Stir Fry | I Can Cook That

Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry

I have been having a crazy couple of weeks, so despite cooking a bunch of weeknight-friendly meals, I haven’t had much of a chance to write any posts to share those recipes! This one is too tasty to not share right away though.

This Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry from Cooking Light’s latest issue is super simple and really flavorful. I served it with Cashew and Green Onion Rice (because I didn’t have any bulgar on hand) and it was an awesome complement!

The whole recipe took about 20 minutes to make (including the rice) so it’s a nice option for busy weeknights. I made a couple of substitutes to the original recipe, so be sure to check out the original to see if it’s more your style.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 poblano chile, thinly sliced
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite sized pieces
2 red bell peppers, sliced
1 onion, vertically sliced into thin slices
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

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Salmon Teriyaki Stir Fry

There is a good chance I have a rice problem, I love all things rice. My go-to meal in a pinch is always risotto. So when DailyBuzz Food had an opportunity to work with RiceSelect through their Tastemaker program, I jumped at the chance. RiceSelect is one of my favorite rice brands. You may notice their nifty containers popping out of a bunch of my posts so I was really excited to work with their rice. The catch was that they sent me one of RiceSelect’s rice randomly, I didn’t get to choose it. When I opened up the package, I discovered brown rice. Hum. I’ve never worked with brown rice before, but I was up for the challenge!

I decided to make a stir fry teriyaki dish using my favorite protein, salmon. Normally stir fry is a quick dinner choice but brown rice takes quite a bit of time to cook. But it gives you plenty of time to prep your veggies and hang out with your dinner guests!

Ingredients: (I cut this recipe for Salmon Teriyaki Stir Fry down to two servings to make it easier. Multiply as needed)

1/2 cup RiceSelect Texmati Brown Rice

1 cup water

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1/2 cup broccoli florets

1/2 cup snow peas

1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts (I used canned)

1/2 pound salmon
1/2 cup Teriyaki sauce, divided (recipe below)

Teriyaki sauce:

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons rice wine

1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

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Fried Rice with Sweet Soy Sauce

I really try to make an effort to bring my lunch to work each day. My office is absolutely freezing, so I tend to gravitate towards warm lunches. Because of this, I am always looking for new pasta and rice recipes that sound like they would reheat well and still taste good. As usual, Cooking Light came to the rescue with the August issue’s Fried Rice with Sweet Soy Saucerecipe. I made all four servings so that I could have a batch for dinner, and get a few lunches out of it.

Ingredients for Fried Rice:

3 tablespoons peanut oil, divided

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 finely chopped shallots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 serrano chile, seeded and chopped

4 cups cooked rice

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 thinly sliced daikon radish

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

1/3 cup fresh mint leaves

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

4 lime wedges

Ingredients for sweet soy sauce:

1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (The original recipe used dark brown sugar. I didn’t have any. Oh well)

Begin by cooking your rice. You can just cook the rice in water because the soy sauce will add plenty of taste, no need to waste your chicken broth.

While your rice is cooking. prepare your shallots, garlic and chile. I am a wimp about heat and serraro chile can really be hot, so I removed all seeds before chopping. If you like spicy food, keep the seeds in.

Slice your daikon radish. I used a mandoline slicer.

Prepare your herbs.

To make the sweet soy sauce, combine the soy sauce and brown sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat. Simmer for 2 minutes or until the brown sugar is incorporated into the soy sauce. Set aside.

Add 4 eggs to a bowl and lightly beat.

Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil to a large saute pan over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. Pour eggs into the pan and cook for 2 minutes or until they set. Remove and set aside.

Increase the heat to high and add 2 tablespoons peanut oil to the pan. Add your shallots, garlic and chile and saute for 1 minute.

Add the cooked rice and cook for 3 minutes or until lightly browned.

Add cooked eggs and soy sauce mixture.

Season with salt and pepper and mix to coat. Add to bowls and top with radish and herbs. Serve with a lime wedge.

This meal was really tasty, not only the first time around but also when reheated. The serrano pepper gave a subtle heat to the whole dish which counteracted the sweetness of the soy sauce, great combination! When I packed it for lunch, I kept the rice mixture in one container and a few radish slices,herbs , and a lime wedge in another container. I heated the rice in the microwave and topped them with the radish slices and herbs, then squeezed the lime juice over the whole dish. Perfect!

Ginger Sesame Chicken with Bok Choy and Mushrooms

Finishing out my CSA bundle for the week, I decided to make a stir fry that had both bok choy and mushrooms as ingredients. (The recipe for Ginger Sesame Chicken with Bok Choy and Mushrooms originally called for oyster mushrooms, but I went with the button mushrooms I had from the vegetable share. Food & Wine had a recipe that sounded right up my alley so I tried it out.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)

1 tablespoon sherry

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar (I only had seasoned, so I used that)

1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pack of button mushrooms, sliced (feel free to use the pre-sliced kind)

1 pack of chicken tenders, cut into 1 inch pieces

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 bunches of bok choy, thickly cut crosswise

1 small red bell pepper, sliced with seeds removed

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

To make the sauce, combine the chicken broth, soy sauce, sherry, sugar, dissolved cornstarch mixture, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and crushed red pepper in a medium-sized jar.

Shake well and set aside. Prepare all your vegetables, ginger, and garlic.

In a large saute pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and tender, about 6 minutes.

Transfer the mushrooms to a large plate or bowl. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add another 2 teaspoons of oil to the pan. Once heated, add the chicken and cook until just barely cooked through, about 4 minutes.

Transfer to the same dish as the mushrooms. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and add the bok choy and red pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes.

Transfer to the dish. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons to the saute pan. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant.

Return the chicken and vegetables to the pan. Shake the sauce in the jar and add to the pan.

Bring to a boil and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

Transfer to a bowl and serve.

I really liked this dish, but I was hoping for more vegetables overall, especially more bok choy. I don’t honestly think that this would be much better with oyster mushrooms, so don’t go crazy looking for them if you can’t find them; button mushrooms were good enough. The sauce had some nice heat without being too spicy, so I will definitely try this recipe again with more veggies.