Important Food Thingies (and Chicken Stir Fry Recipe)

I am such a boring food blogger right now. I'm sorry - I just don't want to throw up when I see myself in a swimsuit in 5 days (assuming that it is even warm enough in Florida for a swimsuit. Mother Nature: if you are listening, I love you and 80 degrees and sunny would be just perfect for me), so I have been behaving myself. Tonight I am making chef's salad for dinner. How boring is that? No need to post that recipe. I do however have a pic and a recipe from last Saturday night when Steve decided to cook me dinner. And clean up after. By himself. He literally would not let me in the kitchen! I pouted and paced back and forth at the perimeter for a while, before I gave up and curled up on the couch and read my book. Have you ever met anyone so spoiled? Anyway, he made me bbq chicken...with homemade bbq sauce and a homemade spice rub. We are currently renegotiating the cooking responsibilities because he is trying to give me a run for my money. I will post that story soon.

Next...I want to eat this: Sundried Tomato Risotto. I will have that...soon. I have already contemplated leaving the heavy cream out of it so that I could eat it before vacation. I mean really - isn't risotto creamy and delicious enough without heavy cream??? Must we be so indulgent? Of course! But cream or no cream, that is getting in my belly. And whenever I think of sundried tomatoes, I think of this: Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad, and then my heart goes pitter-patter. It's like crack to me. I don't think I'll be able to go very long without having it in my life again. The problem I have with food, is that once I start fantasizing about it, I can't stop. One thing leads to another and then I can't help but wonder why the hell I would screw around with a salad for dinner, when I could be eating something fantastic. Like risotto. Or pasta salad. Or tomato basil soup. Or this pizza. Can you tell that tomatoes and basil are my favorite?

What else? Oh yeah, I made chicken stir fry the other night. That is kind of interesting and unhealthy and tasty. Want the recipe? My mom is the master at cooking Asian food, but as I have mentioned before, she doesn't use recipes so duplicating her dishes is nearly impossible. I think that's probably the point. But here is my humble version:

Chicken Stir Fry

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ginger
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• soy sauce (I use low sodium, because I use a lot)
• hoisen sauce
• crushed red pepper flakes and/or sriracha to make it spicy!
• peanut oil
• sesame oil
• corn starch
• chicken broth
• vegetables (I used onion, bell peppers, pea pods, carrots and broccoli)
• white rice (or brown rice, if that floats your boat)

Cut your chicken up into bite sized pieces, mince some ginger (by some, I mean a couple tablespoons if you like it...if you don't...well...I'm speechless and I suppose you could leave it out, but I won't be happy about it), and marinate the chicken in the ginger, garlic, a couple tablespooons of soy sauce, a couple tablespoons of hoisen, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and/or a few drops of sriracha (if you use the latter, be careful...that stuff is HOT), and a drizzle of sesame oil. I let mine marinate for a couple of hours, but it's ok to only let it go for 30 minutes if you have less time.
While the chicken is marinading, wash and cut your vegetables. Then mix about 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup chicken broth, and about a tablespoon of corn starch (did I mention that I don't measure anything? sorry!) in a separate bowl. You want to have as much crap done as possible because you won't have time once you start stirring and frying. Ha!
Make some rice according to package directions. Heat a couple tablespoons of peanut oil in a wok (most recipes say over high heat, but I am afraid of high heat so I use medium high). Add the chicken and stir fry for a few minutes or until the chicken is just cooked. Remove to a separate bowl. Heat another tablespoon of oil and throw in the veggies, stir fry until crisp-tender (isn't that an oxymoron? You know what I mean though), then add the soy/broth/corn starch and the chicken to the veggies. Turn the heat down to medium low and stir around to coat until the sauce gets thick. Yum. Serve over rice (make sure to spoon some yummy sauce to put over the top too).

Finally - yes, I still have not smoked a cigarette. You will be glad to know that it has been 17 days today. YAY!