Cranberry, chicken, and barley stir fry

just before simmering

Back when I was still teaching and there would be gatherings of students and faculty for a potluck meal, my a-bit-too-substantial tuna casseroles were the butt of a few jokes. Once, some of the students kidnapped my casserole and did a photographic study of it positioned in various locations around Tampa. Wish I could have seen those pictures. I think that’s a clever idea!

Well, in keeping with the a-bit-too-substantial trend, I wanted to offer this recipe which I improvised just now and which, actually, tastes pretty darned good. (Although some might politely describe it as being an acquired taste.) It’s a cranberry, chicken, and barley stir fry with some greens and okra thrown in for good measure.

I’ve been looking for ways to use cranberries that don’t require sugar. That’s what inspired me to chuck a couple handfuls of raw cranberries into this recipe just to see how they work. Entirely by luck, they work great. I’ll be adding them to some other stir fries in the future.

The seasonings I used were galangal (a ginger like spice used in Thai cooking…one could just as easily use ginger) and good soy sauce with sriracha sauce to taste. I nuked the chicken then diced it and added it to the greens and berries to braise in olive oil and spices. Any greens would work, but I had some okra, which I love, so I used that with some turnip greens.

I didn’t feel like making brown rice and I was out of both whole-wheat pasta and spelt angel hair, so I tossed a cup of dry barley and two cups of veggie broth into the stir fry at the end, let it come to a boil, and then simmer until the barley was done. The dark quality of the barley and soy sauce seems to work perfectly with the sharp quality of the cranberries.

This dish is just right for today’s temperatures here and almost everywhere else (some of my friends and relatives are where it’s bitter cold). I microwaved my socks for 60 seconds this morning…what a delicious sensation it was putting them on!!!

cooked and ready to eat

Tagged as: FOOD, recipes