Zucchini-Chicken Stir-Fry

Cold season hit our household these last two weeks. My daughter caught it from one of her friends, who knows where, and brought it back and into our home. She spent most of the week resting and fighting a fever. I spent the better part of the week feeling like I was losing my voice, listening to my ears pop or in constant desperate need of a nap. My fiance definitely had her hands full taking care of us. While it still seems to be dragging on, lingering, the worst seems to be over.

Anyone who has been sick and taking care of a sick toddler knows that the last thing you want to do is cook a meal. Quick meals are a tool for survival in a sick house. To celebrate feeling up to cooking something other than frozen chicken nuggets or other comfort foods, I decided to make one of my easy, healthy favorites. Zucchini-Chicken Stir Fry.

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken breast

2 zucchinis

1 white onion

1 tsp of minced garlic

1 small box of sliced mushrooms

1 can of corn

1/2 tbsp of olive oil

soy sauce

3 cups of instant rice

Preparation:

Rinse and dry zucchini. Cut ends. Cut the zucchini into quarters. Then slice the quarters into 1/2 inch slices. Set to side.

Peel onion. Cut ends off. Cut it in half and remove the bulb out. Cut onion halves into 1 inch squares.

Rise and drain mushrooms

Rinse can of corn

Trim fat from chicken. Halve it. Cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Cooking Instructions:

Turn stove to high and add olive oil to frying pan or wok. Let heat for 2-3 minutes. In a pot, start boiling 3 cups of water.

Add chicken, onions and mushrooms minced garlic and a small splash* of soy sauce. Cook on high for 4 minutes. I put a cover on the frying pan for about a minute to lock in the flavor.

*I personally am not a big fan of soy sauce, so I tend to be light-handed with it. If you are a fan, you can add more. Just remember it can get salty!

When the chicken starts to turn white on the edges flip them to cook the other side. Stir after a minute. Mushrooms will start to lose their firmness and onions will start to wilt. This is when the zucchini should be added.

*** Water should be boiling by now. Turn off, add rice and cover.

Add zucchini to frying pan. I don't stir it right away. I feel like this helps the zucchini not turn mushy. I like my zucchini to have a little bit of crunch left in it.

I add another small splash of soy sauce.

Cook for 2-3 minutes.

The zucchini will start to get a transparent look to it as it gets cooked. Once this transition begins around the edges, add can of corn to the stir fry. Add soy sauce as needed.

After corn is added, cook for 2-3 minutes.

*** Stir rice. You can also use two bags of bagged instant rice to replace boxed instant rice.

Turn heat off of the stir fry.

Serve stir fry on bed of rice. We add soy sauce at the table for most of our meals. If you added it throughout cooking, it shouldn't need extra for the rice. If you didn't use so much. You may want to add a little.

One of my favorite things about this meal is how versatile it is. If you don't have one of the ingredients, you can easily replace it with something else. I've swapped carrots for corn, broccoli for zucchini, pretty much any other protein, tofu for a vegetarian option! Use what you have!

Sit back and enjoy!