Chicken, Asparagus, + Udon Noodles

I racked my brain all afternoon trying to come up with something simple and tasty to make for dinner using chicken.

I’ve been working on making up recipes on my own, but hit the cookbooks for some inspirations today. I find that I have a hard time making things from cookbooks when I’m cooking from my pantry/food stash since I always seem to be missing something in the recipe ingredient list. I didn’t find any recipes to use the exact ingredients I had, but I did find a good Robin Miller recipe to use as a base.

I had a craving for the salty taste of soy sauce, so I decided to do a noodle-stir-fry using ingredients we already had on hand. We used the asparagus leftover from yesterday and some udon noodles we had in the pantry. I was surprised when I read the label to see that these noodles are actually whole wheat! Woohoo! I love finding out something I already like is healthy for me. 🙂

I felt like I was juggling pans tonight with 3 going with quick-cooking items. The chicken took about 3-5 minutes per side. The noodles took about 3-4 minutes. The asparagus took about 3-4 minutes. I was trying to time them all so they were finished cooking when I needed them to be done to properly bring together.

I used the pasta water to de-glaze the pan and scrape up the brown bits from cooking the chicken.

Moving the noodles from the pot to the pan. Just like Giada. 😉

All mixed together.

Topped with crunchy sesame seeds…mmm! Hubby was completely infatuated with this recipe….probably because it was tasty and spicy as heck! Lay off the hot sauce if you don’t want this to burn too much. You can always drizzle your noodles with a wee bit of plain vinegar if things get too hot for you. That’s a trick I learned at PF Changs. The vinegar, surprisingly, doesn’t change the flavor of the dish, too much…really not at all…it just cuts the heat.

Chicken, Asparagus, + Udon Noodle Stirfry

Adapted from Robin Miller’s Thai Chicken + Noodles in Robin to the Rescue

Ingredients

3 ounces organic udon noodles

1 tbsp peanut oil, plus 1 tsp

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dry ginger

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced/cut somewhat thin

1/8 cup soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp hot sauce (if you want it spicy)

1 cup asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces

2 tsp sesame seeds

salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pan over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken and cook till one side is browned, about 3-5 minutes. Flip chicken and cook till browned on other side. Add garlic for last minute of cooking time.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp of oil in a small pan over medium heat. Cook the asparagus for about 3-4 minutes till cooked to crisp-tender. Season with salt and pepper

Meanwhile, cook udon noodles according to package instructions. Try to time chicken to finish cooking just before noodles. Once chicken is cooked, add about 1/4 cup pasta water, 1/8 cup soy sauce, sesame oil, and hot sauce and bring to a boil. Add asparagus + noodles to pan (I like to move directly from the pot of pasta to the pan with chicken). Toss and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Serve in low bowls. Top with sprinkle of sesame seeds. Enjoy!