Chicken, Asparagus, and Broccoli Stir Fry

Looking back on this week of cooking, this dish was the one that got the biggest rave review of all – my father asked me to write down the recipe so that my mother could recreate it for him. Leave it to Bon Appetit…I’m telling you, that cookbook is a godsend. And seriously, leave it to my Italian family to fawn over Chinese food. You can’t take them anywhere.

I should also mention that I had what was perhaps the best lunch of my life today. First, I need to backtrack. This meal comes with baggage. You see, since I am going to the Bahamas with my roommate in May, I need a passport, not to enter the Bahamas but to re-enter the US. I have a passport. Somewhere. In this house. But my parents have been unable to locate it since we renewed it four years ago. So after ransacking the house, they claimed it officially MIA. No problem, I set about gathering all of the paperwork needed to declare it missing and apply for a new one. Except that to get a US passport, you need to prove you are a US citizen. How do you do that? With a birth certificate. And where do you suppose my birth certificate is? I personally have a hunch that it is with the passport since you need to submit the two together upon renewal. My parents maintain that the two are not in the same place, even though they are both missing. So now, not only do I get to stand in line at the post office, but I also had the pleasure of hauling my ass down to the NYC Dept of Health where I had to wait for over an hour to get a new copy of my birth certificate. Needless to say, I was not pleased.

I may have over-reacted slightly to this news last night, and so my dad offered to take me out to lunch if I met him at his office (which is about a 20 minute walk from the Dept of Health). I agreed and after a run this morning, was in a much better mood (albeit the 60 degree weather may have helped). So he took me to Harry’s, which is this cafe/steakhouse off of Wall Street. I think it was the first time I have ever had really gourmet food in my life. The plate was the spitting image of food porn. I got the grilled swordfish with broccoli rabe and polenta, which sat atop a pool of tomato butter dotted with capers. It was heaven.

Needless to say, I forgave him.

Chicken, Asparagus, and Broccoli Stir Fry
Serves 6, adapted from Bon Appetit’s Fast Easy Fresh

2 1/4 lb chicken tenderloins, sliced into strips
3 tbsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 lb asparagus
2 lb broccoli
3/4 cup chicken broth
6 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 cups brown rice

Heat 2T oil. Add garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the asparagus, broccoli, and 1/2 cup broth. Cover and steam until vegetables are cooked.

Spray a second skillet with cooking spray while this is going on and cook the chicken, seasoning it with salt and pepper.

Mix the hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, and broth into the vegetable pan. Add the chicken to it. Toss until heated and everything is coated with sauce.

Note – I served this with brown rice. I also ended up doubling the sauce recipe so that there would be enough to spoon over the rice as well.