Tired of the Cookout
It’s ninety degrees here in beautiful Northeast Ohio. Too hot for me. And certainly too hot for me to stand over a smoking hot grill. So, from the comfort of my own air conditioned kitchen I took stock of what was in the fridge and came up with a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts, one pork tenderloin, some beautiful peppers, some fresh broccoli and some lovely fresh carrots. I knew I didn’t need another thing. I started with some steamed rice. I’ve talked about this before, but a rice cooker is a beautiful thing. I add long cooking rice, water, a pinch of salt and plug it in. Done!
The next step is to cut and prep all of my meat and vegetables. This is even a step you could do the night before. I’m not big on buying pre-chopped products but you certainly could if you were in a hurry.
the next step is to cook them seperatly in a smoking hot pan. It doesn’t matter if you’re using a wok or a large skillet, you don’t need much oil for a stir fry. And, be careful, if too much liquid comes out you need to drain that off or you’re now steaming your meat. I used a small amount of olive oil, lemon juice and soy sauce as a marinade to my meat. This meant I didn’t need to add any oil at all into my skillet. I cooked the meat through, getting rid of any excess water and then, in the same skillet, cooked my veggies. I did add about 1/4 cup of chicken stock into the pan after a few minutes. This helped cooked them through without making them limp and soggy. 
We like ours with fresh pineapple or citrus fruit and cashews. Sadly, I only had the nuts but it was still great. I finished mine off with a few cashews and some soy sauce. The long cook rice was the perfect compliment to a healthy and filling dinner.
