Takeout Chicken with Green Beans

 Chicken and marinade:

• 12 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

The rest:

• 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 - 4 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• 1 pound green beans (trimmed and cut in half)
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

Mix together marinade ingredients and toss with chicken, set aside.

Mix together stock, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, and cornstarch to make the sauce.

Preheat wok or large frying pan to nearly smoking hot and add 2 tablespoons of oil followed by the chicken and marinade. Cook stirring until chicken is cooked through, remove chicken.  Add additional 2 tablespoons oil if needed followed by the green beans. Sauté the beans for 2 minutes and add 1/3 cup of water and cover the pan for a minute and a half so they steam. Remove lid and stir in garlic, wine, and the sauce mixture. Add the chicken back in and stir, cooking until the sauce has thickened to your liking.

Notes:

I used all regular soy sauce instead of two kinds

I used mirin instead of Shaoxing

I added a tablespoon of MSG to the sauce mix

Picture Perfect Cobb Salad

 

Ingredients 

For the Vinaigrette: (makes 1 1/2 cups)

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) red wine vinegar

• 1 small shallot (1 ounce; 28 g), roughly chopped (about 1/4 cup)

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) honey

• 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2/3 cup (165 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

For the Salad:

• 4 small heads romaine lettuce (6 ounce; 170 g each), chopped (about 10 cups)

• 3 cups (1/2-inch cubed) poached chicken breasts, (about two 12 ounce; 340 g each)

• 6 ounces cherry tomatoes (1 cup; 170 g), halved

• 8 slices cooked bacon, roughly chopped (about 1 cup chopped)

• 1 large avocado (7 1/2 ounces; 213 g), chopped

• 3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered lengthwise into wedges

• 4 ounces (113 g) blue cheese, crumbled (1 cup crumbled)
  
  Directions

1. In a blender, process red wine vinegar, shallot, Dijon, honey, salt, and pepper on high until smooth, about 20 seconds. With machine running, slowly add oil in a steady stream until emulsified, about 1 minute. Pour vinaigrette into a bowl; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, toss lettuce with 1/2 cup of prepared vinaigrette, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl or platter.

3. In now-empty large bowl, toss chicken with 2 tablespoons vinaigrette until evenly coated.

4. Arrange dressed chicken over dressed lettuce. In now-empty bowl, toss cherry tomatoes and 2 tablespoons vinaigrette, and decoratively arrange over lettuce. Top salad with bacon, avocado, eggs, and blue cheese. Serve with remaining 1/2 cup vinaigrette for drizzling over top.

Special Equipment 

Blender

Make-Ahead and Storage 

The dressing can be made ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Briefly whisk or shake in a tightly sealed jar to recombine before using.

The lettuce, poached chicken, tomatoes, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, and blue cheese can all be prepared ahead and refrigerated in separate airtight containers for up to 2 days before assembling the salad.

NOTES: Laurie and I made this for a Core Team meeting. Easy. Fancy. Everyone can choose what they like.

The dressing emulsifies well and lasts a long time in the fridge.