Week 3: Tuesday: Cod Stir Fry

Here is the link to the recipe that I found: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Chunky-Cod-Stir-Fry

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/3 cup chicken broth (Swanson Organic Broth, 3.59)
• 2 tablespoons sherry or additional chicken broth 1TB broth, 1 TB Sicilia Lemon Juice (2.29) 
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepepr flakes
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 package (16 ounces) A little bit of frozen stir-fry vegetable blend, thawed + a little chopped celery, 1/2 lb bean sprouts (81 cents), and bok choy
• 1 small sweet red pepper, julienned
• 1 pound cod, cut into 1-inch cubes (3 packages of frozen cod from Fish Taco Night)
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts
• 4 cups hot cooked rice

Directions

• In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients until blended; set aside. Wash vegetables. Boy choy, cut into thumb sized pieces. Chop celery. In a nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry garlic in oil for 30 seconds. Add mixed vegetables; stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add red pepper; stir-fry for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Put vegetables in a drainable bowl and then put into the pan. Use a spatula-type thing and stir around the vegetables for about 2 minutes (I'm not sure if that's stir-frying). Cover with a lid until bok choy and sprouts change color. Remove and set in a bowl.
• Remove and keep warm. I marinated (i.e., put in a bowl with stuff) cod with a few squirts of lemon juice and salt and pepper, which I soaked while cooking the vegetables. Add more oil. Add half of the cod to skillet; gently stir-fry for 3-5 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove and keep warm. Repeat with remaining cod. 
• Stir reserved broth mixture and add to skillet. I also added the marinade from the cod and a ladle of chicken soup that Mom and I made over the weekend (I might get to that later). Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened (The sauce actually thickens because of the corn starch; it's one thing to know that corn starch is a thickener, and completely another to see it with your own eyes: magic!). Return vegetables and fish to the pan. Add peanuts. Gently stir to coat. Cover and cook for 1 minute or until heated through. Serve over rice. Yield: 4 servings.

Response: The smell was amazing. Mom, Dad, and Brother all liked it, and mom liked the extra lemon flavor, but they all remarked that it was slightly too salty. Maybe it was because I added the marinade to the sauce, or maybe it was the soy sauce, or maybe our family's tastes are more mild. Maybe next time I can add more vegetables, or my dad said I could wash the cod off after I marinated it and before I cooked it. 

And now, something I've never done before: picture!

(Okay, admittedly it looks a bit mushy, but trust me, it's good!)

Note: for dinner, my dad also grilled half a piece of salmon, and I baked puff pastries with some prepackaged puff pastry dough and banana and honey and chocolate and peanut butter for fillings (the filling leaked out a bit while baking. Next time, I'll put tin foil over the baking sheet). 

Stick around - tonight I'm planning a mango-avocado pasta!