Stir Fry

Normally this blog is dedicated to gluten free baked goods, however, as the description says "cooking" and not "baking", occasionally I will indulge in real food as well. As much as I would like, one cannot survive on baked goodies alone.

This stir fry recipe is so easy, full of flavor, and healthy! It used to be one of my favorite quick fixes for dinner. My version uses frozen vegetables, for a faster meal, but you can mix and match
the vegetables, meat, and sauces used to your own tastes.

What you will need:

• Three or four frozen chicken tenders (or 1 frozen chicken breast)
  
• 2 tablespoons oil
  
• 1 16 oz package of your favorite frozen stir fry vegetables
• 1-2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon herbs, such as parsley or oregano
• Wheat free soy sauce (or tamari sauce) (1-2 tablespoons, or to your taste)
  
• 1/2 tablespoon corn starch
• 1/2 cup water

-Thaw the chicken tenders until they are easy to slice into bite sized pieces.

-Heat the oil in a medium sized frying pan (non stick is best), and fry the chicken pieces over medium high heat, until they are white all the way through. Stir often to avoid browning.

- Add the frozen vegetables to the pan, and sprinkle the salt over them, concentrating on the frozen chunks to aid thawing. Mix the vegetables in with the chicken as they come lose. After a few minutes, add the herbs. Once vegetables are thawed, continue cooking for several minutes before adding the soysauce.

-At this point there should be a fairly substantial amount of liquid at the bottom of the pan. Mix the cornstarch in with the half cup of water (a fork works best) until it is dissolved and no lumps remain. Push all the chicken and vegetables to one side of the pan and tilt the pan so that the liquids collect in the empty space, and this section is over the stove top. Add the cornstarch-water mix to the liquids, and keep the pan tilted over the heat until the liquids begin to boil. The cornstarch will form a solid looking layer under the surface, which looks a little strange but that means it's working!

-Once the liquids are thoroughly bubbling, set the rest of the pan down and mix the now thickened liquids with the rest of the stir fry. Cook for an additional minute or two and it's ready to serve!

Note: Be careful not to overcook your vegetables. They should still look fresh and colorful, but be hot all the way through.

And, if you're new to using corn starch in cooking, take note that the above process can be replicated in lots of other foods. Any sauce that needs thickening, dissolve corn starch in some water or milk, add it to the mix, and bring it to a boil. One of my favorites is a cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese, soon to come.

There are two things that can make a simple stir fry like this really special:

-Rice! Recently I've taken to eating my stir fry without rice, because, while rice is delicious, it's very filling, and I eat more of my veggies if I leave off the starch.

-Teriyaki Sauce. It's delicious and just really adds excitement to a stir fry. There are some delicious gluten free store-bought teriyaki sauces out there, but they are expensive, and I found that it was one of the only store bought gluten free items that I was still buying. So!

What you will need:

• 2/3 cup pineapple juice
• 1/3 cup molasses or dark honey
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp corn starch (or potato starch if you are corn free)

-Place all the ingredients in a sauce pan, mix, and bring to a boil. Set aside. That's it!

Some notes about teriyaki sauce: I typically use pineapple juice from frozen concentrate, which produces a very sweet sauce that really needs soy sauce to balance the flavor. This recipe would probably be better using a higher quality type of pineapple juice, but either works.

Also, it's really worth it to buy a jar of molasses or dark honey for this recipe, even if it's the only thing you use it for. It will last a long while and that way, you can make teriyaki sauce anytime you want.

(This stir fry recipe was of my own invention, combined with the Teriyaki sauce from the Teriyaki Chicken recipe from "You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free" by Roben Ryberg.