Stir Fry

All the food I cooked Sunday is gone. I polished off the last of it for dinner yesterday, so it's time to hit the kitchen again. My meals are all about convenience and flavor, while keeping them low in fat and sodium and high in protein and fiber.

Today I have a taste for Asian food, but the challenge will be to keep it low sodium. According to WebMD, people living on the northern islands of Japan consume more salt than any other region in the world, and they also have the highest incidence of high blood pressure. I will certainly miss the taste of soy sauce, but I think I can make up for it with other flavors.

I started preparing during my lunch break. I chopped one orange bell pepper, one onion, plus garlic and fresh ginger. I use a lot of dried herbs and spices, but you can't beat fresh ingredients when you have the time to spend chopping it up. I also trimmed the fat off from a family size package of boneless, skinless chicken breast, and placed them on two foil lined cookie sheets. If you aren't able to go home for lunch like I am, it's a lot easier to take a few minutes the night before, or in the morning, to plan your meal, and get started with preparation.

After arriving home from this evening's Zumba® class, I first got out the pans of chicken breast and added seasonings. I sprinkled them with fresh chopped garlic, ginger, and onion. I then added cilantro, a little brown sugar, sesame seeds, and some Chinese five spice powder to both sides, and put the chicken in the oven.

I definitely want stir fried veggies as a side item. I have some frozen steamable bags of asparagus and snow peas that will work nicely. I also have a bag of chopped broccoli slaw that I am going to try out. I steam the asparagus and snow peas in the microwave while I sautee the onion, pepper, garlic, and ginger I chopped at lunch in a little dark brown sesame oil. Then I add in the steamed veggies and broccoli slaw. I stir fry it over medium high heat for about 10 minutes, then scattered some sesame seeds on top.

The chicken is done by now, and I'm ready to dig in! It's yummy! I was a little skeptical of eating a stir fry with no soy sauce, but ginger, garlic, and sesame add monstrous flavor! I actually put a little too much ginger on the chicken, but the veggies are absolutely perfect.

Hint: when using steamable bags of veggetables, be sure to drain water out before adding to fresh produce in a skillet. If not, veggies will be soggy.