One of my favourite treats on a rare occasion when I'd visit the mall, was to stop at the Asian restaurant in the food court and order some chicken and broccoli. It was delish. I loved the sauce, and it was cheap, maybe $3-4.00 when you ordered it ala carte. The thing I didn't like was that as good as the sauce was, the sodium was probably off the charts, so I'd pick all the chicken and broccoli out, or even ask them to use a slotted spoon and not give me any sauce, as it was only it's flavour that enhanced the food I craved.
Once when searching for a recipe for jumbo shrimp, I found a simple one for
Jumbo Shrimp and Asparagus! I was in luck! At a recent visit from
Fabian Seafood, I had purchased a pound of jumbo shrimp and had some asparagus on hand as well! Mmm. I figured the recipe looked quick and easy enough, so why not.
Turns out, the sauce in the recipe was the exact flavour I'd been craving, and the dish was delish!
Subsequently, in a quest to make it a little healthier, I've modified the recipe and also used various protein ingredients (shrimp, poultry, beef, and pork) as well as played with the veggies, depending on what I had on hand.
Obviously, if you buy meats in bulk and then prepare and freeze them ahead for meals (meaning the meat is already cut into bite sized chunks), then your prep time will be way faster.
2 cups chunked Chicken, Pork or Beef, or 24 Jumbo Shrimp peeled and de-veined.
3-4 cups of veggies of choice cut into approx 1in pieces (asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, pea pods, onion, red/green pepper, celery, etc - whatever you like or have on hand. I like a LOT of veggies, so I use closer to 4 cups or more.
1-2 Tablespoon of your oil of choice - I use a non-stick pan so I only used 1T of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). One time with shrimp I used coconut oil, but it was too coconutty for my tastes when making a stir fry - would probably be better for a curry. ;-)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root - I make ginger tea nearly daily and just used the leftover ginger pieces for the stir-fry. It's already cooked, so easy~peasy, just chopped the pieces smaller. It's also less fibrous when you eat it, but still as flavourful.
3 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce (original recipe calls for 3T, but I don't care for that much soy sauce or all it's sodium).
4 T water (I didn't pre-boil the asparagus/veggies, nor did I use all the soy, so I made up for the difference with water)
1 packet Stevia: 1/2 packet = 1 teaspoon sugar, and the recipe calls for 2 teaspoons. ;-)
1 teaspoon dry sherry (I had none, so I used dry white or red wine, depending what I had and what sort of protein it was). I usually have a dry red on hand ;-)
1-2 teaspoons chopped/minced garlic, onion, and/or garlic, onion and ginger powder, or any/all you like. I used them all - Love lots of flavour and they're all good for you. Notice I used the powder, not the salt.
Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet, then brown the meat or saute the shrimp, along with the chopped onion, garlic and powders til cooked through.
While meat is browning, mix together the chopped ginger, soy sauce, water, stevia, and sherry/wine.
Add the veggies to the meat, then pour in the sauce. Cover for 5 min so the broccoli or asparagus and other veggies steam (I like mine more al dente than soft). You'll know when they're done as they'll turn brighter green! This doesn't over cook them and provides lots of good vitamins and minerals too!
Makes about 4 servings.
Tonight I made Pork, Broccoli and Pea Pods!
Broccoli from the garden and pea pods from last Saturday's Farmer's Market.
Last week I made Shrimp and Broccoli.
Fabian had just come again and I had some broccoli ready in the garden. Mmmm.
You can make some rice or other side dishes as well.
Note: If you want to thicken the sauce, mix 1T cornstarch with 1T cold water, and then add in after the sauce - stir to mix and then cover til veggies are done to your liking.
Enjoy!
