Almond Plum & Chicken Stir Fry

Hi all– As a kid, I remember going out to my Grandma Rose’s backyard.  Her tiny house was on a big lot, planted with corn and sunflowers, rhubarb and a grape arbor,  and fruit trees, several fruit trees, including plums.  We’d go out and feed her chickens and pull from ripe fruit from the trees.  I wish I could do that with her again…

So in honor of luscious summer plums, here’s a plum-y chicken stir fry, that’s fast and fresh. No oven involved.  Good for summer cooking…

ALMOND PLUM & CHICKEN STIR FRY
2 large chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
1 1/2  cups rice
splash olive oil
2 purple plums, pitted & sliced
3 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup whole roasted almonds, cut in half
1 cup water
3 tab. soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tab. cornstarch
1 tsp. ground ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced

Cut the chicken breasts into nice polite chunks and brown them in a hot pan with olive oil. Meanwhile, put the rice on to cook, according to the directions on the package*

When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan.

In a container with a tight fitting lid, combine the water, soy sauce, cornstarch, ginger and garlic.  Shake it all well, until it’s thoroughly blended.

Pour the soy sauce mixture into the hot pan over medium heat and stir it with the drippings from the chicken for a minute or two until it thickens into a pretty sauce.

Then add back in the chicken, plums and 2/3 of the chopped green onions. Let it simmer a couple minutes to meld the flavors and soften the plums just a bit.  Then stir in the almonds.

When the rice is done cooking, spread it onto a large platter and top with the chicken and plum stir fry.  Top with the remaining green onions.  Fast and fresh– summer eating.