Easy Chicken Stir Fry

Don’t feel like cooking?  Make this easy, delicious chicken stir fry.  It’s an easy meal to make.  Here are a few tips for making quick stir fry:

Don’t make your own teriyaki sauce

Buy teriyaki sauce from the store.  I prefer a lower sodium version.  This cuts down on a lot of cooking time, and the risk of messing up the sauce. (Not that any General Gazette gal would do that…)

Buy pre-cut or frozen mixed vegetables

You don’t have to trim and prepare your own fresh vegetables.  If it works out better for your schedule, pick up some pre-cut, pre-mixed vegetables in the fresh or frozen section.  Frozen vegetables are an excellent staple to keep in the freezer for those nights you just don’t feel like cooking or you’re out of fresh veggies and had no time to make it to the store.  Don’t worry if it’s not the same variety as I recommend in this recipe—it will be just as good.

Easy Chicken Stir Fry

• 2 large chicken breasts (trimmed and sliced into long thin pieces)
• 1 lime
• ½ tsp Pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup teriyaki sauce (purchased from store)
• 2 cloves garlic

Vegetables

(use these or substitute for 1 bag of prepackaged vegetables-fresh or frozen)

• 4 carrots (peeled and diced)
• ½ pound green beans (fresh, trimmed)
• 1 large red pepper (sliced)

Marinate the chicken breast in ½ cup teriyaki sauce (or more—just enough to cover the chicken) and the juice of 1 lime for at least 1 hour. (The chicken can marinate up to 4 hours).

Heat a sauté pan over medium heat with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, or enough to barely cover the bottom of your pan.  Add minced garlic in the pan. Place the chicken in the warm pan with the garlic, shaking off excess marinade as you place it into the pan. Cook the chicken until golden brown and thoroughly cooked, about 5 minutes.  Place on a plate and reserve.

Clean the pan if needed (sometimes pans get a lot of black build-up—you’ll want to at least rinse your pan.)  Thoroughly dry the pan, then heat the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add the carrots, green beans, and red pepper.  Add the other clove of garlic into the pan and cook the vegetables until they are a little less tender than you would like them to be. (Pour off any excess liquid if you’re using frozen vegetables.)  Add the remaining ½ cup of teriyaki sauce, along with the reserved chicken.  Let cook for 3 minutes on medium heat or until chicken is hot.   Serve over brown or jasmine rice.

Don’t let making dinner break your busy social agenda.  Eat fast and healthy!  Make stir fry!