Appetizing Muse

 

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Stir Fry Light

Posted Thu, 04/10/03

Quite often, Wilbert and I settle for stir fry for our dinner meal. There are so many versions of the dish floating around, and after awhile it seems as if one blends into the other with the endless variations. About six months ago we had what was called "chow mien" from the Safeway Chinese deli by our home. It sounds crazy, but it's some of the best we've ever had.

 

The odd thing is the Safeway "chow mien" didn't really taste like real chow mien. It was more like a light stir fry with spaghetti noodles. Wilbert went about re-creating the dish himself. By the time he was finished, the result not only excelled the "chow mien" from Safeway, it had the lightness of stir fry with more vegetables and chicken.

 

Wilbert jotted down the recipe, and we dubbed it Stir Fry Light. It's a simple, tasty and fairly inexpensive meal to make.

 

Stir-Fry Light

From Wilbert Alviso

 

2 LBS beef stew meat OR boneless, skinless chicken cut into bite-sized pieces

2 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced

1 C chicken broth

4 TBS teriyaki sauce

1 TBS soy sauce

Salt & black pepper to taste

1 C fresh snow peas, ends snipped

1 C fresh green beans, cut in half and ends snipped

1/2 C celery, cleaned & sliced

1/2 C carrots, peeled, cleaned & sliced

1 small onion, peeled & sliced thin

1 C frozen mixed vegetables

1 can (15 oz.) whole young corn, drained

1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, sliced

1 pkg. spaghetti pasta, cooked & drained

Olive oil

 

Cut beef or chicken into bite-sized pieces; place in a large Tupperware bowl. Add sliced garlic, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and salt and black pepper. Mix well, and cover. Refrigerate for twenty-four hours or more. When ready to cook, place a little bit of olive oil into a pre-heated wok or large frying pan. Add the meat, leaving in the garlic slices. Stir occasionally as the meat cooks over medium heat. After about ten minutes, add the sliced celery, carrots, onions, whole young corn and water chestnuts. Stir well and cook for an additional five minutes. Mix in the snow peas, green beans, frozen vegetables and the chicken broth. Stir well; cook for another ten minutes. Cook pasta according to package directions or preference; drain. Stir pasta into cooked meat mixture. Toss well; cook another three or four minutes to heat through, letting the pasta soak up some of the chicken broth. Add more teriyaki or broth if needed or desired. Serve at once.

Of course, one can experiment with the ingredients and add whatever they choose (favorite vegetables, or beef instead of chicken - or no meat at all, for that matter). Some people cannot tolerate MSG, so that can be eliminated if need be.

 

 

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