By Michael Elmore

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It’s Monday evening. A long day of work finished, and the project of dinner
looms like a towering obstacle. Ordering take out may be your go to option in this weekday struggle, as it often was mine. Before my diagnosis of diabetes, I ate take out at least a couple of days a week. With the demands of long workdays and household tasks to also accomplish, it was an all too easy solution.

With this recipe, the preparation is done ahead of time on the weekend so
the entire meal on the weekday takes a mere 15 minutes to cook. A perk? It’s delicious – with some key, light substitutions, you can have a far healthier version of one of my favorites – chicken lo mein. Here, we replace the pasta with zucchini noodles and the hoisin sauce with a lighter mixture. An optional sprinkle of everything seasoning adds another twist.

We hope this recipe inspires you to take on take out and eases the weeknight
struggles!

Ingredients:

• 6 zucchinis, ends removed
• 6 carrots, peeled and stemmed
• 1 red onion
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 4 green scallions
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¾ cup chicken broth
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp siracha sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp ginger, freshly grated
• Salt
• 1 tbsp everything seasoning

Directions:

1. The day before cooking, use a spiralizer to make the zucchini into thin strips like noodles (you can also buy them already like this at the grocery store.
2. Grate the carrots. Slice the scallions into ¼ inch pieces, omitting the white ends, and slice the red onions into thin half-moons.
3. Cut the chicken breast in half and then into strips. Season with the vegetable oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, tossing well. Marinate overnight. Whisk together the soy sauce, mustard, sriracha and broth, and put in the fridge in a separate container.
4. The next day take all ingredients out of the fridge and get your mis-en-place ready (everything ready beside you).
5. Heat a wok with 2 tbsp of sesame oil on medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken. Stir often but not too frequently until the chicken is mostly cooked. This will not take long. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and put in a clean bowl (do not use the same container you had the raw chicken in).
6. Add the garlic and ginger. Sautée until fragrant, approximately 30 seconds, stirring frequently.
7. Add the vegetables with a pinch of salt. Cook down, stirring frequently. Return the cooked chicken to the pan and mix to incorporate. Add the soy sauce mixture to de-glaze the pan, scrapping any brown bits.
8. Add the zucchini, tossing well to incorporate. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes, until softened. If desired, add the everything seasoning, and toss to incorporate again.
9. Plate and serve.