Thai Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

The Mr. and I are pretty much the opposite of picky eaters. Put food on a plate in front of us, and we'll probably eat it, happily. Over the years, we've grown to love everything from sushi to gyros, but even though we love a variety of foods, we rarely (if ever) venture out of our traditional American comfort zones in our own kitchen. I always thought recreating ethnic food at home would probably be way to complicated and require spices and sauces I could never get my hands on.

Silly, silly me. If this Thai Stir Fry is any indication, recreating your favorite ethnic dishes at home is actually pretty simple. Don't let the long ingredient list scare you. With a little help from the Mr. this dish came together in under an hour, from start to stuffing our faces. Some of the ingredients were a little out of my norm, but I was actually able to find all of them at my local Kroger. And they even make cookbooks with actual recipes for this stuff! Who knew?

This dish far surpasses any takeout stir fry I've ever had. Tender pieces of chicken and seared vegetables are coated in a mildly sweet curry sauce then served over jasmine rice. Speaking of jasmine rice, where has that stuff been all my life? This is the perfectly sticky, tender rice I've been waiting for! 

Now, a word on chopsticks. I learned to use them because I wanted to look cool . Back in college I would often go out to eat at Asian restaurants with the roomie or the future Mr. Both of them knew how to use chopsticks and I always felt like a total lame-o requesting a fork when they were beside me, authentically chopping their sticks. So I taught myself how to use them. So I wouldn't feel left out of the cool kid camp.

So what's your life lesson for the day? Peer pressure. It doesn't always lead to drugs.

Sometimes, in fact, it can lead to the development of a useful life skill. Find the people that lead you to the second option, and hang on to them. You'll be a master chopsticker in no time.

Thai Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

Yield: 5 servings

Recipe adapted from The Mediterrasian Way 

Ingredients:

2 cups jasmine rice (We had lots of leftovers, which we used for fried rice (recipe coming soon). If you don't want leftovers, cut this back to 1 1/2 or even just 1 cup).
3 Tablespoons lower sodium soy sauce
3 Tablespoons oyster sauce (In the Asian section of your grocery store. If you can't find it, use all soy sauce)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons sesame oil
5 Tablespoons neutral oil (such as canola or vegetable), divided
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips
1 green bell pepper, sliced in long strips
4 carrots, peeled and julienned
4 cloves minced garlic
4 teaspoons Thai red curry paste (also found in the Asian section of your grocery store)
1 can whole tomatoes, drained and sliced into long strips (I would replace this with fresh tomatoes when they're in season).
1 cup frozen peas
4 green onions, chopped
Cilantro (don't skip this--it really adds a nice compliment to the rest of the dish!)

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Stir in the rice, return to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and sesame oil. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet, heat 2 Tablespoons of neutral oil over high heat. Add sliced chicken and saute until golden brown on the outside and no pink remains inside. Remove from skillet.
4. Add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of oil to the skillet. Add the bell pepper and carrots and cook until crisp tender, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and curry paste and stir until paste is lightly coating all other ingredients, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and peas and saute for another minute or until peas are tender.
5. Pour sauce mixture into skillet, add green onions, and return the chicken to pan. Stir mixture together and saute until heated through, about one minute. Serve immediately over jasmine rice with fresh cilantro leaves on top.