Chicken with Walnuts – Stirfry

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My first ever stir fry dish came from a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. To this day it remains a favorite.

Everyone I’ve served it to asks me for the recipe. It doesn’t call for red bell peppers but I love the color they add to the dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/3 pounds whole chicken breasts

3 T Soy sauce

2 t cornstarch

2 T dry sherry

1 T grated gingerroot

1 t sugar

1/2 t salt

1/2 t crushed red pepper

2 T cooking oil (I use peanut oil)

2 medium green peppers, cut into 3/4″ pieces

4 green onions, bias-sliced into 1″ lengths

1 cup walnut halves

Hot cooked rice

DIRECTIONS

Skin, halve lengthwise and bone chicken breasts. Cut chicken into 1″ pieces. Set aside.

In a small bowl stir soy sauce into cornstarch; stir in dry sherry, gingerroot, sugar, salt and red pepper. Set aside.

Preheat a wok or a large skillet over high heat; adding cooking oil (watch it as it spatters). Stir fry green peppers and green onions in hot oil for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from wok or skillet. Add walnuts to wok or skillet; stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until just golden. Remove from wok or skillet.

(Add more oil if necessary) Add half the chicken to the hot wok or skillet and stir fry 2 minutes. Remove from skillet. Stir-fry remaining chicken for 2 minutes.

Return all chicken to wok or skillet. Stir soy mixture; stir into chicken. Cook and stir til thickened and bubbly. Stir in vegetables and walnuts; cover and cook 1 minute more (I never cover it). Serve at once with hot rice.

Notes: Use a long-handled spoon or spatula to lift and turn the food with a folding motion. Be sure to maintain high heat so the food cooks quickly —

Fresh 🍅Tomato 🍜

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I wasn’t expecting much but I absolutely ❤️ this recipe. Doesn’t need the cream at ALL, so I left it out. Perfect consistency using the #Instapot and an immersion blender.

Homemade Tomato 🍅Soup via Instapot pressure cooker

Prep: 15 min • Pressure: 15 min • Total: 45 min

Pressure Level: High • Release: Natural

INGREDIENTS:

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin Olive oil

1 large red onion, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled & chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 pounds high-quality ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth

kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup heavy cream (optional – I left it out)

fresh basil for garnish (optional)

Parmesan cheese, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat the Insta pot by selecting Saute

Once hot, add the oil followed by the onion and carrot. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.

Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste and broth. Season with salt & pepper. Secure the lid.

Select MANUAL and cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 15 minutes.

Once cooking is complete, let naturally release for 10 minutes. Release any remaining steam.

Add the cream (optional – I left it out). Use an immersion blender to puree the soup or carefully puree in batches in a blender. Strain soup if needed (I didn’t bother, it was perfect after using the immersion blender). Add more broth if a thinner soup is desired.

Taste for seasoning. Serve with fresh basil and Parmesan (optional).

I prefer tiny saltines.

To make dish Paleo, leave out the sugar, Parmesan and replace cream with more broth.

NUTRITIONAL INFO Calories: 239. Total carbs: 22g Saturated fat (with heavy cream): 6g, Trans Fat: 0g; Fiber: 6g; Protein: 5 g; Sodium: 225g

🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅

3 lbs. tomatoes yield 3 pints soup. Although I thought I would can these, any reference to Fresh Tomato Soup mentioned “fridge for 5 days or freezer for 6 months”