I didn't have much energy for cooking an elaborate meal tonight. I asked the Hubs what he wanted for dinner and he answered with the typical, “I don't know,” which left me open to suggest something that I knew would be quick and easy. “How about teriyaki chicken and vegetables,” I said. “That sounds good,” he answered.
First off, I got out my rice cooker, put in 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water, closed the lid and plugged it in and turned it on. Note: plugging the rice cooker is key here because there have been many times that I thought I was cooking rice and later found it was not was not cooked!
I had already washed and trimmed some broccoli a few days prior and had it in a container. I retrieved it from the frig, and then all I had to do was peel and slice some carrots and the five or six mushrooms that were also left in the fridge. I smashed three cloves of garlic and chopped three green onions in preparation for my cooking process. I sifted through the frozen meat in the freezer and found a package of cooked turkey meat which was the remnants of our Thanksgiving turkey. It was a pretty good-sized portion, about 10 oz. I threw that bag into the microwave to defrost and proceeded to saute my vegetables.
I love the flavor of the sesame oil in Asian cooking, but it's pretty expensive, so I usually pour in some canola oil and add the sesame oil just for flavoring. I stir-fried the sliced carrots and chopped broccoli in the oil for about two minutes, then added the mushrooms. Once the vegetables were heated through and slightly softened, I put them into a bowl.
Then I added the meat to the pan, along with the minced garlic and a teaspoonful of minced ginger. I cooked the meat in the oil and then poured in about half a cup of teriyaki sauce. I let that simmer so the sauce could flavor the meat all the way through. Then I added the vegetables back to the saute pan and topped them with fresh bean sprouts.
I made a quick slurry with a cup of water, a tablespoon of cornstarch, and about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. I stirred that into the vegetable and meat mixture and simmered it for about 5 minutes.
Once the vegetables were crisp tender and everything was heated through, I checked that the sauce had thickened up some and the rice was fully cooked. Then I called my husband to dinner and we dished it up and had a feast, all in less than 20 minutes!
