Chicken Chow Mein

I know, poor plating choice for a photo op...light food on white rice on a white bowl.  What can I say?  I have been craving this for a while now, but things turn on a dime in this house, so plans always change.  Very glad to finally have a chance to satisfy this particular craving.  For some reason, it's one of those things that when I suggest it, gets a lukewarm response, but when I make it, gets scarfed down and thoroughly enjoyed.  Maybe it's visual.  If you think about it, it looks kinda blah, but when you eat it, it tastes really good??  That's actually why I started adding in a little red pepper - just to break up the color scheme.

This is a super easy dish to make, especially if you cheat and start with a rotisserie chicken.  I haven't done that yet (at least not with this dish).  I threw a package of boneless, skinless chicken breast halves in a pot with some chicken broth and whatever herbs and veggies looked like they were almost to the point of no return, brought it to a boil, then turned it down to very low until cooked through.  I think there was half an onion, a few scallions, some baby carrots, celery, dill, and thyme.  I pulled out the chicken and strained the broth to use later for the sauce.

INGREDIENTS :

2c cooked chicken

cooked white rice

chow mein noodles

1 T oil  (I used canola today)

1 pkg celery

1 lg onion

1/2 red bell pepper

water chestnuts, drained

mung bean sprouts

3 T cornstarch

1/4 c water

10 oz chicken broth

1/4 c soy sauce  (I used low sodium)

crushed red pepper flakes 

black pepper

Start your rice, since that will take longer to cook than the chow mein.  I used one cup for 4 servings.  We finished the rice, but there is more chow mein, so adjust for however many people you're serving, and how much rice they're likely to want in relation to veggies.

Cut the celery, onion, and chicken into chunks, cutting the red pepper into a smaller dice since you're using less and it's really for color.

Stir the cornstarch into the water to dissolve.  You can measure your soy sauce and broth into the same container if you want and just set it aside for the moment. 

Saute the celery, onion, and red pepper until they start to soften, about 5".  

Add a few shakes of red pepper flakes if you like, and some black pepper (I wouldn't salt it because of the soy sauce), then add the sprouts, water chestnuts, and chicken.  Give the cornstarch mixture another stir to make sure it didn't form any lumps, then pour all of the liquid over the veggies, stirring to coat.

Bring it up to a boil just long enough to thicken the sauce and heat the chicken through.

To plate, mound rice in the center of your bowl/plate, then scoop the chicken/veggie mixture over the rice and top with chow mein noodles.