A lazy day + the best chicken stir fry ever

Its a rainy day in the neighborhood...
This morning we played in bed for a little while, Lewis was rocking his new Lion pjs:)

When he woke up from his nap we went to Whole Foods to pick up some essentials

And made it back in time to eat some delicious lunch! Lewis feasted like a madman 

Lunch consisted of leftover stir fry that we had for dinner last night. The key to a great stir fry is all in the method people. Here is the recipe that I like best:

Ingredients:

Chicken

• 1.5-2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch strips
• 1tsp baking soda
• 2Tbs water
• Marinade: 1/3 cup soy sauce, 3 Tbs rice vinegar, 1-2Tbs garlic chili paste

Veggies

• 1 head broccoli
• 2 large carrots
• 1 zucchini
• 1/2 head cauliflower
• 1 small onion
• 4 stalks celery
• 1 handful hericot verts/sugar snap peas 
• 1 red bell pepper

Method:

Chicken

• I first saw this method for preparing chicken in an issue of Cooks Magazine. I have been doing it ever since and my chicken turns out absolutely perfect every time. My main problem with sauteing chicken breasts is that they always get dry and rubbery. Not with this method! Your meat will be deliciously tender 
• Begin by cutting your chicken into strips and placing in a small bowl. Add 2Tbs water and 1tsp baking soda to the chicken and mix to coat. Let sit for 15 - 20 minutes
• In the meantime prepare your marinade by mixing your soy sauce, rice vinegar, and garlic chili paste
• Rinse and drain chicken well, put back into the bowl and pour the marinade over the chicken
• Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes 

Veggies

• The key to crispy not overdone veggies is to make sure they aren't too wet and that there is ample room in your pan when you fry them. If there are too many veggies or your pan is too small they will end up steaming, resulting in squishy, smooshie vegetables. I don't have a pan big enough to hold all of my veggies so I generally either cook them in two batches or use two different pans.
• While the chicken is marinating prep your veggies. Cut them all into 1 inch chunks

Fry it up!

• When your chicken is done marinating heat some oil in a large wok or pan. When the oil is hot dump the chicken in and cook on high heat until the liquid has evaporated, flipping every couple of minutes. This will ensure a nice caramelized finish on the outside of the chicken. Delish. Turn the heat down to medium and continue cooking until the chicken is no longer pink in the center
• While the chicken is cooking heat a little oil in another pan for the veggies. Again, you want the pan to be hot so that the veggies stay crispy! Alternatively, if you only want to use 1 pan for this, you can wait until the chicken is done cooking to begin the veggies 
• Begin by cooking the hard vegetables first: carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Cook on med-high heat for 10 minutes then turn the heat to medium and throw in the rest of the veggies along with a little soy sauce and some garlic chili paste, cook for 5-10 more minutes 

Serve it

• When your chicken and veggies are all done mix them together and serve with rice, noodles, or kelp noodles

enjoy!