Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

This recipe is one of my favorites. There are so many variations to this recipe that it can be a go to dinner multiple times a month. Loaded with vegetables and packed with protein from the chicken, this dinner will leave you full for the night without feeling like you cheated on your diet.

I’ve made this dinner twice for my husband and he is loving it; and we know how hard he is to please. If you missed how picky he is, you can read about it here. The best part about this dish is that there are so many vegetables you can add into the stir fry to bulk it up. I use broccoli, any color bell pepper, onions, and a bag of cabbage mix. Adding these vegetables with the chicken gives you a lot of food and I usually have just enough leftover to pack my husband lunch for work the next day.

To prepare this dish I use diced chicken and cook it on the wok and set it aside while I cook the vegetables. To flavor this dish I first saute the onions and garlic in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. When the garlic becomes fragrant and the onions become translucent, I add in the broccoli florets and sliced bell pepper. I like to chop both of the vegetables small so that they are easy to scoop up in one bite. Once the broccoli and pepper have become tender I add in the cabbage and stir fry it for a couple of minutes. I do this because I like the crunch of the veggies. When that’s all set, I add the chicken back in and stir it up so the chicken is immersed in the garlic and onion flavor. This is a really beautiful dish that looks like you put in a lot of effort when really you didn’t!

I pair this dish with a side of rice. My husband likes white rice but I would like to try brown rice. However, I think if I took that away from him he might boycott my foods. I cook our rice in a rice cooker and I love how simple it is. We have this one. It’s so easy to use because it tells you how much rice and water to put in and lets you know when it is done. It’s great for me because I can continue cooking other things without worrying about over/under cooking the rice. I especially like this one because it also doubles as a slow cooker. Previously we did have this small one and it is the perfect size for two people. We only upgraded because I wanted to have the option to cook more rice for a crowd. Have you cooked with brown rice? Let me know what you think about this recipe!

Recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 chicken breast diced

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or whatever oil you like to cook with)

2 cloves garlic minced

¼ red onion finely diced

1 small head broccoli

1 bell pepper (any color of your choosing)

1 12 oz bag of cabbage mix
Pinch of salt and pepper 

Directions

1. Heat your wok on medium heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Once hot, add your chicken and brown on both sides. It will cook fairly quickly because the pieces are so small. Remove chicken and set aside.

2. Add the rest of the oil to the wok. Add the onions and garlic. Cook until fragrant and translucent.

3. Add broccoli, bell pepper, salt and pepper to the wok and stir fry until the vegetables are soft. This will take about 5-8 minutes.
   

4. Gently fold in the cabbage mix to the vegetables and stir fry for an additional 3-5 minutes.

5. Add the chicken back into the wok and mix into the vegetable stir fry.
   

6. Pair stir fry with rice and serve!