I enjoyed this and it was easy to prepare.... I wouldn’t base a new restaurant on it, but it was satisfying, quick, and healthy. As weeknight dinners go, I'm calling it a win. It's still not a "20 minutes and dinner's ready" kind of meal. You do need time to cube and briefly marinate the chicken, plus prep the vegetables. As soon as the vegetables are cut, you can get them cooking while the chicken finishes marinating (unless you are marinating all day). All told, the Eat the Rainbow Stir-Fry took me about 45 minutes from start to finish. In the meantime, you can be cooking some brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc.
Depending on the size of your wok and the heat capacity of your oven, we felt the cooking instructions as printed weren't going to turn into a delicious meal. We couldn't fit the 2 cups of broccoli plus 1 cup of bell peppers plus ½ pound of chicken all together in our wok. Instead, we decided it was better to cook the vegetables and meat separately, adding a few tablespoons of the marinade to the cooking vegetables, then removing the "hard and soft" vegetables from the pan, wiping the pan out completely, and finally adding in the chicken without it’s marinade so that it flash-fries instead of steaming. This all happens really quickly, so you'll need to have everything ready when you start cooking. As soon as the chicken pieces are just cooked through, you can remove the chicken and place in a clean bowl to the side. The remaining marinade (that we didn't steam the chicken in) needs to be boiled for ~5 minutes to reduce and cook so that it is safe to consume. At this point, add back the chicken and other veggies, toss to combine, then serve.
Adapted from: Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow.
Ingredients
Marinated Chicken
- 8 ounces skinless chicken diced into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
Vegetables
- 2 teaspoons high-heat oil, like avocado, sesame, or peanut
- ½ large yellow onion diced
- 2 heaping cups "hard" vegetables, like broccoli, celery, and/or carrots chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 heaping cup "soft" vegetables, like snap peas, bell pepper, cabbage, bok choy, and/or mushrooms sliced into bite-sized pieces
For serving
- brown rice or quinoa cooked
- sriracha, coconut curry sauce, or creamy miso-ginger sauce
Instructions
Marinated Chicken
- In a medium bowl, together the soy sauce, lime juice, honey, garlic, and ginger. Add the chicken pieces and toss to combine. Leave out for 20 minutes to let the chicken come to room-temperature and marinate a little. [For even more flavor, place chicken plus marinade in a sealed container or Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.]
Stir-fry Vegetables
- While the chicken marinates, you should prep all the vegetables. That takes me about 10-20 minutes, depending on how many different vegetables you choose.
- Heat a wok or large, high-sided saute pan over high heat. Once hot, add the oil, diced onion, and chopped hard vegetable pieces. Cook, stirring/shaking the pan occasionally, but not so frequently that you inhibit the vegetables from browning on all sides. After about 2-3 minutes, add 2 tablespoons of the marinade to the stir-frying vegetables, then continue cooking another 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to medium-high, add the soft vegetables to the wok with the hard vegetables, then continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes (still stirring occasionally). Transfer to a plate or bowl, then (carefully because it's hot!) wipe out the wok.
- Lift the marinated chicken pieces out of the marinade with a slotted spoon and place in the hot wok (still over medium-high heat). Saute the chicken pieces, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes or until barely cooked through. Add the remaining marinade to the pan and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes. The marinade should be bubbling rapidly and the amount of liquid should be reduced by at least half. Add the reserved cooked vegetables and toss everything to combine. After another minute, everything should be heated through.
- Serve immediately, on top of brown rice or quinoa and drizzle with your favorite spicy sauce.
This was very good. Thanks!
[…] C) Eat the Rainbow Stir-Fry […]