Easy, Healthy Chicken Stir Fry

Easy, Healthy Chicken Stir Fry:

Ready to make a healthy, easy chicken stir fry?

Start off with about 2 cloves of garlic and one medium yellow onion.

Chop up the onion to medium-sized pieces (don't go crazy).

Add the onion to a large saucepan.

Next, mince the garlic as small as you can and add it in the pan with the onion.

The next thing to work on is the chicken: about 5 breasts for an 8-serving recipe (or about 1/2 cutlet for each person).  Make sure your chicken breasts are thawed, if frozen, before cutting, to make things easier, but if you only have frozen chicken, the cooking time will just be longer.

Trim the breasts of fat.

Cut the breasts into bite-sized pieces.  Don't be too concerned if they are too large-- they will actually be easier to cut when they are sauteing in the pan.

Since I have a dog, it is a great idea to boil up the fat trimmed off of the chicken breasts in a small saucepan and give it as a treat to your dog.  Nothing goes to waste! :)

Add the chicken pieces to the large saucepan-- now the saucepan has one onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and the cut chicken breast in it.

Add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan and stir the chicken after churning on the burner to get a nice white crust forming on all pieces.

Cover up the pan to let the chicken do its thing, stirring about every 5 minutes.

Make sure to have your spices handy-- you'll be using them shortly.  For almost every stir fry, whether with chicken or with steak, I use a bit of pepper, salt, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, and parsley flakes.

When the chicken starts looking about done, take the lid off and let the water boil out.

When all the water has boiled out, add your spices to the mixture (Quickly!  Watch for spitting!).

Mix the mixture to get the spices spread throughout the mixture.

For this stir fry, I used one green bell pepper, a small package of whole mushrooms, and some frozen green beans (using frozen products just increases cooking time).  Make sure you use a different cutting board, or do what I did-- flip the cutting board around, and don't forget to wash the counter-top very well later.

Cut the bell pepper in half, take out the seeds, then cut it into bite-sized pieces (smaller=faster).  Add to the pan with some more water, as to avoid spitting.

Cut the small mushrooms in half (Make sure you wash them!  Mine had loads of dirt on them!) and add to the pan.

Next, I added the frozen green-beans: whole.

Mix it up a bit, to get all of the veggies spread throughout the mixture.

Cover up the mixture with a lid-- make sure there's a good amount of water so the mixture doesn't stick to the pan.

The last ingredient I put in is about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (I used bottled because it's easier).

Stir the mixture every few minutes, to get all of the veggies nice and soft.  This mixture is not quite done because the green bell peppers are still bright green and crisp.  From this point on, take the lid off and stir until the water is out and the veggies are soft.  Add the lemon juice at the last second, so that it doesn't compete with the water.

Perfect! Enjoy!

Easy, Healthy Chicken Stir Fry:

Cooking time: 45 min
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 55 min
Makes eight (8) servings (about 1 cup/serving)

Nutrition:
Calories: 95 calories
Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 136 mg
Carbs: 5 g
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 17 g
Ingredients:
one medium yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, or 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces*
one green bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces**
8 oz of whole mushrooms, cut in half**
about 2 cups frozen green beans**
spices: oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes (a dash of all)***
2 tablespoons of lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
water, water, water (1/2 cup and another 1/2 cup)

Directions:
1. Place the chopped onion, garlic, and chicken in a large saucepan with about 1/2 cup of water.  Cover and let cook, stirring about every 5 minutes.
2. Once the chicken looks about done, take the lid off and let the water boil out.
3. When the water is all boiled out, add all of the spices.
4. Add more water (1/2 cup) to the mixture, along with all of the vegetables.  Cover and let cook until veggies are not bright green anymore and soft, stirring frequently, then take the lid off and let the water boil out.
5. When the water is boiled out, add the lemon juice, and your stir-fry is done!

Notes:
*the chicken can be substituted any time for steak
**any or all of the vegetables can be changed-- just be weary of how crisp or how soft when cooking, and adjust time accordingly.  In the past, I have used broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and carrots.  Zucchini and carrots take a bit longer to cook, so add them to the mix sooner than cruciferous vegetables.
***these are just the spices I use, feel free to use any spices you feel would work well.  I know my reasoning behind the spices are they work well together (primarily Italian spices), such as basil, oregano, and thyme, or they add a little punch, such as the red pepper flakes.

Hope you enjoy and stay tuned for many more recipes--cooking and baking!