Stir-fry recipes

You can use your stir-fry skills on these recipes. This lemon chicken dish is ready, from start to finish, in 30 minutes.

Lemon chicken stir-fry

1 pound uncooked chicken breast tenders (not breaded)

1 medium onion

½ cup sugar snap pea pods

1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes

½ teaspoon salt (for cooking pasta)

8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups small broccoli florets

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1½ teaspoons lemon-pepper seasoning

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Peel onion and cut into 8 wedges. Snap-off the stem end of each pea pod, then pull string across pea pod to remove it. Cut tomatoes in half.

Fill a 4-quart Dutch oven about half full of water. Add ½ teaspoon salt. Cover with lid; heat over high heat until water is boiling rapidly. Add pasta. Heat to boiling again. Boil uncovered 3 to 6 e_SDHpminutes, stirring frequently, until pasta is tender but still firm to the bite.

While pasta is cooking, in a 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and onion; stir-fry 5 to 6 minutes or until chicken is brown.

Add broccoli and pea pods to chicken mixture. Cook over medium-high heat 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together broth, thyme, lemon peel, cornstarch and lemon-pepper seasoning; stir into chicken mixture. Cook over medium-high heat 1 to 2 minutes, or until sauce is thickened and vegetables are coated.

Stir in tomatoes; cook until thoroughly heated. Place a strainer or colander in the sink. Pour pasta in the strainer to drain. Serve chicken mixture over pasta. Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional information per serving: 440 calories, 6 g. fat, 50 mg. cholesterol, 530 mg. sodium, 61 g. carbohydrate, 5 g. dietary fiber, 37 g. protein.

From Betty Crocker Cooking Basics

Almost any tender beef cut — sirloin, top sirloin, tri-tip, rib-eye, top loin, tenderloin — can be trimmed, cut into uniform strips and used for stir-fry. Even some less tender cuts, such as flank, top round and round tip steaks, are suitable for stir-frying when cut into thin strips.

Total preparation and cooking time for this beef stir-fry is 15 minutes.

Szechuan beef stir-fry

10-ounce package fresh vegetable stir-fry blend

3 tablespoons water

2 beef shoulder center steaks (ranch steaks), cut ¾ inch thick (about 8 ounces each)

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup prepared sesame-ginger stir-fry sauce

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 cups hot cooked rice or brown rice, prepared without butter or salt

¼ cup dry-roasted peanuts

Combine vegetables and water in large non-stick skillet; cover and cook over medium-high heat 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove and drain vegetables. Set aside. Meanwhile cut beef steaks into ¼-inch thick strips.

Heat same skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add half the beef and half the garlic; stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until outside surface of beef is no longer pink. Remove from skillet; keep warm. Repeat with remaining beef and garlic.

Return all beef and vegetables to skillet. Add stir-fry sauce and red pepper; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Spoon over rice. Sprinkle with peanuts. Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional information per serving: 351 calories, 11 g. fat, 64 mg. cholesterol, 1,147 mg. sodium, 29 g. carbohydrate, 3 g. fiber, 32 g. protein.

From Cattlemen's Beef Board