Chicken Stir Fry with Peppers and Peanuts

The original recipe that I got this dish from used essentially all the same ingredients but was rather complicated and time consuming in the actual cooking. And after a long day and a good workout, I wasn't feeling like doing anything complicated or time consuming. So, I took it and made it a very simple to make stir fry (albeit one that involves a lot of chopping, but that's easy). I also kind of took a short cut on the marinading. I probably should have let it marinade for 2+ hours but I didn't and it still turned out good so I'm not even sorry about it. :P

What I did with the marinading is cut up the chicken and then put it in the marinade for about 30 minutes (in the fridge) while I relaxed and then when it came time to chop up the peppers and crush the peanuts, I let it sit on the counter at room temp to continue marinading. Another thing I figured out is that you don't have to chop up the peanuts (how the heck would you do that with a knife anyway???), you can just put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a meat mallet. It's effective.

Anyways here's the recipe. Enjoy.

Chicken Stir Fry with Peppers and Peanuts

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into decent sized pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, and 1 orange or green bell pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil for frying
• 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped (or smashed with mallet)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp olive oil for marinade
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar Splenda
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients from soy sauce to ginger in a dish, add cut-up chicken pieces and let marinade for about 30 minutes
2. Slice the 3 peppers and place in a bowl 
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet or wok over medium high heat
4. Add peppers and stir fry for about 4-5 minutes
5. Push peppers to the side and add chicken
6. Stir fry over medium high heat for about 3 minutes, then turn the heat up a little more and stir fry for another couple minutes until chicken is cooked through
7. Remove from heat and add peanuts, mix to combine
8. Let sit for a few minutes and serve, topping with any residual marinade

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Another belated post. But a pretty good one I'll admit. I've always like stuffed bell peppers but they never really turned out well for me in the past. I think I finally got it right with this one though. Next time I'll add salt and pepper to the beef mix but other than that they were awesome.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 egg
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 3-4 green bell peppers
• 2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 (15 oz) jar medium salsa
• shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Cook the rice according to the package
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
3. Combine the beef, chopped onion, taco seasoning, salt and pepper, egg, and rice in a large bowl
4. Cut peppers in half lengthwise, remove seeds and membranes
5. Pour the tomatoes on the bottom of a baking dish that has been lined with foil
6. Place peppers on top of the tomatoes, and spoon the beef mixture into the peppers
7. Top each pepper with salsa and bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes
8. Remove from oven, cover each pepper with cheese and return to oven under broiler
9. Broil for 30 seconds or so, until the cheese has melted
10. Serve with additional salsa and sour cream if you would like

Garlic Beef and Asparagus Stir Fry

So I'm biased towards anything that has asparagus in it, but that being said, even Mike thought this one was pretty awesome. It's pretty straightforward too, once you have all the ingredients. It calls for this stuff called Hoisin sauce which I'd never heard of before but it's in the Asian foods aisle at Pick N Save. Still not sure what it is exactly but it's good, and that's what counts. ;)

Anyways, I'll keep this short for tonight but enjoy!

Garlic Beef and Asparagus Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 lb flank steak, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3/4 cup Hoisin garlic sauce
• 1 lb asparagus, cut into 1-2 inch lengths
• 1 cup roasted cashews
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Marinade the already cut up steak in 2 Tbsp of the Hoisin sauce for 10 minutes
2. Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat, add steak and stir fry for about 3 minutes, until browned but not fully cooked
3. Remove the steak from heat, add the asparagus to the skillet and stir fry for about a minute
4. Add 1/2 cup water to skillet, cover, and let asparagus cook for another 2 minutes
5. Return beef to skillet and add remaining sauce
6. Stir fry until everything is well-mixed and beef is cooked through, about 1 minute more, and add cashews
7. Serve and add salt and pepper as needed.

Double Post! Saigon Shrimp and Three-Mustard Pork Chops

I didn't make both of these tonight obviously. Just a little late in getting to posting what I made last Friday. So I'll start out with the Friday dish: Saigon Shrimp. Just a perfect, easy dinner. Literally it took about 10 minutes start to finish and it was so goooood. Sweet and spicy and delicious! :)

Saigon Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 1 lb large uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 4 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 tsp chili garlic paste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp Splenda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Mix together salt, pepper and Splenda in a small dish
2. Gather all the ingredients together and in a heavy skillet over medium high heat, heat oil
3. Add shrimp and stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until mostly pink
4. Add chili garlic paste and minced garlic to pan, continue stir frying
5. When shrimp are pink all the way through, add the salt mixture and stir for another 10-20 seconds to distribute evenly
6. Turn off heat and serve!

Now, I'm very proud of myself for the pork recipe. I kind of just threw together a lot of stuff from my fridge and cabinets and came up with this one on my own. It turned out great too. Unfortunately I won't be able to give exact measurements for some stuff (I was experimenting, c'mon) but you should be able to get the gist of it. 

Three-Mustard Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• 1 lb thinly sliced pork chops
• 3 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp habanero mustard
• 1 Tbsp southwest mustard
• 1 tsp Splenda
• Salt and pepper
• Soy flour (or AP flour)
• Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, mix together the three mustards and and Splenda.
3. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the pork chops, then sprinkle flour over them and pat gently
4. Heat a skillet or griddle pan over medium high heat and spray with nonstick cooking spray
5. Brown pork chops on each side, about 30 sec to 1 min per side (depending on how hot you let your pan get it might be shorter or longer)
6. Transfer pork over to a baking sheet or pan, and spoon mustard mixture over chops
7. Place pork chops in oven, and let bake for about 5-7 minutes (mustard should be dried)

Easy as that! 

Easy Garlic Chicken

Alright. So I know I went a full week without posting anything, and I'm tempted to make it a little longer because I dislike posting things I'm not absolutely crazy about but I'm going to do it anyway, just in case someone else likes it more than I do. There's nothing bad about this dish, and actually, the last time I made it it turned out a little better so I probably shouldn't be so critical, but for some reason tonight it was just okay.

On the bright side, it is very very easy to make and has few ingredients. Probably why it's been pinned a million times on Pinterist. So, worth a shot in any case, right? :)

Easy Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar blend Splenda (or regular brown sugar)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. Saute garlic in olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat for a few minutes
3. Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar Splenda
4. Place chicken breasts in a dish lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray
5. Cover with sauce and season with salt and pepper
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, uncovered

Simple as that.