Vegetable Lo Mein

My son's birthday fell on Chinese New Year this year, so our family party went along with the Chinese theme. We purchased sesame chicken (my healthy version was too 'healthy' and not nearly as good as the original deep-fried variety for my husband!) and made everything else. Fried rice, vegetable lo mein, sesame snow peas, spicy green beans, beef and broccoli. The rest of the recipes will follow shortly.

For now, here's the number one recipe of the night. Vegetable Lo Mein.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan in a slow drizzle) vegetable or wok oil
• 1 cup (2 handfuls) snow peas, halved on a diagonal
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into match stick size pieces
• 1/2 pound assorted mushrooms (shiitake, straw, enoki, or oyster), coarsely chopped, if necessary
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal
• 2 inches fresh ginger root, minced or grated with hand grater
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound lo mein noodles or angel hair pasta, cooked to al dente and drained well
• 1/2 cup aged tamari soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, several drops

DIRECTIONS

Heat a wok-shaped skillet or large non-stick skillet over high heat. Cook pasta until al dente.

When pan is very hot, add oil, (it will smoke a bit) then, immediately add the snow peas, pepper, mushrooms, and scallions. Stir fry for 1 minute to flavor the oil, then add the ginger and garlic, and stir-fry 2 minutes.

Add the cooked noodles and toss with to combine. Add the soy sauce and toss the ingredients to coat noodles evenly with sauce. Transfer the lo mein to a serving platter and garnish with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil.

VERDICT

I'm not a fan of mushrooms, so I used peppers and carrots. I'm pretty sure any vegetables would be just as good- this was my favorite recipe of the night!

Slow & Spicy Middle Eastern Stew

It's slow cooker Sunday again! This week's recipe- a bit of a departure for us. A different part of the chicken, some different spices, and dried apricots. Let's see how we do.

INGREDIENTS

3 TBS olive oil

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 eggplant, cut into 1” cubes

2 onions, thinly sliced

4 carrots, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ cup each craisins and dried apricots

2 cups chicken broth

2 TBS tomato paste

2 TBS lemon juice

2 TBS flour

1 ½ tsp each ground cumin, ginger and cinnamon

1 cup water

DIRECTIONS

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully add half the eggplant and chicken. Cook, stirring, until browned on all sides but not cooked through. Place in bottom of slow cooker. Repeat with remaining chicken and eggplant. Add to cooker.

Layer onion, carrots and dried fruits over the chicken and eggplant. Blend remaining ingredients together and pour into slow cooker.

Cook on high for 5 hours. Serve in shallow bowls over rice pilaf or couscous.

VERDICT

Before the meal was ready my husband remarked "based on the smell, this is one recipe you're not ever going to make again."

Once we tried it, or I tried it (he refused!), I have to admit that it wasn't the greatest. The vegetables were super soggy, and the entire thing had a strange taste. But the chicken was tender and delicious!

Probably won't try this one again.

Cheesy Chicken Rotini

I'm a sucker for pretty pictures. I've been known to buy a $4.95 magazine while standing in line at Wegmans because the picture of the pasta recipe looks so delicious. Then I'll bring the magazine home, realize there is nothing else of value in the entire thing, and cut out that single good-looking recipe to file.

I'm the kind of gullible purchaser that publishers love. And I'm just as gullible about advertisements, which is where today's recipe came from.Basically, this is macaroni and cheese with chunks of chicken and a can of tomatoes. Not exactly gourmet fare. But the picture was just so pretty. So I tried it.

INGREDIENTS
1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups water
3 cups rotini pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrot blend We used fresh broccoli, peppers and carrots instead. Any fresh vegetables are fine.
1 can (10 oz.) RO*TEL^® Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) VELVEEA^®, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

DIRECTIONS

COOK and stir chicken in large skillet sprayed with Pam^® cooking spray on medium-high heat 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Note: Do NOT cook it through until there is no pink anywhere. Just browning it on all sides is plenty. This chicken is going to stay in the pan for the next 15 minutes- you don't want to overcook it.

STIR in water. Bring to boil. Add pasta; stir. Cover; simmer on medium-low heat 10 minutes or until pasta is tender.

ADD remaining ingredients; stir. Cook, covered, 5 to 7 minutes or until VELVEETA^® is completely melted and vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring frequently.

VERDICT

Wow. Who knew adding a can of tomatoes with green chilies would add so much kick to plain old macaroni and cheese?

This recipe was extremely easy to make, and was on the table in under half an hour. The only complaint was the chicken that was overcooked. I'm trying to figure out a way to get around that next time we do this- probably less cooking time in the first step.

I've included the professional picture along with my snaps. Clearly mine are not as appetizing as the ad. But it's still tasty!

NUTRITION

430 calories, 11g total fat, 6g saturated fat, 95mg cholesterol, 840mg sodium, 41g carbohydrate, 4g dietary fiber, 7g sugars, 37g protein, 45%DV vitamin A, 50%DV vitamin C, 35%DV calcium, 15%DV iron.