Rib-Sticking Stir-Fry

Last night was one of those crazy and chaotic nights with the kids. My eight year old was outside playing with the whole neighborhood and let me tell you, there are easily 50 kids in this neighborhood. Every child was out and about. The doorbell was ringing, there was constant knocking at the door, everyone was hungry and thirsty, everyone had a million questions, and each and every time I went to the door my three year old took the opportunity to make a mess or get himself into trouble. My evening consisted of cleaning up messes and answering the door, repeatedly. My husband has been gone for almost two weeks on business, so thank God that my Mom was over. She and I went so crazy with the kids that we got slap silly and started laughing. The doorbell rang so much that my Mom finally took a chair and sat by the door so she could answer it while I made dinner. I laughed as I heard her out there answering all of their silly questions with equally silly answers. It was good stuff.

With my three year old riding his bicycle in circles around my island in the kitchen, I made Nigella's Rib-Sticking Stir-Fry. It sure was a good thing that this recipe was quick and easy, requiring absolutely no attention whatsoever. I whipped it up in about ten minutes and Mom and I sat down to eat with the blaring noise of Hungry Hungry Hippo in the background. As the hippos slammed loudly against the gameboard we discussed how we really enjoyed this meal. It was a funny evening and we were nearly crying with laughter at the sheer chaos.

I'd been looking forward to the day I got to try this recipe. Nigella's Rib-Sticking Stir-Fry is served with cannellini beans in place of rice. As a bean lover, I was very excited to try this meal.

Rib-Sticking Stir-Fry
Adapted from Nigella Express
Serve 2
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (you can use just a tad of oil if using a nonstick wok)
10 oz. chicken or turkey breast fillet, cut into 1-1/2 inch x 1/4 inch strips
4 cups chopped stir-fry vegetables (from a package)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine (I used chicken broth)
1 (14 oz) can cannellini beans, drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

Heat the oil in a wok, and over fairly high heat add the chicken or turkey strips and toss them about to color. Once the meat has seared, add the vegetables and toss around again until beginning to soften, ten add the soy sauce and the wine. The soy will help the meat strips bronze beautifully. Once the heat is back up and sizzling, add the beans and toss everything about to mix before tipping onto two plates. Sprinkle with the herb and serve straight away.

Notes/Results: I added a few things to this recipe: one minced shallot; two good-sized cloves garlic, minced; and one teaspoon hot pepper flakes. Mom and I don't like to eat a lot of meat sometimes, so I just used one chicken breast for the entire recipe. We were craving vegetables, so I used an entire package of frozen Asian Medley Veggies (carrot sticks, baby corn, broccoli, sugar snap peas). I was a little short on 4 cups of veggies, so I added a cup of an edamame mix I had in the freezer. I wanted to garnish the meal with crushed peanuts or cashews, but there just wasn't any time for that. Maybe next time. Next time? Yes, there will definitely be a next time! This is an extremely quick and easy meal that goes together in record time. Healthy, quick, easy, delicious, very filling and a little spicy from the pepper flakes. I was impressed and will definitely be making this meal quite a bit. In fact, if I had the ingredients on hand, I would make it for dinner again tonight!

This is our last potluck round with Nigella over at I Heart Cooking Clubs. We have one more week with Nigella and then we will be cooking with a new chef for the next six months. Head on over to I Heart Cooking Clubs to check out this week's potluck roundup and vote for the next chef!