Chicken and Bok Choy Stir-fry

Today I made a recipe from Real Simple magazine. I did make some alterations to the recipe as I didn't have all the exact ingredients and I made it for two people instead of four. The unaltered Real Simple recipe is available here.

Chicken and Bok Choy Stir-Fry

1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 bunches baby bok choy, cut into 2 to 3 inch sections
1/8 cup water
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup homemade barbecue sauce
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add the bok choy and water to skillet. Cover and cook until bok choy is just tender, about 3 to 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine homemade barbecue sauce, soy sauce, and scallions. Add to skillet and bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook, while tossing, until heated through, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Serves 2This recipe was interesting. It has a sweet, yet tangy taste. I enjoyed it right after I made it but when I took the leftovers for lunch the next day it was not very good. It was like it had too much tangy flavor. I love soy sauce but it seemed overpowering when it had the chance to sit on the chicken overnight. I would recommend this recipe if you plan on eating all of it when first served.

As for the recipe itself, it was really easy to make. The steps are easy and it just takes a little attention. It cooks up fast, from start to finish in less than 20 minutes. Prep time time was about 7 to 8 minutes of that time. The parts that took the longest were cutting the the chicken and bok choy. It didn't take long to make the barbecue sauce, turns out that is really easy too. I had to use homemade barbecue sauce because I don't really eat barbecue sauce and I don't keep it in the house. But with a little ketchup, some brown sugar, nutmeg, and Dijon mustard you are in luck. If you are like me and you don't really eat Dijon mustard and thus don't keep it in your house you can use this tip. When I get fast food or food is delivered, I get extra packets of condiments that I don't normally use. In this case, when lunch was served at school from a sub sandwich place I took home all the extra Dijon mustard packets and whenever a recipe calls for some Dijon mustard I just use one of the packets. I also do this for mayonnaise and sometimes sour cream.

If you make this recipe let me know how it works out for you.