CEimB: Chicken or Tofu Chop Suey

On page 207 of “The Food You Crave” by Ellie Krieger is this delightful recipe for Chicken Chop Suey.

The Tofu is my vegetarian version.  It was a very satisfying meal for both of us at Apple Crumbles.

The recipe was chosen by The Healthy Hostess.   It was a good choice.  If you don’t have the book, referenced above, but you would like to try this recipe, go to The Healthy Hostess’ site or the FoodNetwork .

I made a few changes to the recipe.  It all began in the grocery store when I forgot to look for the wonton skins in their appropriate section.  Being too lazy to back track, I picked up some sesame rice crackers instead.  These turned out to be a perfect pairing with the chop suey.  They were thin, crisp and somewhat sweet with the flavor of soy sauce.

Again, at the grocery store, they didn’t have Napa cabbage this week.  I picked up Savoy.

The recipe calls for bamboo shoots.  I prefer the crunch of water chestnuts and chose those instead. I left out the sugar, the recipe really didn’t need it.  The chicken broth was a no go, even for the chicken version for Ted.  I had 32 oz of Vegetable broth and it wasn’t all for me.  The last change was the reduction in the sesame oil.  Toasted sesame oil has such a strong flavor.  I thought 1 TBS was more than enough and the 2 that Ellie called out for would have been over kill.

I toasted my sesame seeds in the toaster oven.  I cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts by simply pouring lemon juice on them and sautéing in olive oil, over medium high heat for 5 minutes per side.  They were then removed to a foiled lined baking sheet and put in a 375 F oven for 20 minutes.  I used 2 breast for Ted’s dinner.

The tofu…. was drained, wrapped and pressed in a paper towel for about 30 minutes.  It was cut into small cubes and sautéed in olive oil for 10 minutes per side over medium heat.  Nothing added but a little s & p.

Splitting the mixture of cabbage, onions, mushrooms, etc., I used two separate pans for our dinners.

The end result:  We really enjoyed all the mild flavors and different textures in this dish.  The cabbage was a perfect substitute instead of noodles.  Ted added a 1/4 cup of white rice to his meal which was suppose to be for Shane.  He thought “chop suey” needed rice. I was of the opinion this dish was perfect and plentiful enough less rice.

We had fun using our chop sticks, apart from trying to take a photo while working with the sticks, found them pretty easy to use.

Great pick Healthy Hostess! This just might hit our table again in the not so distant future.  🙂

Joanne