Looked at the weather report. It’s iffy for those of us north of the Lehigh Valley, in the “higher elevations”. Whatever happens, it’ll be measured in inches (up to 2″ if it changes to straight rain).

Cripes, the mud in the fields is already knee deep. The horses scrunch their faces with an are you f*cking kidding me, woman look. Le sigh, can’t blame them.

Looming bad weather always puts me in the mood to cook. I had a couple jars of Zatarain’s cajun marinade on hand, plus a nice selection of fresh veggies and a rather generously-sized chicken breast. Since I’m the one-dish-specialist, I stir-fried a meal that will see me and the Wonder Girl through the week.

These one-dish meals are generally great as leftovers as the flavors blend and intensify over a couple days in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS

1 large boneless/skinless chicken breast, cut into 1” pieces
1 small head of broccoli
½ container of baby bella mushrooms, sliced or chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped into ½” pieces
2-3 celery stalks, fine chop
1 medium cooking onion, chopped
1-2 tsp chopped garlic
Mediterranean spiced salt, coarse cracked pepper
Lowry Zatarain’s Cajun marinade, ~1/3-1/2 jar to taste
EVOO
Rice (I used Uncle Ben’s buttery garlic rice since it was on hand. Usually I prefer Basmati but I was out of it.)

PREPARATION

~~To a large skillet, add 1-2 tbsp EVOO and heat on high until it faintly smokes. Add the chicken cubes and stir fry on high until cooked through and browned lightly. Remove chicken to a plate.
~~If necessary, add more EVOO to skillet, turn to high medium heat and add the veggies, garlic and seasonings, stir frying quickly so the veggies don’t get mushy.

~~Add back the chicken and the Zatarain’s marinade to the skillet and heat through.

~~Put rice in large oven-safe casserole dish, add the chicken-veggie mixture and serve.

This makes a substantial amount of food. It’s great as leftovers and it also freezes well.

Note: you’ll want a sticky rice at this marinade is pretty spicy. You’ll need something to smooth out the hit to the back of the throat.

Wonder Girl deserves a few good meals as she single-handedly moved ~3000 lbs of hay multiple times on Saturday, loading it at the farmer’s, then from the truck in the driveway to the barn, followed by stacking it in the hay mow. I helped best I could but it was pretty much a one-woman show. Go Ro!

Oh, yeah, almost forgot…

I made beer batter buttery bread/muffins to go with dinner.

Bon apetit!