It’s been a long time since I’ve made as stir-fry, and I don’t know why I’ve waited so long!  I don’t often cook without at least some sort of recipe as a guide, but stir-fry is really forgiving and begs to be adapted to whatever you have on hand.  While I was originally thinking I’d make more of a chicken lo-mein dish, I ended up ignoring that recipe and just winging this as I went.  I’d usually serve stir-fry with rice, but the egg noodles are a fun change.

Boyfriend and I are focusing on a February challenge to make sure that we eat at least 3 cups of vegetables every day.  Three cups of veggies isn’t particularly hard, but it does require more planning, especially if you eat out, or don’t eat savory breakfasts.  But I’ve been loving the fact that it’s making me more mindful and focusing my meals around eating more vegetables.  So when I had leftovers of this stir-fry I shredded some cabbage, to go with it, just piling the stir-fry on top in a container to take to work.  When you reheat it the cabbage gets nice and tender without being soggy.  I loved it.  Boyfriend isn’t as big a fan of cabbage, but he tolerated it. 😉

How many cups of vegetables do you think you eat in a day?  Think you could challenge someone in your life to a friendly competition of eating more vegetables every day?  How do you add more vegetables to your meals?

Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry with Egg Noodles

Serves 8

• 3 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced  (I keep my ginger root in the freezer, use a spoon or a pairing knife to carefully remove the outside, and then a sharp knife to mince it while it’s still mostly frozen.  Or run some warm water over it, to soften it a bit)
• 4 tsp chili garlic sauce
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 4 chicken breasts, cut in bite size pieces
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 bunch Chinese broccoli, cut into 1/2″ pieces  (could use broccoli florets or add spinach at the end)
• 2 bell peppers, julienned
• 1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
• 12 oz egg noodles, cooked according to package directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the ginger, chili garlic sauce, garlic, honey, sesame oil, and soy sauce.

Place the cut up raw chicken in a large ziplock bag, pour half the sauce over the chicken.  Seal the ziplock and let marinade while you prepare the remaining ingredients.  Add the lime juice to the remaining sauce and set aside.

In a large skillet, cook the chicken over medium heat, until just cooked through.  Remove the cooked chicken from the pan, and return the pan to the heat to sauté the onion, when beginning to soften add the broccoli stems (save the softer leaves for the end).  Sauté for several minutes with half of the reserved sauce, then add the bell peppers and continue to sauté until onion is beginning to brown and the broccoli and peppers are tender.  Add the vegetables to the dish with the cooked chicken.  Return the pan to the stove and add the mushrooms, cook until browned.  Add the mushrooms and cooked egg noodles to the chicken and vegetables.  Pour the last of the sauce over the stir-fry and mix well.