Who would have thought Chop Suey would be so delicious?! When you the words chop suey doesn’t it make you think of some old sayings. Never did I realize it was a dish, and a delicious dish at that. I picked the recipe of the week for the group Craving Ellie in My Belly this week. When I was looking through recipes to pick I had some criteria:
- Healthy – which they all are because they are designed by Ellie Krieger
- Easy – so it could be prepared for a weeknight meal
- Possibility to be vegetarian – so I could easily modify it to meet my needs/wants and also Brady’s – which include meat
- Never been done before in the group – or in my house for that matter. I wanted to branch out and try something new.
So I searched my cookbook and Food Network.com for ideas. This one popped up on a suggested recipe list and I decided to give it a try! I was a little nervous because there is a long ingredient list – but most things are pretty simple and I omitted things that were not. Here is the regular recipe with my changes noted.
From Food Network.com :
- 8 (3 by 3-inch) packaged Chinese wonton skins, separated – I just used 2
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons canola oil I didn’t use any canola oil I just used a tbsp. of sesame oil in the stir fry
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 scallions, greens included, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup) I used a diced fresh onion
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 4 cups sliced napa cabbage
- 3/4 cup celery, thinly sliced (about 4 celery hearts or 2 long stalks)
- 1 (8-ounce) can bamboo shoots, drained and julienned
- 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 6 ounces) – I used baby bella mushrooms
- 3/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 1/2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil I just used the 1 or 1.5 from above
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cooking sherry I didn’t have this so I just dissolved this is broth
- 2 cups cubed or shredded cooked turkey or chicken I used baked tofu instead of chicken for me
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Brush a baking sheet and the wonton skins lightly on both sides with 2 teaspoons of oil. Season with salt and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until browned and crisp. Transfer to a cooling rack and reserve.
In a large heavy skillet or wok, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of canola oil over medium-high heat. Add the scallion, garlic, cabbage, celery, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms and stir-fry until cabbage is soft and wilted, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sugar, 3/4 cup of the chicken broth, soy sauce, and sesame oil and cook for 3 minutes. Add the sherry-cornstarch mixture and, if the mixture is a little dry, the additional 1/4 cup chicken stock. Add the turkey or chicken and heat through. Serve the chop suey over the cooked brown rice and top with sesame seeds and reserved crushed wonton skins.
Yield: 4 servings (1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup chop suey, 2 wonton skins)
That was it! While it looks like a lot of changes, it really wasn’t and it was just to accommodate what ingredients I had and lower the oil even more because I don’t miss it when I don’t add it.
Here is the proof:
This meal was really really good! It was a nice change of pace to my usual stir fry. I am excited to eat it again for lunch tomorrow and to make it again! Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Happy almost Friday! I don’t know about you but this week was long and I am ready for a weekend!
It looks great! I was a little hesitant about the recipe given the lengthy ingredient list, but it seems like everyone really liked it! I think I will have to make a smaller portion of it for myself soon.
Thanks for hosting this week! I enjoyed this one, even though I had some issue while making it. 🙂