Serving This Week 2-22 to 2-26-2021

Serving This Week 2-22 to 2-26-2021

Come and see what I will be cooking up on Marilyns Treats this week!

This is what I served this week 2-22 to 2-26-2021. On Tuesday was Egg Drop Soup. Wednesday was Chicken Stir Fry. Thursday was Won Ton Soup. And Friday was Shrimp Chow Mein. Enjoy!

If you missed what I served up last week please click Serving This Week 2-15-to 2-19-2021.

Authentic Egg Drop Soup

This Egg Drop Soup is so easy to make and tastes delicious!

We love the soup we get at our favorite Chinese restaurant and this is as good if not better.

This recipe is the soup I make when I am feeling under the weather or allergies are bothering me.

Less an 30 minutes from first thought to first sip it can’t be any better than this!

Well unless someone else makes it and serves you in bed!

Egg drop soup is a Chinese soup easily recognizable by the swirling strands of eggs floating in a light, savory broth.

Options such as tofu, mushrooms, bok choy, pork or whole corn kernels can also be added according to your tastes.

Some variations call for water instead of broth to allow the egg flavor to stand out.

But using chicken or vegetable stock makes a big difference in the final flavor and the soup will have a more comforting and filling quality to it.

The main ingredient in this Egg Drop Soup is the broth. Chicken is the most common but vegetable broth is easily substituted for those that are meat free.

The second are the eggs, which are beaten thoroughly so that the whites and yolks are well blended.

Last is the thickener, a small amount of cornstarch that’s simmered in the broth right before the eggs go in.

Some of the cornstarch is also whisked into the eggs to inhibit protein bonds that make eggs rubbery, leaving them silky and tender when they cook up in the broth.

Up your game and make it a meal by adding cooked proteins or seafood and some greens or veggies.

It’s the perfect light meal that comes together in a flash, which is great because this isn’t a soup that keeps well, as the eggs don’t maintain the same texture when reheated.

This soup is properly an appetizer. Despite its simplicity, I guarantee your guests will be overjoyed to see this coming when you walk out of the kitchen.

The aroma and steam that precedes you will bring everyone’s eyes to what you are carrying.

This recipe will make four small cups of soup, but can be easily scaled up if you have more guests at your table. I generally use one to two cups of broth and one egg per person.

Even though this Egg Drop Soup appears to be a dish that will leave you hungry, it isn’t.

A bowl of this soup and an Egg Roll or two will fill you up and leave you happy and satisfied.

I frequently make the mistake of filling my plate with more items than I can eat when this soup is on the table.

But for me, that is just fine.

Whenever I can have leftovers it is a win win. One preparation that equals 2-3 servings can’t be beat!

Chicken Stir Fry

A typical stir fry is a quick and easy dish to prepare. And this chicken stir fry is packed with veggies.

Try adding bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, snap peas, or any of your favorite vegetables.

Serve it with white or brown rice, or noodles.

When you start the meal with either Egg Drop Soup or Won Ton Soup the only concern left is “What’s For Dessert?”

Of course the answer is Fortune Cookies!

This is one of my healthier choices and it comes straight from Weight Watchers!

Each, fiber-rich serving, has only 267 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 3 Blue WW Freestyle SmartPoints, and 5 Green. This recipe is a real keeper! (as of this date).

So What is Stir Fry?

Stir frying is a Chinese cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and the West.

A great stir fry typically consists of three important components: protein, vegetables, and sauce.

Ever notice how the chicken in stir fries at your favorite Chinese restaurant is incredibly tender? It’s because they tenderize chicken using a simple method called Velveting Chicken using baking soda. It’s a quick and easy method that any home cook can do, and can also be used for beef.

Velveting means to pass through hot oil or hot water for a brief period of cooking time. It’s a popular Chinese technique that is used to lock in the meat’s juices and keep it moist and tender.

So what is the order to create the best stir fry? These are the steps to follow according to the Kitchn.

1. Start the rice or cook the noodles– Because the stir fry itself comes together so quickly, you don’t want to be waiting on your side dish. Alternatively, make the rice or noodles ahead and add them as another stir fry ingredient!
2. Chop your vegetables – While your rice or noodles are cooking, get all the vegetables chopped. Cut them all about the same size and shape so they cook evenly. Make sure the vegetables are fairly dry. If they’re too wet, they’ll steam in the pan. Also prepare any aromatics, like ginger or garlic.
3. Heat the pan – Woks are great, but you don’t necessarily need to rush out and buy one. Flat bottomed skillets work just as well, especially with our western style burners. Get the pan nice and hot over high heat before adding the oil. Canola or peanut oil are best.
4. Meat first, then vegetables – If you want meat or seafood in your stir fry, cook it first then scoop it out onto a separate plate before cooking the vegetables. You’ll add the meat back in at the end.
5. Don’t crowd the pan – If you have too much in your pan, the vegetables will steam instead of staying crisp. If necessary, cook in batches and then combine everything back together at the end. Cook dense vegetables like broccoli and carrots together and softer vegetables like onions and greens together.
6. Don’t stir too much – You want to give your meat and veggies a chance to sear and develop flavor. Let them sit for 30-60 seconds between each stir, and they’re done when they’re no longer raw but still crisp. Until you’re familiar with how each vegetable cooks, the best way to tell when they’re done is by tasting them. (yum!)
7. Add aromatics – You don’t want the aromatics to burn, so add them at the very end and cook them just until they’re fragrant. If you want a more deeply flavored dish, you can also cook the aromatics at the very beginning to infuse the oil, but move them to a separate plate while you cook the rest of the stir fry.
8. Add the sauce – The sauce can be as simple as a few shakes of soy sauce or as complex as a homemade barbecue sauce thinned with broth – or you can go with no sauce at all! The idea is just to coat the stir fry ingredients with flavor. You can make a thicker sauce by mixing a tablespoon or two of cornstarch into the sauce before pouring it onto the veggies. Let the sauce cook until it’s thickened and glossy.

Instead of a salty sauce, flavor your stir fry with:

• Herbs: basil, oregano, cilantro.
• Spices: cumin, coriander, cardamom.
• Reduced sodium or no sodium added broth.
• Fresh lemongrass, garlic or ginger.
• 100% fruit juice.
• Citrus zest.
• Lower sodium soy sauces

The point is to use ingredients your family loves and don’t sweat the small stuff! Feel free to experiment.

Now that you have a bit of guidance take a leap and make a dish the family will love.

Don’t forget to let me know how you make it your own and how it turned out.

WON TON SOUP

The typical Chinese restaurant wonton soup is watered down.

Because the wontons are made of mostly the wonton wrapper with very little filling.

Most Chinese restaurants serve wontons made of ground pork filling.

But these wontons are shrimp wontons.

And every bite is bursting with the briny, juicy, and sweetness of fresh shrimp.

Plus everyone can enjoy this wonderful soup as it is not made of pork.

Rinse the shrimp and pat dry with paper towels and then cut each shrimp into 3 to 4 pieces. Add half of the chopped yellow chives into the shrimp and marinate with the seasonings for 1 hour.

Place a wonton wrapper on your palm and put about 1 teaspoon about 3 to 4 pieces of the shrimp filling in the center of the wonton wrapper. Gather the corners of the wrapper with the other hand and pinch in the middle to seal the wonton. Make sure the wontons are sealed tight. Repeat until the filling is used up.

Prepare the soup first by bringing the vegetable broth to boil. Add salt, white pepper, and sesame oil to taste.

Transfer the wontons out with a strainer and into the Soup and serve immediately.

This recipe Is adapted from Rasa Malaysia And was very well received by the entire family.

I altered the recipe slightly to make it completely vegetarian.

Let me know if you make it! I enjoy and respond to all comments.

These wontons are shrimp wontons so every bite is bursting with the briny, juicy, and sweetness of fresh shrimp. It is great substitute to pork.

SHRIMP CHOW MEIN

“What are you hungry for?” “Shrimp Chow Mein!”

This conversation gets repeated in my household at least twice a month.

This Shrimp Chow Mein recipe is another dinner in my Under 30 Minutes recipe category.

And those always fit right into that comfort food list also.

This recipe calls for shrimp and pork however chicken and other seafoods are great choices for the meat. But you can use anything you have or substitute a fish or vegetable product as well.

The crunchy noodles sprinkled over a bed of shrimp, cabbage and spices create an enticing and satisfying stir fry for your family dinner.

Dish up some brown rice, add a bowl of egg drop or won ton soup, and a healthy and complete warm meal can be served to your family before they have washed their hands and set the table.

Some people ask how Chow Mein and Chop Suey are different, if at all.

Chow Mein and Chop Suey have a lot in common and are sometimes mistaken for each other.

It can help to know Chow Mein means ” Fried” ( Chow ) & “Mein” ( Noodles ) in Mandarin. I still get mixed up though and need to actually see the dish to get them straight.

Chow mein and chop suey are both Chinese stir fry dishes often found on restaurant menus and take out menus. The two may seem similar, but their ingredients, preparation, and origins are different.

Chow mein is an established recipe where noodles are first boiled until crispy on the outside but still soft in the middle. They are then tossed with shredded pieces of meat (chicken, pork, beef or seafood) in a classic stir fry sauce. The sauce is often flavored with rice wine.

Lastly, they are served topped with cabbage, celery, onions, mushrooms, or bean sprout shoots.

Chop suey, on the other hand, has a much looser recipe format. Meat and vegetables are chopped up and stir fried with a sauce. There are no noodles in chop suey. Instead, the stir fried mixture is served over rice.

Sometimes question will come up in a comment whether you can substitute spaghetti noodles for the fried. And the answer is Yes! The stir fried spaghetti can taste delicious and you shouldn’t hesitate to make the change if you prefer.

This Shrimp Chow Mein recipe is the classic American style for this dish.

The authentic dish is prepared by frying boiled noodles with a few bits of meat and vegetables. The crisp noodles that are served in this country are not found in China.

This version of the recipe offers many different spices and flavors. But the best part is it easily compensates your own tastes. Feel free to add, delete or substitute as you like. Make your dinner your own!

I frequently make enough so there are leftovers. The kids both work and many times don’t eat at home or at the same time as my husband and I do.

In those cases, they enjoy a pre-packaged homemade meal.

I mean, who doesn’t?

What I do know is, there are never more than a few servings leftover.

We really enjoy this Shrimp Chow Mein and I am sure you will too.

As always, let me know how you changed the recipe for your family and how it turned out!

Want To learn all about Meal Planning? Find out What to Know, How to Succeed, and What to Skip. Click to read my article, Meal Plan 101 And Why You Need To Do It.