Stir-Fried Chicken With Asparagus and Mushrooms

It was one of those days. I ran around trying to get plans together for Cooking for Love,
the food and wine culinary event I co-host to benefit Break the Cycle (it’s happening on October 9th so get your tickets now!), work on the menu for my cookbook launch party coming up in 3 weeks, conduct print phone interviews for the cookbook and get ready for the twins’ first week of preschool.

Before I knew it, it was 5pm and I had to think about feeding my family. Can you relate?

Here is a quick and simple Stir-Fried Chicken with Asparagus and Wild Mushroom recipe I love to make because it’s fast and the kids love it! Once you try it it will quickly become a staple using only a few ingredients that you can get anywhere.  I used chicken thigh for this recipe but boneless, skinless chicken breast works great too. Marinate the chicken in the morning before your day starts and it’s super fast. Mushrooms have been identified by City of Hope as having powerful anti-cancer fighting potential so make room for Mushrooms!

Just before I start cooking, I wash the rice and get it going in my rice cooker so it’s piping hot and ready to serve when my stir-fry is done.

Marinate the chicken pieces in cornstarch, salt and pepper. Cornstarch seals in the juices of the protein for making super tender chicken. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. If you are a planner, you can even do this in the morning and let it marinate in the fridge all day, which will cut down on prep time later.

While chicken is marinating, slice mushrooms, mince garlic and cut asparagus.
I like to use fresh baby Bella mushrooms in this dish but you can improvise with really
any variety including white button, shitake or straw mushrooms. With stir-frying, the most important thing to do is have everything organized and ready to go as the stir-frying only takes just a few minutes. Also, this is a good time to make the cornstarch slurry which is the key to the velvety gravy in Cantonese stir-fry dishes.

You can snap off the tough ends off of asparagus easily. Bend about ¾ of the way from the end and the tough part will naturally snap off.

Heat your wok or frying pan (I prefer non-stick as it requires less oil and your protein won’t stick). Add the oil and then stir-fry the chicken pieces. Once they turn white, you remove from the pan and stir-fry the vegetables. Once they’re cooked, you add the chicken pieces back to the pan. Then add the chicken broth to the veggies and cooked chicken. Once it boils, you add the cornstarch slurry and combine all of the ingredients with a spatula. Add the oyster sauce and your dinner is done!

Serve with steaming hot rice and enjoy!

Stir-Fried Chicken with Asparagus and Mushrooms