A New Year, a New You.

The holidays are officially over! I really enjoyed spending time with family, shopping, giving gifts, and entertaining. However, I must admit that I am quite happy for a break from the constant go, go, go of the holiday season. It’s really exhausting! Now it is time to start thinking about the New Year’s resolutions you make every year. For the most part, they tend to last throughout January and slip away the rest of the year, right? 2010 will be different!

As you all may know, I work for Swanson and we are not lacking on ‘better for you’ recipes for the new year. One of my favorite tips when creating a light and delicious meal is using Swanson White Chunk Chicken. It makes it super easy to prepare a whole range of dishes, from a Heart Healthy Chicken Salad Sandwich, to one of my favorites, Quick Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry, which I will share in a moment. Swanson chicken is 98% fat free, has no preservatives, and is, certified by the American Heart Association! Now that I’ve fully explained why it’s good for you, let’s get to the tasty recipe.

As I mentioned before, this is one of my favorite recipes as a quick and ‘better for you’ lunch, Quick Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry is just perfect to kick off the new year!

Quick Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry
From Campbell's Kitchen
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Stock
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
Vegetable cooking spray
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 pound), cut into strips
5 cups cut-up vegetables *
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
OR 1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups hot cooked rice, cooked without salt

Stir the cornstarch, stock and soy sauce in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth.

Spray a 12-inch nonstick skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the chicken and stir-fry until it's well browned. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

Add the vegetables, ginger and garlic powder to the skillet. Stir-fry until the vegetables are tender-crisp.

Stir the cornstarch mixture in the skillet. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Serve the chicken mixture over the rice.

*Use a combination of broccoli flowerets, sliced mushrooms, sliced carrots, sliced celery, red or green pepper strips and sliced green onions.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with a green salad with shredded carrot and a light sesame-ginger dressing. For dessert, serve sugar-free vanilla pudding topped with mandarin orange segments and sliced almonds.

Best, and until next time, Kaitlin!