chicken lo mein recipe

confession:  i'm obsessed with chinese food.

obstacle:  ann arbor has ROUGH chinese delivery selection.

solution:  this recipe.

steve and i are in money-retention mode (omg greece yay).  this means we've been doing a lot of home cooking lately, and i'd hate for any of you to miss out on the latest and greatest dinnertime deliciousness.  i'd long been intimidated by attempts to cook lo mein, but devil may care we went for it and my oh my was it good (and far easier than expected).  note: quantities are approximations as i was mostly just throwing things into a skillet.  try playing around with  the ingredients to taste.

you will need:

1-2 chicken breasts (sliced into strips)

1 lb spaghetti

3/4 cup matchstick sliced carrots

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1/4 cup diced onion

1 cup diced baby bella mushrooms

1 tsp pre-minced garlic (about 3 cloves)

olive oil

sesame oil

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

2/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tbsp brown sugar

cook the spaghetti al dente, drain and set aside.  do not rinse.  while noodles are cooking, dice up the necessary vegetables.

saute the chicken with the garlic and diced onion (not the scallions) in sesame oil.  when chicken is nearly cooked, add the carrots and mushrooms.

once the chicken is cooked and the mushrooms have started to brown (but before they are fully reduced) add the cooked noodles and scallions and reduce heat to medium-low.  pour the soy sauce over the noodles, and if they are stuck together, add a little olive oil to loosen them up from their sticky pasta mass.  add the teriyaki sauce, honey, rice vinegar, ginger, and brown sugar and toss the noodles with the vegetables and chicken until the sauce is mixed.

that's it!  all that's left is stuffing your belly!

pigfood

so last night i invented a recipe, which realistically probably already exists.  it's too easy and delicious for nobody to have ever thought of it before, but i promise it just sort of came to me.  i snapped a picture of my plate last night, but it doesn't look too pretty because i was already going for seconds at that point.  this dinner was just too tasty not to share!  The portions are somewhat approximate, as i was mostly eyeballing what i was adding.

balsamic maple pork tenderloin
2 lb pork tenderloin
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
garlic powder
salt
pepper
crushed red chili pepper

place pork in a cast iron dutch oven (or covered metal pot). combine maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and red wine vinegar and sprinkle in a bit of garlic powder.  sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, and crushed chillies on top of the pork.  pour syrup and vinegar mixture on top of pork loin.  cover and cook at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes or until pork is fully cooked (time may vary especially if cooking in a metal pot vs cast iron cookware).  i imagine this recipe would work just fine in a slow cooker as well.

oh and if you'd like to make the yummy cheesy potatoes i served with the pork loin, you can find the recipe here.

super yum!  give this a try and let me know how you like it!