Recipe: Chicken and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

Yay, my first recipe! Hope you enjoy it. This was really quick and easy. Incidentally, the chicken I used for the stir-fry was cooked in the crock pot. I put several pounds of boneless/skinless chicken thighs (much less expensive than breast meat + much more flavorful than breast meat = my choice for chicken) along with a beer and a few dried bay leaves. They cooked on high for three hours.  It came out a little stringy but completely delicious. I served the stir-fry with udon noodles that I found at Costco and had in the back of the fridge, just waiting for me to find some kind of inspiration for them. The noodles got a quick pan-fry treatment with sesame oil and a little of the chicken broth/beer “juice” from the crock pot. Stroke of genius, that was — they came out amazing. Not nearly as bland as udon normally does.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 T. cornstarch
• 1 t. agave nectar
• 1 c. water
• 2 T.  reduced-sodium  soy sauce
• 1 T. sesame oil
• 2 c. julienne-cut carrots
• 2 c. fresh snow pea pods (or sugar snap peas)
• 2 T. fresh ginger, fresh
• 4 c. cooked chicken,  cut into bite size chunks
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced on the bias, about 1″ pieces
• 1 T. sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, agave nectar, water and soy sauce, blending until smooth. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.  Add carrots and stir to coat. Saute about 3 minutes. Add peas and ginger and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Stir in chicken and cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring, until mixture thickens and is thoroughly heated. Add green onions to the stir-fry and saute for about another minute, until the onions start to look glossy and bright green. Transfer to platter. Before serving, sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Serve with rice or noodles.

Serves 4 to 6.