The Cottage Smallholder

Photo: Chicken stir fry

This summer I stopped at the Marshalls stand at Hampton Court flower show and bought a selection of salad, radish, spring onion and stir fry leaves for a fiver. The overall saving was about £12 and I’m a bit of a sucker for a bargain. The seeds have been sown every few weeks and have done well. For the first time I have grown three varieties of pak choi, Shungiku, spicy greens, large mustard leaves and baby Chinese cabbage – the slugs have been particularly delighted with the latter.

So we have an abundance of leaves crying out for a salad, a sandwich or a stir fry.

We don’t make a lot of stir fries. This is not because we don’t like them.  But it’s more the fact that our wok lives in an inaccessible place so doesn’t inspire its use. But when I actually make a stir fry I’m always surprised how quick I can rustle up a tasty meal.

This recipe is full of summery flavours but went down well on a chilly autumn evening.

Orange and lemon chicken stir fry recipe

Ingredients:

I large handful of diced, cooked chicken (ours was one chicken breast and a thigh)
3 large handfuls of mixed leaves, washed and torn (ours were pak choi, shungiku, radish leaves, large mustard leaves)
The juice of one small juicing orange
The juice of half a lemon
1 tsp of powdered ginger
1 tsp of garlic granules
1 tsp of honey
1- 2 tsp of soy sauce to taste
Noodles for two cooked in water with a tsp of vegetable stock powder

Method:
Having prepared your noodles put the fruit juice in the wok and bring to simmering point.
Add the ginger, honey and garlic granules.
Throw in the torn leaves and the chicken. Bring back to rapid simmering point and stir for a couple of minutes until the chicken is warmed through.
Season with soy sauce and serve on warm plates.

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