Chicken, Zucchini, Tomato Stir Fry Recipe

A Tasty and Easy Chicken Stir Fry!

A friend at work has a garden and he is such an excellen.t gardener that he often brings in his extra vegetables, as he and his wife can't eat the quantities that he grows. On top of that, somehow his veggies are often HUGE - I tease him that they are vegetables on steroids. He brought in a zucchini yesterday that was so big that I split it with one of the other girls - and took less half half of it. I decided to make a stir fry tonight at the last minute (the last minute thing is a bad habit of mine), so the stir fry ended up with what I had on hand - the zucchini, a large chicken breast and a Roma tomato.  This recipe will feed two.

I didn't even use all of the zucchini - you will have to use your jugement on how much zucchini you want - and you can be creative as well and add  squash, red peppers, snow peas,  or broccoli, depending on what you like or have on hand.

Ingredients for Chicken, Zucchini, Tomato Stir Fry
  • 1 8 oz. chicken breast
  • zucchini
  • 1 roma tomato
  • 3 cups cooked brown rice
  • 2 tbsp peanut oil (or extra virgin olive oil if allergic to peanuts)
  • 1 tbsp worchestershire
  • 1 tbsp Mojo marinade
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 cloves freshly chopped garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste 

You can imagine just how big this whole zucchini was. It was over a foot long and probably a little over 2 1/2" in diameter at the center!

First I got the brown rice cooked in a rice cook per the package instructions. Easy! I sliced the chicken breast into half-dollar size pieces (when is the last time you saw a half dollar!?!) Then I  also cut the zucchini and tomato into bite size chunks.

I used a large pan (clearly if you have a stir-fry wok that will work better!) and heated the peanut oil. I mixed the worchestershire, Mojo marinade and chicken broth together, and slowly added it to the peanut oil. I let it get hot again. I then added the chicken, and salt and pepper,  and stirred and turned the pieces of chicken breast til it had just cooked. I used a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the "broth" mixture and set it aside in a bowl.


Make sure that all the chicken gets bathed in the liquid so it soaks up as much of the flavor as possible.
Next I added the zucchini and tomatoes (and any other veggies you would like) to the same pan juices and sauteed them until they were just barely cooked. I then added the chicken back into the whole mixture to heat it up again.


Almost ready to eat!

I spooned the mixture, along with some of the juices it was cooked in, over the brown rice, and it was ready to eat. I must say it came out very good (or I wouldn't have bothered to tell you about it).

Chicken, Zucchini, Tomato Stir Fry
Hope you enjoy this!

Mojo Marinade - this is a Carribean born marinade typically used for grilling, made up of mainly citrus juice flavors. I bought the bottled Bahia brand at the store, but it can be easily made from scratch. The ingredients are mainly lemon, orancge , and grapfruit juices with vinegar, garlic, onion,
cilantro and other seasonings.
Health Benefits of Zucchini
Zucchini and yellow squash are also known as summer squash and are in the same family as melons and cucumbers. Their main antioxidant ingredients are the cartenoids known as lutein and zeaxanthin. Both of these are powerful in protecting the eye, particularly against macular degeneration and cataracts. Lutien also reduces inflammation in the body as well as the skin, providing anti-cancer, cardiovascular, and digestive tract benefits. Also lutien reduces inflammation due to exposure to sunlight, producing less damage to skin structure. It is high in fiber and other components that help to keep insulin levels in balance and may help protect against the onset of Type 2 diabetes. Zucchini is also high in Vitamin C. For more complete information see The World's Healthiest Foods.

Health Benefits of Tomatoes  - see this post of mine for information on the health benefits of tomatoes. It also has a great recipe for a Fresh Summer Veggie Wrap.

Please check out my Healthy, Fit, Ageless Store.  There are some great fitness, skincare, and general wellness items, as well as some great healthy recipe books. You may find something beneficial, or some great gift ideas.


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Walking for Fitness and Health


Fitness Walking

When it comes to starting a fitness routine we can come up with a multitude of excuses not to exercise.
  • " It's too much trouble to go to gym."
  • " I don't have the extra money for a membership."
  • "The gym is too crowded."
  • " I don't have a full hour or more to devote to the gym."
Walking is a great alternative  to a gym, especially if you are just starting a fitness routine.  You'd don't need special equipment or a gym membership.  There is no expense involved, except that you will want  to invest in a comfortable, supportive pair of walking shoes.

Benefits of Walking for Fitness

As we get older, often we become less active when we should be exercising more.  Get into the habit of walking. Developing a walking routine many lower your risk of stroke and help you  to avoid or reduce middle age weight gain. It increases your bone strength and circulation and it reduces your risk for type 2 diabetes .  Because walking is a low impact exercise, it is easier on your joints than other more strenuous exercises such as jogging and running.

Starting Your Walking Routine

If you have not kept up an exercise or fitness regime, walking is a good place to start.  Start slow and set realistic goals so you don't become discouraged.  Develop good habits and proper procedures for best results and to avoid problems or injury.
  • Drink plenty of water.
  • Wear comfortable supportive shoes.
  • Stretch before starting out. Stretch your calves, and hamstrings, and quads.
  • Warm up of slowly. Start out at a normal, leisurely pace for the first few minutes and then pick up speed.
  • Be aware of your posture.  Keep your head up and eyes forward.  Keep your shoulders back, and tighten your abdominal muscles.
  • Cool down after a brisk walk by slowing down your pace towards the end.
  • Stretch again. This will keep your muscles from tightening and help to aviod injury.

Make the Best of Your Time While Walking

With our busy lifestyles, we can come of with numerous excuses not to exercise.  Get creative with your walking regime and find ways to multi task.
Start with a positive at attitude and convince yourself thing you can enjoy walking. If you can walk each morning, use that walking as a time to plan the rest of your day.
  • Listen to a podcast or audio book that interests you.
  • Listen to your iPod Select. music that you enjoy or that invigorates you. (This may not seem like multi tasking but if it helps you to relieve stress, or gives you more energy, it has added beneficial results.)
  • Walk with a friend.  Conversation and companionship not only keeps you motivated by improves your mental health as well.

Fit Walking Into Your Schedule


Determine a way in which you can spend time walking everyday.  Make walking a habit.  Your walking exercise doesn't have to be all at once. Several short walking sessions will achieve the same results.  Look for opportunities for short walks of 10 minutes at a time.
  • If you work in an office program your computer to remind you to take a walking break.
  •  Instead of sending an e-mail across the office, get out and walk to personally deliver the message.
  • Take a 20 to 30 minute walk on your lunch break (and eat in light, healthy lunch).
For general  health, try to walk 20 minutes a day.
To increase your cardiovascular fitness plan to walk 3 to 4 days a week at a fast pace.To achieve weight loss, plan to do both five or more days a week walking 45 to 60 minutes, and make a concerted effort to reduce your calorie intake at the same time.
To accomplish even better results try adding light hand weights, ankle weights or even a weight vest. 

Whether you have just started thinking of starting an exercise program, or already work out occasionally, or often, fitness walking should be a part of your overall health and exercise plan. If you are new to exercising, it is a great place to start. Then you can expand  your workouts to include a greater variety of exercises to improve your strength (using weights), agility and balance (stretching and yoga).

Disclaimer: Before starting an exercise plan, consult with your doctor to determine your limitations and to avoid risk of injury.

Some Suggestions to Get you Walking for Fitness

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Shrimp and Veggie Pasta Recipe


Shrimp and Pasta with Veggies

This is a fairly simple recipe that is a great comfort food for a cold day and uses vegetables easily available in the fall and winter. Additionally it is a good meal to fight winter blues as it has the carbohydrates that we all so crave this time of year - but they are the good carbs, or complex carbs.

 A Word about Complex Carbohydrates

Whole wheat pastas, in addition to whole grains,  beans, potatoes, corn and other vegetables, are broken down more slowly that simple carbohydrates (sugars and ingredients ending in "ose" - glucose, fructose etc). Because they are broken down more slowly, they don't cause a spike in your body's glucose levels and help you feel full longer. As well, they contain more nutrition and fiber.

Ingredients

(serves 2 - with leftovers)

  • 8 oz. whole wheat Farfalle (bow tie) Pasta - Penne works well too
  • 4-5 Roma tomatoes - cut into 1/2" pieces
  • 1/2 lb. of asparagus - cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 6-8 medium sized shitake mushrooms, sliced thin
  • 3 cloves of garlic - chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped onions
  • 3/4 cup of chicken broth
  • 2 pinches of oregano
  • 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

    Directions

    1.  Bring a pot of water to boil  and cook pasta as per package instructions.
    2. When pasta is cooked, drain well and return to pot.
    3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and add garlic, onions, mushrooms,  a pinch of oregano and  1/4 tsp. red pepper. Sautée for 2-3 minutes, add tomatoes, asparagus, salt and pepper. Stir and continue to sautée for a few more minutes.  Vegetables should be crisp but cooked. Add chicken broth, stir, and turn heat on low to simmer.
    4. In a separate pan sautée shrimp, and remaining oregano and red pepper until shrimp is just cooked through.
    5. Finally, stir shrimp into the vegetable mixture.
    6. Portion pasta to plates, spoon out the vegetables and shrimp. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley, if desired.

    Health Benefits



    Shrimp: Shrimp are not small in their nutrient density. Shrimp are an excellent source of selenium and low-fat, low-calorie protein--a four ounce serving of shrimp supplies 23.7 grams of protein (that's 47.4% of the daily value for protein) for only 112 calories and less than a gram of fat. they are a good source of vitamin B12. Shrimp do have the reputation of raising bad (LDL) cholesterol, but it was found that they raise good cholesterol (HDL) even more.  Eggs, by comparison, raise LDL levels more than shrimp, and HDL levels less than shrimp. Also, shrimp are an excellent source of selenium, and omega-3 fatty acids, both of which protect against cancer.


    Shitake Mushrooms: Recent studies have shown the ability of shitake mushrooms to help protect us against cardiovascular diseases. They are recognized as a very good, non-animal food source of iron. Shitake mushrooms are also an excellent source of vitamins B2, B5 and B6 and six minerals - manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, copper and zinc Finally, they are a very good source of dietary fiber, protein, magnesium, and vitamin D.




    • Asparagus Health Benefits - review here
    • Garlic Health Benefits - review here
    • Roma Tomato Health Benefits  - review here
    • Onions fall in the same family as garlic as have very similar health benefits
    For more information on Health Benefits of this recipes' ingredients see The World's Healthiest Foods

    Healthy Comfort Food Cookbooks:


    Have any suggestions for this recipe? Do you have a similar recipe you'd like to share?
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