Take a leek

We reached a recovery milestone on Saturday with NAH venturing out to do the weekly shop for the first time since March. What we hadn't bargained for was my enthusiasm for using every scrap of a piece of paper and NAH being unused to what should be on there. As a result he shopped using last week's list found on the other side as I hadn't crossed it out like he usually does.

It meant I had a surfeit of leeks and pondering them a couple of days ago, I came up with a simple, healthy stir-fry for tea, substituting the leeks for my usual choice of onions. The mange tout (snow peas) I planted out at the end of April are in full flow, so I used them instead of frozen peas, and the fresh red chilli came courtesy of my neighbour who presented me with a bag of them from her regular veg box order.

NAH declared the result a success and I've decided the subtle flavour from the leeks makes for a more delicious stir-fry in future. The recipe follows...

Ingredients 

• Oil spray for frying
• 4 boned chicken thighs, fat discarded and chopped into strips (you can substitute prawns or tofu if you prefer)
• Garlic powder (or chopped fresh) and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 heaped teaspoons ginger paste (or half an inch of fresh, peeled and finely chopped)
• 1 fresh red chilli, seeds removed and chopped finely
• 2 medium leeks, trimmed then half of them chopped into rings and the other (greener) half cut lengthways into strips approx half to 1 centimetre in width and 3-4 centimetres long
• Half a large pepper roughly chopped - I had yellow to hand, but red or orange will also do nicely
• 10 mange tout, each one cut at an angle into 3 pieces (these are Oregon sugar pod which grow to a generous size, so adjust your amount accordingly if needed)
• Light soy sauce - to taste. I used around 1 tablespoon
• A handful of fresh coriander - I snip this onto the stir-fry at the last minute using scissors

To serve - 1 sheet of packet egg noodles cooked according to packet instructions and divided between 2 warmed bowls just in time for the completed stir-fry.

Method

1. Spray the inside of a wok with a thin layer of the oil and heat to a high temperature
2. Add the chicken and keep moving to brown on all sides
3. Whilst the chicken is cooking swiftly add the garlic, black pepper, ginger and chilli and ensure they coat the chicken evenly
4. Add the leeks, stir and cook until they're on the point of transparency
5. Add the peppers and mange tout and stir them well a few times
6. Add the light soy sauce, toss the stir-fry, then taste and adjust seasoning as necessary
7. Chop the coriander onto the stir fry and serve with the noodles

Serves 2 generously and can be stretched further if needed with additional vegetables and/or mushrooms.

Note: I use as much of the leek as I can by removing the upper tough outer leaves several times to reveal plenty more tender green leek underneath which is super tasty and looks good. This gets washed carefully to remove any remnant soil.