Me, Martha and my leftovers..

chicken with ginger

Martha Martha Martha. You must think that all I do is talk about Martha. Well in case you don't already know, all of my cookbooks are in storage. Not only in storage, but divided between storage lockers in 2 different countries. And I do suffer because of this. I can't even remember anymore what's behind door number one and what's behind door number 2. But I guarantee you it will be like Christmas when I finally get to open those lockers again.

But in the meantime, there are 3 websites that I have come to rely on to get me through these difficult, cookbook-less times. Well, I don't need to tell you which ones they are because they are linked on the sidebar. Oh, except that Martha isn't actually listed there, strangely enough. But she gets enough air play as it is. And don't get me wrong, sometimes her and I do clash, it's not ALL sunshine and roses. Sometimes she can really put a frown on my face.

But she does have this very easy and very tasty recipe for Chicken with Ginger that I felt compelled to share with you. And it's perfect for using up leftover vegetables. Somehow I managed to buy magical snowpeas that have been in my fridge for two, maybe three, weeks now and they were still in fine shape. Is that normal? Well, I didn't question, I just went ahead and ate them. And I had some leftover baby bok choy from my tofu salad experience last week. So of course I blanched them both and then added them to the final mix. You can eat this chicken with steamed rice or asian noodles if you want. But I like it just fine on it's own loaded with vegetables. And did I mention that it was easy? I will say that she instructs you to cut the ginger into matchsticks. This makes my jaw clench. I can't handle a piece of ginger that size. So I usually chop it up quite small. If you do this, I think you can omit the step where she instructs you to soak the ginger for 10 minutes.

Chicken with Ginger (from www.mslo.com)
Serves 4

1 three-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks (1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons canola oil (I use peanut oil)
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup sliced scallions

Soak ginger in cold water 10 minutes; drain.
Heat oil in a skillet over high heat; brown chicken in two batches, 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside.
In same skillet over medium heat, cook ginger, onion, and garlic, stirring until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar; cook over high heat until thick, 3 to 4 minutes. Add chicken; stir to warm. Remove from heat; stir in scallions.

**NOTE: Since I am always disobedient to recipes, I felt I should point out that I have even used white or rice wine vinegar instead of regular white vinegar, and I usually omit the sugar and it is still very good. Yep.