Deep into summer, the vegetables are overflowing at all local farmer’s markets and if you belong to a CSA, you can be sure you’re getting cabbage nearly every week now, right? And so how many coleslaw recipes can you possibly make? And St. Patrick’s Day is a way off.

Luckily, most of the local cabbages are small heads. They’re actually cute right? I think everything small is super cute.

So we had some friends over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and along with wines and dessert, they brought me a beautiful basket of veggies from their CSA and bingo, cabbage was in it and wouldn’t you know it, I had made coleslaw to serve that night at dinner, so I was definitely not going to make another coleslaw.

During the week, we seem to be coming home later and later from the office. I am not complaining as we have lots of exciting things cooking BUT, I do get home starving and I am not a particularly nice person when hungry. My blood sugar levels must go bonkers and I have got to eat quick or I am very crabby. My one son is also like me whereas our youngest is like my husband in that he can contain himself when hungry.

This dinner, this Super Quick Chicken and Summer Vegetables Stir-fry, I literally threw together in 25 minutes!!

Really.

No joke.

One thing I will point out though, is that my husband did shell the peanuts for me. But you could buy peanuts already shelled, we just always have a bowl of peanuts in the shell on our counter – to keep me from going crazy when I’m starving.

I have given you the specific vegetables I used, but you can use any combination of what you have on hand. Have fun and experiment with your mixture. Just make sure it’s colorful!

Chicken thighs are called for here because I love dark meat and thighs are very forgiving if you should cook them a tad too much. Just be sure to remove all fat before slicing into strips. Breasts would work as well, you’ll just be more careful about the cooking time.

Adding the V-8 juice at the end was a last minute idea of mine as a genius way to just get more flavors going on – and it worked! Is it necessary? – No.

Follow your own instincts and just remember, always cook with LOVE and happy thoughts. Your food will taste better! And this was DELISH!

SUPER QUICK CHICKEN AND SUMMER VEGETABLES STIR-FRY – serves 3 – 4

3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
11/2 Tbs. sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup dry vermouth
2 handfuls of sugar snap peas, strings removed
¾ of a large red pepper, cut into ¼” strips
½ of a small head of cabbage, cut into ¼” strips
2 Tbs. low sodium soy sauce
11/2 Tbs. of V-8 juice
Hot sesame oil for drizzling
¼ cup roasted peanuts, skins removed, roughly chopped
2 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
Steamed Basmati white rice

Prepare your rice according to the package directions. I cooked ½ cup of dry rice in 1 cup of water with a little salt. Start this cooking first as it must simmer for 15 – 20 minutes and sit for 5 minutes afterwards.

Wash and dry the chicken thighs. Remove all fat and cut into ½” strips. Warm the sesame oil on medium heat. Add the chicken and let that brown and cook stirring often while you prepare the other vegetables. After about 10 minutes, add the garlic and wine and raise the heat to let the wine flavor your meat and reduce to 2 Tbs.

Then add all the vegetables and the soy sauce and stir until the veggies are crisp tender and the chicken is done.

Drizzle on the V-8 juice and toss all to combine. Taste and see if it needs any salt and pepper. Mine did not.

Remove from heat. Portion out the steamed rice into shallow bowls and place the chicken vegetable stir-fry on top. Drizzle on a tiny bit of  hot sesame oil, garnish with peanuts and scallions and serve with LOVE and chopsticks.