Stir fry is one of my absolute favorite dishes to make, mainly because its so easy and you can throw in whatever you like. This week I decided it was time to use up the chicken breasts that had been in the freezer for a week and utilize a summer vegetable that will soon be going out of season with fall fast approaching. As excited as I am about squash and pumpkin I am sad to see vegetables like asparagus and fruits like strawberries and tomatoes go. So I gave one of my favorite vegetables one last go before I say goodbye to it until next summer.

To follow my recipe you will need (serves six people):
2 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
1 large bushel of asparagus, make sure they are chunky
8 large cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons ginger
3 lbs of free range chicken breast, thawed
sea salt
pepper
4 tablespoons lemon juice
3 teaspoons cornstarch
some water
4 tablespoons soy sauce, low sodium preferred
3/4 cup of chicken broth, low sodium preferred

To begin I cut the white/purple ends of the rinsed asparagus off and then sliced each piece into about two or three pieces. Then I put about a tablespoon of olive oil in my hot pan (you’ll want a large one) and put the heat at half, for me about a five. Add the asparagus to the pan once its warm and cook for about four minutes, until the asparagus feels tender. Add the ginger and garlic and let it combine with the asparagus for about a minute or two.
Remove the asparagus from the pan and leave it in the microwave so it doesn’t cool down too much. Cut your chicken into bite size pieces and toss with sea salt and pepper to prepare thawed chicken. Put the other tablespoon of olive oil and the cubed chicken in the pan and turn the heat up to about six or seven. Stir the chicken often so one side or the other doesn’t get too done. Once the chicken is cooked through, check by cutting a piece in half and making sure there is no pink left, remove and drain the chicken.
To prepare to make the sauce, mix the water and cornstarch in a small bowl until the cornstarch has completely dissolved. Then put all the liquids, the cornstarch mixture, the lemon juice, the soy sauce and the broth into the pan and put the heat back to five. Stir the sauce until it boils and then reduce the heat so the sauce is only simmering. This entire process shouldn’t take longer than five minutes, as the pan is already hot. Add in the chicken and asparagus and combine until all ingredients are warm enough to serve.

This whole process doesn’t take much time out of a busy schedule, so it works perfectly for me. If I don’t have asparagus on hand, it’s no problem either. I use just about whatever I can find in my fridge. Anything vegetable from onion to carrots to zucchini will work excellent in chicken stir fry. You could even change the meat option to turkey if that’s what you have instead. Sometimes I even add a little bit of fruit, like some pineapple. Stir fry is so flexible, the only real staple to the recipe is soy sauce, dissolved cornstarch, and broth. If you have these essential ingredients, you can make any kind of stir fry you want, and in not a lot of time.