Farewell to Nigella at I Heart Cooking Club

I am pleased to be knocking off two more recipes from Nigella Express, pleased to send it over to I Heart Cooking Club but sad that this is the last week for the Nigella theme. That was a fast six months…..and there have been times that I just could not participate but have read the other foodies’ entries. Hop on over to I heart Cooking Club and see what delicious goodies our fellow foodies have posted in honor of Nigella Lawson these past six months.



While I will continue to slowly soldier on and cook my way through the cookbook Nigella Express…..here is the final entry for IHCC. (sniff sniff)

The theme is Easter Baskets. Since I do not have a traditional Easter dinner and am not, in fact, a traditional person by nature…I made Minestrone Soup and Rib-Sticking Stir Fry.



Nigella’s Minestrone recipe may be found HERE

This was soooo simple. Toss the beans in a soup pot, add the pasta sauce and broth. I actually un-vegetarianed the recipe by tossing in several handfuls of chopped roasted chicken. This will be our lunch for several days at work this week. We pair our homemade soup with yogurt….have a light lunch each day and a short stroll afterwards.



The Rib-Sticking Stir-Fry

Humorous story with this meal. I had everything I needed for the stir-fry and was set to make this quick meal. It calls for a ¼ cup of Chinese cooking wine and I guess I had overlooked that ingredient during my meal planning list. Since the egg rolls were cooking, the rice steamer was engaged in making nice sticky rice and I had already started sautéing the chicken strips…..I couldn’t very well switch gears and make something else, now could I?

I tipped in a third of a cup of Alice White Chardonnay in place of the Chinese wine. Australia … China …whatever. It would work. Nah….it actually did not. The stir-fry came out a bit dry. So then Doug asks if we still had the bottle of Mirin.



This had been purchased with plans to make a Crab Wrap (yes, Nigella style).

Well this was a D’OH! moment since Mirin is 8% Sake…(and perfect for the stir-fry I prepared). As we doused our veggies and chicken strips with Mirin, tipping back a few glasses of Chardonnay with the meal, a few more liberal sprinkles of Mirin….we became aware of a strong yet mellow buzz settling in. It was quite amusing at the time :-)

Anyway, Recipe follows…..



Heat a bit of oil in a wok. Behold my old red wok from circa 1984……..saute about 12 ounces of chicken or turkey strips. Add 4 cups of assorted chopped stir-fry veggies. Toss them around and let them soften….then add ¼ cup soy sauce and ¼ cup Chinese cooking wine.



Veggies.....stir, stir, stir!


Once the heat is back up and sizzling add a 14 oz. can cannellini beans. Drain them first!. Mix it up and serve.



This was better than I expected and I would have it again.

From Rib Sticking Stir Fry

The Minestrone in Minutes is from: Nigella Express, Storecupboard SOS Section, page 363

The Rib-Sticking Stir-Fry is from: Nigella Express, Instant Calmer Section, page 171


Cheers!