Learning Some Stir-Fry Basics

For whatever reason, stir-fry is something that Steve and I never attempted or had an interest in making before this year, and not because we don't love Chinese food. And you'd think I'd be comfortable with it, since it's something that my parents made for dinner a lot growing up, in their red electric wok that I still remember with surprising clarity. I also have memories of avoiding snow peas on my plate and gunning for extra water chestnuts, which is absolutely something I would still do today.

But regardless of why we'd neglected it up to this point, the recurring appearance of bok choy and baby bok choy in our CSA this year sort of demanded that we take a stab at it. It seems like the obvious choice for bok choy, doesn't it? Back in the spring we made this simple Bok Choy Chicken dish, and it was fine. It just felt very, um, utilitarian. "We have chicken. We have bok choy. Let us cook them, together." By contrast, this more recent favorite of ours, even though it's full of veggies and lean chicken, is indulgent. I suppose we have those yummy noodles to thank for that.

Pan-Fried Noodles with Chicken on The Woks of Life

Used From Our CSA (Week 18)
red bell pepper
bok choy
onion
chicken breast

Guess what!? This concoction was made with some of our frozen chicken stock from earlier this year. Victory moment!

Thoughts on the Recipe

• Someday we'll be savvy enough to throw something like this together without needing to reference a recipe, but for now it made for a really helpful guide. We did go somewhat off-message to throw in some extra veggies (listed above), as well as a can of sliced water chestnuts, because yum.
• It's a very preparation-heavy dish, but as the recipe states, once you get underway with cooking, things really do come together quickly. We definitely benefited from having two sets of hands in the kitchen for this meal: Steve did all the cooking, and I helped with prep and did some dishes during that time. By the time it was ready to eat, almost all of the dishes were done (my favorite thing).
• Finally, let me state for the record that this makes a ton of food, which is lucky, because the leftovers are so good (also my favorite thing). 

Are there any stir-fry experts out there? Share your tips & wisdom in the comments!