Better Homes And Gardens Sesame Chicken With Broccoli Stir Fry

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It's Kids' Week here at Dinner Diary, and I'm trying mightily to make dinners that my kids will want to eat. As I sat down to think about what that would mean, I realized they like things simple. They like foods to be separate and distinguishable, with accessible flavors and firm but yielding textures. When I contemplated stir-fry, I used two foods I know they'll eat, chicken and broccoli, and dressed them simply in soy sauce and orange juice. In my efforts to keep the sauce from getting too gloppy I erred too far in the other direction, but it didn't matter. It was the right decision. I also had some missteps while stir-frying the chicken and broccoli so I resorted to something more like a braise. Anyway, it worked, we ate and all was right in our little world for another peaceful dinnertime.

First I sliced 2 chicken breast halves crosswise into 1/2-inch slices, then tossed them with 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons cornstarch and browned them in canola oil in a deep skillet. I cut up a big head of broccoli into small florets, and mixed the sauce: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup chicken stock, 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 tablespoon sesame oil. (I would cut out the chicken stock next time, or at least cut back to 1/4 cup.) I mixed in another 2 teaspoons cornstarch.

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At this point, the chicken was falling apart and sticking to the bottom of the pan, so to help it along I poured in the soy sauce mixture. I brought it to a simmer with the chicken, then added the broccoli and cooked for a few minutes more, until the broccoli was tender. The sauce had thickened a bit but not enough, but I didn't want to overcook the chicken so I considered it done. I served the chicken and broccoli, using a slotted spoon to get rid of the extra sauce, over rice and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

As with the spaghetti and meatballs, the family gobbled this up, even asking for seconds. Then they helped clear the table and headed off to play. It was remarkably undramatic. Awesome.

Here's the guide I used to make the stir-fry (until I botched it):

Stir-Fry: A Complete How-To

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