Chicken Chop Suey

People say that for many problems, there is no such thing as a quick fix. But where health and diet are concerned, this is far from being true.

Stir frying is a very quick cooking method, and is one of the healthiest ways to cook food, especially vegetables. They keep their vibrant colors, retain their important health-promoting nutrients and give a crunchy contrast to the meal, balancing flavors, colors and textures.

Boiling vegetables simply leads to tasteless, grey mush and most of the important nutrients have either been destroyed, or been leached out into the water and discarded.

This stir fry recipe gets easier and easier if you prep your veg in bulk the first time. You can then portion it into bags for freezing, and then next time you're short of time, use one of them with a little meat, and serve with noodles! Quick, easy, healthy and delicious!

2 chicken breasts
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 inch piece of ginger (finely chopped)
cup of beansprouts
onion (sliced)
broccoli (broken into small florets)
carrot (shredded)
white cabbage (shredded)
green cabbage (shredded)
red bell pepper (sliced)
light soy sauce (1 tbsp)
sesame oil (1/2 tbsp)
black pepper (1 tsp)

Garlic Health Benefits

Garlic is excellent for preventing circulatory problems, by keeping the blood thin. It also reduces blood cholesterol. It is good for digestion and has been used to alleviate gastroenteritis. Garlic is also an excellent remedy for chest infections, and for helping regulate blood sugar levels in people with late-onset diabetes.

Chop the chicken into strips of roughly equal size, so that they will cook evenly. Put into a bowl. Add the finely chopped garlic and ginger, the light soy sauce, sesame oil and black pepper. Mix thoroughly to coat all of the chicken, and then leave to marinate while preparing the vegetables.

Chop all the vegetables into thin strips of roughly equal sizes, so that they can be cooked quickly and evenly.

Money, Time & Food Saving Tip

Chop your stir frying vegetables in big batches, combine the ingredients in a bowl, and them split into single meal portions. Keep the portions in freezer bags and freeze until required. Then next time, you can simply get a bag out of the freezer, prepare your chicken and you're ready to go!

Heat your wok until very hot. (You need the chicken to sizzle when added. If it doesn't, the meat will release water and boil, rather than frying.) Add oil (1 tbsp) - use groundnut or vegetable oil for best results, as you can heat them to a hotter temperature. Add the marinated chicken (take care!) and stir immediately. Stir fry until the chicken is cooked through and light brown.

Remove chicken from the wok, onto a plate.

Mix all the vegetables together, in proportions that give a pleasing mixture of colors - remember, the first bite is with the eye!

Get the wok very hot again, and then add the vegetables - I aim for a one-to-one ratio of vegetable to chicken, so add a bit more to the wok as the veg will shrink as it cooks!

Stir fry until piping hot.

Broccoli Health Benefits

Broccoli is one of the so-called Superfoods. It contains natural cancer-fighting and anti-viral compounds (isothiocyanates & glutathione), it contains more vitamin C than oranges, and can help prevent eye conditions such as cataracts. Stir frying is great for broccoli as it is less destructive to the medicinally-active compounds.

Now add the cooked chicken back into the wok with the vegetables and continue stir frying to combine all the ingredients.

In a bowl, mix together some soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, water and some corn flour and mix to make a thin sauce. Pour this into the wok, and stir it into the contents, cooking until it thickens slightly and coats the chicken and vegetables.

Serve with boiled or steamed rice, or with noodles.

Easy as that! Chicken and vegetable stir fry with steamed rice: DONE!