Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry with Thai Peanut Sauce

This Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry with Thai Peanut Sauce is an easy dinner that comes together in 30 min and is a crowd pleasing meal!

The other day, my mom and I looked at the clock and it was already time for dinner! Ah!!

We quickly and NOT quietly vocalized things we could throw together in 30 min or less for and NOT dirty every pan and bowl in the kitchen. Since I was living with her, she whole-heartedly teamed up with me EVERY night to decide what to feed my children for dinner.

No, let me rephrase. 

My mother remembered AND decided dinner almost EVERY night and did 98% of the work. Unbelievable. She is good at what she does. So anyway, as we were contemplating what to make-

Our thought process went like this…

“Let’s do take-out!! I don’t want to cook…its too late and we might not have any good ingredients."
 "Ok, but it's too late and I NEED TO GET THOSE KIDS TO BED and I actually don’t want to go anywhere. Oh, and you can’t think of anything good and healthy to eat that everyone would like? Yeah, me either. Shoot.”

So we weighed the pros and cons of both TAKE OUT! and COOKING @ HOME

TAKE OUT–

    PROS:

•   Easy. 
•   Don’t have to dirty even ONE dish!!!!!
•   It’s not our fault if it doesn’t taste good…because we didn’t make it!  

    CONS:

• We would have to LEAVE the comfort of our house! Not interested.
• Compromise on what everyone else wanted…Wawa.
• 74/26 chance it will be healthy. [odds favoring the NOT healthy side]
• Doing dishes would be required of us.
• Still have to clean up.

COOK @ HOME

      PROS: 

•   Easy peasy
•   100% it will be healthy and nutritious [if we decide to make it so—]
•   WE, as the chefs, get to soley decide on the flavor of the meal!! And don’t have to consult with anyone. Lucky us!

       CONS:

• May still have to take a trip to the store for some good quality ingredients.
• Still have to clean up.

The PROS of cooking at home outweighed the CONs for us this night! Don’t get me wrong, some nights we are very much for the “TAKE OUT!!!!!” but not tonight. We wanted to stay home.

Ok so, we could do Annie’s Mac and Cheese?…that is only one dish and is ready in just min. But it is like 2% nutritious. 

Then we thought of a smoothie. Good but doesn’t always fill everyone up.  

Then…we thought of the prefect dish. A stir fry! And mixed with our favorite flavor PEANUT?! We had found our flavors and a way to incorporate health.

Why a Stir Fry you ask?

#1: It’s conventional and everyone knows a stir fry.

#2: It’s pretty much a two bowl wonder. You cook the rice in one sauce pan, and the chicken and veggies in another sauté pan. Viola! Only two dishes to clean!

#4: And fairly quick. Under 30 min!

#3: It is customizable to the ingredients you have on hand and/or the ingredients you would like in it.

 A few of our favorites are ..

 -CHICKEN

-MUSHROOMS

 -BELL PEPPERS

-BROCCOLI

 -ONIONS 

 -SUGAR SNAP PEAS

 – SQUASH

the INSTRUCTIONS-

If you follow these steps correctly, you WILL achieve your meal goal in only using 2 dishes, completing the meal in 30 min and having a happy family for life:)

STEP #1: the RICE

Cook the rice however you feel fit. Whether that be in your instapot or your rice cooker or on the stove like I do most of the time. Below is my ideal rice cooking method.

– Grease sauce pan.

-Measure rice and rinse well.

-Add rice to sauce pan.

-Add water, stir once and bring to boil.

-Once boiling, cover and turn to simmer.

-Simmer for approx 20 min.

-DONE!!

STEP #2: the CHICKEN

Rinse the chicken breasts.

Trim to remove excess fat and tendons.

Place trimmed chicken into a large gallon ziploc bag, sealing it tightly. Make sure there is no air so when you are pounding your chicken, the bag won’t pop and raw chicken juice won’t go all down your shirt:)

Place bag flat on the kitchen counter.

Pound the chicken breast on top of the bag with a meat tenderizer. [A heavy pan also works if you don’t have a meat tenderizer.] Pound until your heart is content and the desired thinness of the chicken is achieved.

Remove from the bag and cut into thin strips.

Using a large saute pan or Wok, heat approx 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. [Heating the oil BEFORE putting in the chicken helps to get that caramelized seared flavor on the outside of the chicken.]

Once heated, add chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper and saute [flipping frequently] until chicken is cooked thoroughly. Place cooked chicken in another bowl and set aside.

STEP #3: the VEGGIES

I am a fan of a variety of different veggies, and according to what veggie I choose, determines how long they need to saute.

While the chicken is cooking, slice your desired veggies into thin strips about 2in in length.

Using the same pan the chicken was cooked in, heat another 2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil + a splash of water. And add the sliced veggies. [Add the broccoli first if using because it takes the longest to cook.]

Cover veggies, stirring frequently, and saute until veggies are al dente. Then add the chicken back in and stir to combine and heat.

STEP #4: the SAUCE

Use your favorite peanut sauce or make this Homemade Thai Peanut Sauce in 10 min using the Blendtec Twister Jar!

STEP #5: dish up!

Serve your people by dishing them up rice on the bottom….[we also like to add a layer of spinach for an added green and extra nutrients], followed by the Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry [straight from the pan]. Drizzle with peanut sauce and garnish with cilantro and peanuts!

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