light vegetarian salad for me and a non-vegetarian entrée salad for him. His final verdict on the fruit? Tastes okay, like a fruit. 🙂 I think star fruit tastes like a light citrusy pear.

Vegetarian & Vegan Version
Spinach, Start Fruit & Pistachio Salad Ingredients:
1 star fruit (sliced), sliced red pepper, pistachios, baby spinach leaves, sesame ginger dressing

Spinach, Star Fruit & Pistachio Salad Directions:
Arrange mixed greens on plate and top with chicken, star fruit, peppers and pistachios. Drizzle with dressing.

Spinach, Star Fruit & Pistachio Side Salad

Meat Eaters Entrée Salad Variation
Ingredients:
1 Spinach, Star fruit and Pistachio salad from above, 1 chicken breast, teriyaki sauce, bleu cheese crumbles, raspberry vinaigrette dressing (in place of sesame ginger dressing)

Directions:
Marinate chicken in teriyaki breast and grill. Slice chicken and arrange on salad. Sprinkle with bleu cheese and drizzle with dressing.

Chicken, Spinach, Star Fruit & Pistachio Entrée Salad

I prefer this with sesame ginger dressing, Hubster enjoys his was raspberry vinaigrette, you combo might be different…

What recipe do you make two different variations, for you and your spouse/partner?

Garbanzo and Sausage with Rice

Tags

brown rice, entree, garbanzo, meal, one pot meal, pepper, red bell pepper, red pepper, rice, sausage, side dish, turkey sausage, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe, vegetarian sausage

A few years ago, I inherited this recipe from a student’s parent, however it called for Chorizo. I don’t prepare red meat often, and I never eat it. Nevertheless, Hubster does enjoy it from time to time. I decided I need to revamp the recipe a little for our preferences. I’ve made this once before, using turkey sausage, today I decided to mix things up and use a vegetarian sausage (by Morning Star). The TVP sausage broke down a bit instead of holding its shape, but the flavor was still great.

Garbanzo & Sausage w/Rice

Ingredients:
4 c. garbanzo, 2 Tbs. olive oil, 1 medium onion, 1 red pepper chopped, 1 clove garlic (minced), 1/2 tsp. chili powder, 1/4 lb. sausage* (1/2 diced, 1/2 quartered), 2 Tbs. tomato sauce, 1 c. vegetable broth

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, pepper and sausage, cook until tender and meat is no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve over hot cooked brown rice.

*Once the meal was done simmering, I split the batch in half and added 1/2 tsp. to Hubster’s portion. Hubster said it didn’t look like a tasty meal, but that it was actually delicious! I guess next time I’ll stick to turkey sausage, so it’ll hold it’s shape better and not look so mushy.