Garlic Pork Stir-Fry

I've been a little ambitious today. This morning I went to one of my med school friends' wedding shower. I left there at 2pm, packed up some stuff in the cities, drove home to Owatonna, went grocery shopping, got home, cleaned the kitchen as it looked as though a tsunami might have gone through while I was gone (hi Ryan - *wink*), put the Christmas tree away (cough, cough....in my own defense, it was down and waiting to be put away and I was too busy prior to leaving for Hawaii that it didn't get done and now that I am back from Hawaii - mission accomplished), swept the kitchen floor and then started on dinner. After dinner, I swept and vaccumed the entry way, handed Ryan a bunch of stuff to put in storage, and then vaccuumed the stairs, hallway and front living room. Man, what got into me today?! Oh, wait....I know....I have studying that I should be doing - ha! Anyways, back to dinner...

The ingredients of my pork stir-fry. Yes, there is both ginger and garlic in this picture as I wasn't sure which one I wanted to use. That problem was solved after I couldn't find our grater - garlic it is!

I first started out by thinly slicing the pork tenderloin. Then I cleaned up the snow peas and broccoli. Next came the mincing of the garlic (2-3 cloves).  In a glass, combine one cup of chicken broth, 2 Tablespoons teriyaki sauce and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Mix until there are no lumps and then set aside. Combine the minced garlic with the pork and set aside. Start boiling a pot of water for rice. Heat a skillet with 1 tablespoon oil until hot and then add the snow peas, broccoli and water chestnuts.

So you see the little sea turtle? Ryan and I got this spoon rest in Hawaii :)

Stir frequently until the veggies are lightly browned - about 5 minutes (unless you are like me and you like to cook everything on super high, then it only takes 2-3 minutes and you brown the snow peas a little to much!). Transfer veggies to bowl.

Next, in the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and then add the pork. Cook until there is no pink (the recipe said 3 minutes but I didn't think that was enough, so I maybe cooked it 7-8 minutes).

Umm, pork! It's what's for dinner!

Once the pork is cooked, transfer it to the bowl with the veggies.  At this time, the water for the rice was boiling so I tossed in two bags of rice which only require 5 minutes to cook.

These are so convenient! This box contains 4 little bags of rice. you toss these little bags into boiling water, leave them there for five minutes, then grab them with a tongs and hold them while the water drains out, rip them open and pour onto plate! So easy (not that the old fashion way of making minute rice isn't easy, but I'm just saying...)

You can kind of see the bags in the water.

In the skillet you've cooked the veggies and pork in, add the cornstarch mixture and heat it to boiling. Stir constantly until the sauce thickens (recipe says 1 minute - wrong - it takes like 5). Once the sauce starts to thicken, add the pork and veggies back to the skillet and stir until everything is coated with the sauce.

 Then heat everything up, serve over rice and enjoy!

Ha - this isn't the best picture. I was super hungry and not willing to sit and get a "good" picture of the finished product.

It was delicious. Ryan and I barely even talked during dinner as we were too busy, well, eating! Here is the original recipe that I copied from Kelsey's Good Housekeeping (I think) cookbook. I modified the recipe as Ryan and I aren't fans of the veggies they called for and I could use the ginger as I was missing the grater. So, here it is...

Gingered Pork & Vegetable Stir-Fry
1 pork tenderloin (12 oz) trimmed and thinly sliced
2 Tbsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 C chicken broth
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 tsp cornstarch
8 oz snow peas, strings removed
1 med zucchini
3 green onions, cut into 3-inch pieces

I will definitely make this again as it was so good. But the best thing about the dinner and that it was really quick to prepare! Bon Appetite!


~Ashley