Chicken Chow Mein

We have soooo many Chinese noodles in our house right now! I have been looking for recipes to start to use them up. This one jumped out at me because we had a lot of the ingredients already in the house. I only needed to get cabbage and bean sprouts!

Don't be overwhelmed by the steps, just prep all your ingredients before starting to cook. Things move quick when you stir fry!

I used my large dutch oven pot because when you add the cabbage it gets quite tall and it is easier to mix everything with the higher sides. Often I crowd my pan because I'm making a lot... someday I'll do it correctly. When the pan gets crowded things steam more and won't get as crispy/browned. Things will still cook but it changes the texture a little bit. The recipe below is updated to what I used to feed 2 adults and 2 big kids (pre-teen age kids).

There are a lot of different types of Chinese noodles that you can use. I used regular thin wheat noodles that are similar to a linguine. Dried rice noodles and fresh noodles can also be used too.

I was intrigued by coating the chicken in the baking soda. Cooks Illustrated validated this technique so I continued to follow the directions. It really made a big difference in the chicken breast!! According to other websites make sure you rinse it off and don't let it sit for longer then 15 minutes. 

The cabbage seemed like a lot but wilted down to next to nothing!

Recipe Tin Eats: Charlie Sauce - This is the link to make the larger quantity of sauce to keep in your fridge. This has quite a bit of kick to it. I followed the recipe and only used 1 tsp of the white pepper. I would use 1/2 - 3/4 of a tsp next time. It did seem very salty but I used all low-sodium soy sauce. I am going to investigate the all purpose soy sauce for next time. 

Chicken Chow Mein

adapted from Recipe Tin Eats

Serves: 4-5 adult size portions

4 cups chicken thigh breast, cut into bite size pieces
½ tsp baking soda
1½ tbsp olive oil
16 oz noodles
6-8 cups green cabbage (savoy/green/napa), finely shredded

2 carrot, matchsticks
2 cup bean sprouts
6 scallions, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp Chow Mein Sauce

Chow Mein Sauce: mix all ingredients
4 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 White pepper

• Combine chicken and baking soda in a small bowl and toss to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes to marinate, then rinse chicken well and pat dry.
• Pour 2 tbsp of Chow Mein Sauce over the chicken and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
• Prepare the noodles according to the package instructions.
• Heat oil in wok or large fry pan over high heat.
• Add garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds until the garlic is golden brown and you can smell the garlic in the oil. 
• Add chicken and stir fry until the skin is white but the inside is still raw - about 45 seconds to 1 minute.
• Add the cabbage, carrot, and the white pieces of scallions. Stir fry for 1 - 1½ minutes until the cabbage is just starting to wilt and the chicken is cooked through.
• Add the cooked & drained noodles, Chow Mein sauce and water. Toss to coat everything in the sauce.
• Add bean sprouts and remaining shallots/scallions. Stir and remove from heat. Serve immediately

Peanut Noodles

I have never tried any of Melissa d'Arabian's recipes because I wasn't a fan of her show (Ten Dollar Dinners or her cooking on Food Network Star). But this recipe is great and I think I'll try some more of her recipes later on. This is her Peanut Noodle recipe which was delish! I will be making this again. It was very easy and came together in about 25 minutes.

I added chicken to the meal for protein and I increased the peanut dressing to make sure it would cover the additions. Tofu would also work nicely. This could be a great base to add any veggies wilting in your fridge. I think the sauce would also be good with rice too... but then again I just love peanut butter.

Enjoy!

Peanut Noodles

Serves 2 very hungry people

3 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)

12 ounces linguine
2 chicken breast

Salad:
1/2 cup loosely-packed chopped fresh cilantro
3 green onions, sliced
1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/3 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup roughly chopped skinless roasted peanuts, for garnish

Peanut Dressing:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Sirracha
1 ½ teaspoon sesame oil
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime

Directions:
Chop and combine salad ingredients, put into a large strainer. 

Heat medium size frying pan. Add a little oil, soy sauce, and sirracha. Stir occasionally and cook until chicken is done (about 8 minutes). Set aside.

Put the peanut butter in a medium size glass bowl. Microwave about 15 seconds to soften. Whisk in with the soy sauce, vinegar, canola oil, ginger, honey, Sirracha, sesame oil and lime zest and juice in a small bowl.Thin with the starchy pasta water if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time. (Dressing should be thick, but pourable.) 

Toast sesame seeds in a frying pan until light golden in color, 4 to 6 minutes, and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente. Pour the pasta over the salad in the strainer. The hot water will soften the veggies. Put back into the pasta pot. Pour the peanut dressing over the pasta and veggies, combine.

Top with the chopped peanuts and toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Lemongrass Slow Cooked Pork and Spicy Pickled Napa Cabbage Slaw

This recipe was adapted from the Skillet Cookbook by Josh Henderson. I was skimming through the book and this recipe jumped out at me. I like pulled pork. I like Asian food. Seems obvious to combine the two, no?

The pork was more salty/sweet and not spicy at all. The cabbage had some kick to it. We served the pork and cabbage over rice.

Since I don't make food in small quantities, the 1lb recipe was escalated to 7lbs. The list on the left is original recipe, the part to the right is what I put into it. As you can see this was some very rough math. :)

Lemongrass Slow Cooked Pork
1 stalk lemongrass,trim edges and slice into 2 inch pieces --> 4 stalks
1 3 inch piece fresh ginger root, cut into chunks --> 4 3 inch pieces of ginger root
1 lb pork butt --> 7 lb pork shoulder (bone in)
3 tbsp red curry paste --> 8 tbsp (the whole 4oz container)
5 tsp loosely packed brown sugar --> 4 tbsp brown sugar
5 tsp salt --> 5 tsp salt
3 tbsp lime juice --> juice from 4 limes, about 1/4 cup?
1/2 cup water or chicken stock --> 2 cups (1 can) chicken broth
salt and pepper --> omitted

Trim the lemongrass and ginger root. Put some into the bottom of the cooker. Rinse pork and put into the slow cooker. Combine the curry paste, brown sugar, and salt into a bowl and rub over the pork. Pour in the lime juice and chicken broth. Put in the rest of the lemongrass and ginger root. Put the slow cooker on low and let it cook for 10-13 hours.

Spicy Pickled Cabbage Slaw
1 head of napa cabbage cut into strips
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp sriracha
2 inches of ginger root, chunks
1/2 tsp sesame oil

In a small saucepan bring all ingredients (except cilantro and cabbage) to a boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and take out the ginger pieces.

Combine cabbage and cilantro into a bowl. Pour the warm dressing over the cabbage and cilantro.

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Ready to heat and eat!

Tonight I needed to use up the last of my cabbage, the lots of tomatoes, and celery I've been accumulating. I found a Stuffed Cabbage Casserole recipe online. Essentially its layers of tender cabbage and a yummy mixture of rice, ground chicken, tomatoes, and seasonings. So I took this idea and made some changes due to the surplus of veggies floating around my kitchen.

This will probably make enough for a 9 x 13 pan or enough to serve 4-6. I split mine up into single serving containers that I can freeze.

I only had 1/2 a head of cabbage so my ratio was off. I'm going to use the rest of the rice mix in a salad!

Oh...I also ate the baked section and forgot to take a picture... So you'll have to settle for the picture of the unbaked casserole!

Ingredients:

• 2 small Carrots
• 2 stalks of Celery
• 1/4 Onion
• 1 lb Ground chicken
• To taste: Oregano, Garlic Powder, Paprika, Red Pepper Flakes, S&P
• 1 pint halved Cherry Tomatoes
• 2-4 oz Tomato paste
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 head of cabbage
• Shredded cheese (I didn't use cheese)

Heat oil in a pot (Use a pot because the mixture gets hard to stir in a frying pan)
Saute carrots, celery, onion (used the lovely, lovely food processor to chop them up!!)
Add ground chicken
Seasonings: Oregano, Garlic Powder, Paprika, Red Pepper Flakes (about 1 tsp each)
Add sliced cherry tomatoes (or whatever tomatoes you have, canned diced tomatoes are fine too)
Add some tomato paste (or tomato sauce, I happened to only have paste in the cabinet)
Stir it up and let it all cook together (tomatoes should sort of dissolve into the mix)
Mix in 2 cups (or so) of cooked rice

In a separate fry pan, wilt the cabbage and season with some salt and pepper

Layer lettuce and the meat/rice mixture twice
Top with cheese
Bake at 350 until it starts to bubble then take off the foil and let it get golden on the top!

Enjoy!!

Cabbage Soup

I am part of a farm share program, so each week I get lots of veggies that I try to to use up in a creative manner. However, my go-to creation? Soup.

I just love soup. It is so versatile and you can put almost anything into it and it will be good. So today I  set out to use up some of the lonely veggies that were sitting in my fridge.

Oh, I also received a beautiful Cuisinart food processor for Christmas this year. Any excuse I have to use it, I use it. That said, I put some onion, carrots, celery, and mushrooms through the grater section of the food processor. I am still in awe of how fast it chops things.

Next sauteed the veggies and some seasonings (garlic powder, salt, pepper, and oregano) in some oil in a big soup pot for a few minutes. I also had some potatoes from the past 2 weeks of veggies, so I needed to start using those up, so added in some diced potatoes.

Now for the star (and mystery) ingredient: Cabbage. I have never cooked with cabbage and I don't think my mom has made it for me before. I researched it a little, its in the same family as broccoli and cauliflower, its green and leafy so I figured it would be similar to cooking with kale, chard, or spinach... So I wash it, chop it up into ribbons, and find it has a stem in the middle! So I cut the stem out and into the pot it goes!

Soup does its flavor blending thing on the stove for probably half hour. (And I found about half a cup of rice in the fridge, so that went into the pot too).

As one of my friends the other day said, "Soup is the tea of food." Enjoy!!

Next time, I would include some chopped chicken or a can of beans (white beans or chick pea) for a more filling soup. And maybe some red pepper flakes.

FYI: Generally when I make soup, I just keep adding to it, and have huge vats that I can freeze. BUT potatoes get funky when frozen.


Ingredients:
1/4 (?) Onion
5 Smaller Carrots
3 stalks Celery
4 little Mushrooms
1 tsp Oregano, Garlic Powder
S&P to taste
4 small Potatoes (diced)
1/2 head of Cabbage
8? cups of chicken broth

Saute first 6 items. Add in the rest of the ingredients.

Makes approx 6-8 servings.