Chicken or Vegetarian Stir Fry

After Tuesday's really involved meal I opted for a simple one-dish dinner for last night.  This dinner is light, healthy and super quick to make.  Not to mention way yummy.  For me, the doneness of the veggies in stir fry is what makes or breaks the dish so the order of operation here is really important (I really hate under cooked onions and over-cooked carrots.)   The sauce is very light and really only serves to enhance the natural flavors of the veggies.  You may add more to your taste but remember, the goal for this dish is light and healthy.  This recipe is for the exact dinner I made last night, however, I encourage you to be diverse and creative with your selection of veggies.  I have also listed at the bottom some alternative ingredients to make your dish vegetarian or vegan and to increase the protein content.

Ingredients (in order of appearance):

1 c white or brown rice
1 onion
8-10 mushrooms
1-2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp flour
1/4 c  teriyaki sauce (I used Yoshida's last night.  One day soon I will post my "from scratch" version)
1/2 orange bell pepper
2 carrots
1 c broccoli
1 1/2 c pre-cooked chicken (Tuesday's glazed chicken is super yummy in this but any cooked chicken will do)
kosher salt and red pepper flakes to taste

Cook rice according to package directions.  Wait until rice is almost done to complete the rest of this recipe.  Chop all veggies except the garlic into uniform pieces.  Remove any bones from chicken and cube into approx 1 inch chunks.  Heat oil in large skillet or wok over medium-high heat and finely mince garlic.  Add onion to pan and fry until almost translucent.  Add mushrooms and stir fry until they start to soften.  Add garlic and stir fry just until garlic starts to heat up (you'll know this is happening because your pan will start to smell AMAZING).  Stir in flour until it is absorbed, turn down heat to medium-low and add teriyaki sauce.  Add in other veggies and stir fry until carrots just start to soften and broccoli turns bright green.  Add chicken and stir fry for just 1 or 2 more minutes then remove from heat.  Cover and let sit for a few minutes (long enough to set the table and get drinks.)  The residual heat will finish warming the chicken to the right temp without drying it out or making your veggies too soft.  The goal here is to end up with vegetables that are only slightly softened (with the exception of the onions and mushrooms) this brings out the sweet flavor of the carrots and peppers without compromising the nutrients in them.  Salt and red pepper to taste

Here are some alternative ingredients for vegetarian and protein packed versions:  For vegan, just use a vegan teriyaki sauce

• Instead of white rice use any combination of brown rice, quinoa(low gi and high in protein), and barley(low gi)
• edemame - green soy beans.  They look like tiny lima beans but are way more yummy and are super high in protein
• substitute chicken with extra firm tofu.  It's not for everyone but I enjoy it

Plate stir fry over hot rice and enjoy with a tall glass of ice water and some green tea.  You can feel totally confident in your healthy choice for dinner tonight!

P.S. I'll post the way good, healthish dessert I had a little later this afternoon

Happy eating!