Lately, life has been so busy.  Meetings, events, more meetings…the list goes on.  I’m finding that with life being sort of chaotic lately, it’s more difficult to sit down and actually cook.  For me, cooking has always been very therapeutic; it’s a time for me to reflect on my day and the week ahead.  It’s still a therapeutic process for me, I’ve just had a difficult time carving out the minutes to do so.  Sometimes, I branch out and cook what some may consider complex meals but when I’m in a hectic mood, I still want to cook but in a less complex way.  Enter stir fry.  I don’t make stir fry dishes often but when I do, I always enjoy them.  These meals are easy to make and leaves so much extra room to play with ingredients.  You can add whatever vegetables or proteins you like.  You can make it sweet & tangy or hot and spicy – the choice is yours. 

This recipe was found on Kitchen Explorers, the food blog for PBS Parents.  I made very minimal changes to the original recipe and found it to be very easy and inexpensive to make.

Obviously, one of the changes I made was to add a pinch of red pepper flakes; I add a little heat to a lot of the dishes I cook.  I could have made the stir fry a bit more ‘saucy’ if I had more time.  What can I say?  Hectic life… 

Orange Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry – adapted from Kitchen Explorers

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce*
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 2 large cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• optional sweetener like brown sugar or honey

For the stir fry:

• 1 pound chicken tender cut into cubes
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• 4 cups frozen stir fry vegetables, thawed
• olive oil
• 1/2 cup medium yellow onion, chopped

Instructions: 

Blend all the ingredients for the sauce in a blender or food processor for 10 seconds.

Taste the sauce and add your choice of sweetener to your choice. 

Blend again for a few more seconds. 

Heat the sauce in a small pot on medium-high heat for 5 minutes.   

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. 

Add the corn starch and massage the chicken with your hands. 

Heat approximately 1 tablespoon of oil in the skillet on medium-high heat. 

Cook the onion and chicken until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 3-4 minutes. 

Add the vegetables and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.  

Slowly add a few tablespoons of sauce while stirring the vegetables and chicken. 

Continue to add the sauce a few tablespoons at a time,
allowing about 15 seconds between each addition to allow sauce to
slightly cook down. 

Spoon the stir-fry over a bowl of hot rice. Serve immediately.