Sunday Supper: Chicken & Veggie Stir-Fry

Sunday is our designated family day, when we try to keep our calendar clear of work obligations and keep our screens off (with exceptions granted for finding a recipe or place to go for the day!). So I was happy to learn of the Sunday Supper initiative hosted by Family Foodie, which encourages food bloggers and tweeters to share what they are making for family meals.

This week's theme encouraged us to make something featuring vegetables fresh from the garden or a nearby farm. Now, there's not too much that's come up locally here in New England in early May. Snap peas are one of the first arrivals, so I thought that would be a nice vegetable to feature in a Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry. Along with the peas, I thinly sliced a Vidalia onion, chopped a red bell pepper and 2 small carrots, and had about 3 ozs of baby spinach waiting in the wings. If you've stir fried before, you know you've got to get everything chopped and waiting before you start cooking. I start cooking brown rice before the chopping begins.

I got all the veggies lined up, then made a simple stir fry sauce by combining 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp brown rice vinegar, 1 tbsp of white wine and a couple  leaves of chopped mint (not a typical stir fry ingredient for me, but had extra from the Derby!). After that was combined, I thickened it by whisking in a heaping tsp of corn starch. My final prep step was thinly slicing 2 chicken breast fillets.

After everything was set, I heated the wok on high, with a tbsp of olive oil. I started with the onion, stir fried for a minute or so, then added the pepper, carrots, and peas, cooking each for about a minute before adding the next item. I pushed the veggies toward the side of the wok, then added the chicken to the middle. I let the chicken cook for a couple minutes and started turning white before stirring it up with the veggies. Then add the sauce (I only needed about 1/2 of it and reserved the rest) and spinach stir fry for a couple more minutes. I make sure the meat is finished and the flavors meld by covering the wok for a final minute or two of cooking on medium. Then serve over brown rice. Healthy and tasty!

Wine Pairing: I typically opt for a white wine with stir fry, but I've seen a number of people suggest Pinot Noir can work too. I gave it a try with the 2011 Matua Valley Marlborough Pinot Noir from New Zealand, and was quite pleased that I did. This is a light, delicate pint, and I served it slight chilled. The clean finish seemed to wash down the saltiness of the stir fry sauce nicely. A winning combination!