One endearing memory of dating my hubby is his term for dinner, “din din.” I’d not heard that word before in the circles I hung out in. He’s from New York and I’m a California native, so our lives were from two different sides of the planet as far as I was concerned. Well, they say opposites attract.
He was so cute when asking me out by saying, “Would you like to go out for a little din din?” However, some of his other terms for dinner that filtered into conversations as we became more acquainted with each other were not as charming, most of those I think came from his fraternity days at Arizona State University.
And they say the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach – well I think that’s true! Are you thinking I won him over with my cooking? He actually won me over with his fresh from the ocean fish dinners. He is a diver so he would go diving in the Pacific Ocean and come back with scallops or sand dabs or abalone and then bar-b-que them for us. Oh yeah, he won me over!
Tonight’s “din din” was as easy as cutting up a bunch of vegetables, sautéing them in a little oil, and adding chicken.
I made orzo instead of rice. It was a nice change and married well with the stir-fry ingredients.
Julienne zucchini, mince garlic, chop up carrot, onion, and celery and clean the sugar snap peas and you are ready to stir-fry.
I have to take a minute to mention I finally purchased a mandolin. After years of lamenting that I couldn’t find one that fit my needs, well, I finally did! Thus, the julienned zucchini. Of course, you can chop up the vegetables in about any shape you wish, but I had to admit I had fun julienning the zucchini for this recipe.
Serves 4
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 cups chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 zucchini, julienned or chopped
- 1/4 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
- Handful of sugar snap peas or green beans
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1/2 cup onion (red or white), chopped
- 1/4 cup Jicama, chopped (optional)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Sesame seeds (optional)
- Canola oil swirled around pan - enough to sauté vegetables and chicken
- Few dashes of Sesame oil
- Few dashes of Tabasco or Sriracha sauce (optional)
- Few dashes of soy sauce
- Few sprigs of fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
- Salt & pepper
- Garlic herb salt
Instructions
- Sauté chicken in canola oil until almost done.
- Add vegetables to the pan - along with a few dashes of sesame oil. Cook for a few minutes on medium to high heat (don't let vegetables get soggy or overcooked) - stir quickly around the pan so vegetables are covered in the oils.
- Season with salt and pepper and garlic herb. Can add cilantro at this time.
Notes
Serve over a bed of rice or pasta.
Nutrition