Stir-Fried Chicken Adventures

Almost end of week one with Weight Watchers, and I've been doing pretty well with meals-- and keeping them under my allotted points.  However, it's easy to get frustrated since my Austin's daily points are almost twice mine-- he's a bigger guy and should be eating more....but it's hard when you see the person's place next to you with so much more food- ah!


I love trying out new recipes, but I find that many call for ingredients I just don't have laying around the house and am unlikely to use again except with the same recipe.  You'll find that I often substitute for things that seem close enough to me but maybe not to the more savvy chef...it works well enough.


The stir-fry recipe below was pretty good-- it felt like it was missing a little bit of flavor when I first started but once I got to more of the sauces, it had a nice kick to it.  Austin said it was the toats mcgoats...I'm taking that as a good sign.


I used chili oil instead of sesame oil (sesame oil was expensive, and I need chili oil for another recipe), ground ginger (don't know if my grocery store even has ginger root, but then again, I never looked for it), and frozen veggies (allow more time for cooking).  Be careful with the high heat before adding the oils and spices.  Round 1 left me with a burned blob of oils in the wok before I could add the ginger, so I lowered the heat for round 2, which was much more successful.  I am also skeptical of any steps that tell you to cook for 15 second-- you should be too.

Stir-Fried Chicken with Broccoli, Red Peppers, and Cashews (courtesy of weightwatchers.com)

Ingredients

	2 tsp vegetable oil, divided
	1 tsp sesame oil, divided
	1 1/2 Tbsp ginger root, finely chopped
	3 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), finely chopped
	1 pound(s) uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast(s), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
	1 large sweet red pepper(s), cut into 1-inch pieces
	2 cup(s) uncooked broccoli, florets
	2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
	20 item(s) cashews, roasted, unsalted, roughly chopped

Instructions

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil, ginger and garlic; cook 15 seconds. Add chicken and stir-fry until starting to brown, about 3 to 4 minutes; remove to a plate.
• Add remaining teaspoon of vegetable oil, pepper and broccoli to same skillet; stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add chicken back to skillet, pour in soy sauce and cook, stirring, until chicken is cooked through, about 2 minutes more; toss with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil. Sprinkle on cashews and serve. Yields about 1 3/4 cup per serving.

Total point value-- 6, with 1 cup rice-- 11 points (pretty good for a filling dinner).