Asian Chicken Skillet

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook - February 25, 2011.

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Recipe originally published in Simple and Delicious, December/January 2011.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m kind of a cynic.  I am especially critical of the Fantastic-30-Min-That-Is-Good-For-You-And-Easy recipe.  When I see these types of recipes, I usually roll my eyes hard enough to make me dizzy.  That doesn’t mean I don’t try to get it done in the time specified though.  When I see a 30-minute meal, I find it a personal challenge to get it done.  See, I fancy myself a moderately good chef.  I can’t create recipes but I can cook (and yes, there is a BIG difference), so I should be able to cook a 30-minute-meal in the time specified.  Alas, that is very rare for me.

Now, I present to you a one-pan recipe with 7 ingredients that can be done in 30-45 minutes.  I know what you’re thinking.  My BS detector went off almost immediately.  However, it actually happened.  I think this is the first time on record (for me that is).  I actually finished making it in 41 minutes with minimal equipment.  Is it “good for me?”  Well, it isn’t the healthiest dish I’ve made, but it wasn’t bad either.  I think for using convenience foods, this is probably as good as it’s going to get.

My finished meal:

© You Want Me to Cook?
Asian Chicken Skillet

This dish looked and smelled fantastic.  In fact, I considered eating it right off the serving spoon.  The chicken looked great and that came as a surprise to me.  To me, it always seems to dry out in a skillet.  I was glad I bought a stir-fry blend that had red and green peppers in it.  It gave the dish a little color (and flavor – of course)

Eating Out: Sonic Drive-In

Even though I enjoy cooking and prefer a homemade meal, I must say that I do like fast food.  Sometimes I crave it.  In fact, on occasion I’ll get a taste for something stuck in my head and can’t focus on anything else until I’ve eaten it.  I’m like my neurotic Chihuahua when I pull out her favorite toy… gimme gimme gimme!!!!

When my husband and I lived in Hawaii, I used to be tortured with the commercials for Sonic.  Yes, I enjoyed the local Hawaiian fast-food-goodness of Zippy’s, and got to experience the deliciousness of Jack ‘n’ the Box (we both grew up where Ronald McDonald is king & Jack is nowhere to be found), but the ice cream and drinks from the Sonic commercials haunted my dreams. 

Okay, that last bit was a little dramatic, but I really did get semi-upset that I didn’t have access to one.

When we were moving back to the mainland, we joked that we were only going to move where there was a Sonic.  Of course, my husband, being the intelligent and practical one in our marriage (I supply the spontaneous excitement and goofiness), wouldn’t stick to the Sonic plan and moved us back to where we grew up, the Chicago area.