Energy Boost Vegetable Stir Fry

*** Cough Cough ***
I've been sick for the past few days...no...I mean weeks...
I don't know why I get sick so easily, something must be wrong with my immune system.
What's even worse?
I got my friends sick too.....at least 5 of them...
I'm poisonous.

By the way,
Do you know this one Chinese saying about food?
You gain more energy from the food you eat,
Mmmm hard to explain it here, let me give you some examples.

Let's say...
If I eat more brains, I'll be smarter.
If I eat more fish eyes, my eye sight will be better,
If I eat more fats, my skin will be smoother,
Got the idea?
I wonder what should I eat in order to make my sickness go away?
Eat more "throats" so I won't cough anymore?
That sounds kinda...intriguing...plus I have no idea where can I buy "throats."

Let me just cook some fresh veggies and see if those more conservative ingredients will do the trick-


Ingredients?

6 stalks of asparagus (angel sliced, remember to peel off the tough part around the stem)
1 medium size carrot (angel sliced)
1 medium size onion (sliced)
4 to 6 shitake mushroom (sliced)
2 stalks of scallion (just a few chops)
2 to 3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 chicken breast (sliced)
Soy sauce
Mirin
Ponzu flavored soy sauce (or half lemon juice)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

How?

Let's marinate the chicken breast (cut into slices) first.
Use 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoons of mirin for the marinade,
Make sure you marinate the chicken slices for at least 15 minutes.

In the meantime,
Drizzle some olive oil in the pan and toss in diced onions,
While waiting for the oil to heat up, sprinkle some salt and freshly grounded black pepper over the onions.
Give it a quick stir and cook till the onion turns translucent.

Toss in the chicken slices, minced garlic, scallions and cook for about 2 minutes,
Add the carrot, asparagus, shitake mushroom,
Sprinkle more salt (about 2 teaspoons) and pepper.
The key ingredient for this dish is black pepper,
The more the merrier as long as you can take the heat!

Cook for 3 minutes, or till all the veggies are cooked down,
Drizzle some ponzu flavored soy sauce, about 2 tablespoons.
The acidity helps to bring out the natural sweet taste from the carrot and onion.
If you can't find ponzu flavored soy sauce,
Simply add about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce with half lemon juice.

This so called energy boost dish is done,
We'll see if it'll heal my throat later,
If not..maybe I'll try harder and seek out some "throat" to be tossed into my pot.

Cindy's Rating: 7 (healthy and yummy!)