Filipino Rice Noodle Dish or Chicken Mei Fun

So haven't done much cooking in the past few days. The weekend took us to visit family, and most other days have been eating out or eating leftovers. But I did manage to make one of my favorite healthy meals this week.

I got this one from Suck It, Martha, and have adapted it according to the only size of rice noodles I have been able to find. Now, if you want to try this one, you need a HUGE wok to cook it in. Seriously, this thing makes like 12 servings, and they are pretty healthy-sized servings.

It also requires some serious veggies. I'm talking an entire head of cabbage, 4-5 carrots, 4-5 stalks of celery, and then some. But it's totally worth it. And the husband and I eat leftovers for lunch for a full week.

Ingredients:

4-5 carrots

4 stalks of celery

1 medium - large onion

4 cloves of garlic

1 head cabbage

1 pound mushrooms

1 pound of snap peas

1-1.5 pounds chicken, thighs work best

12 ounces rice noodles

2 tbsp vegetable oil

6 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

Directions:

1. Bring the chicken to a boil in about four cups of water.

2. Reduce the heat to a rolling boil and simmer 12-15 minutes or until cooked through.

3. When cooked, cool and shred and set aside. DON'T THROW OUT THE WATER! You need it later.

4. Meanwhile, using a food processor, shred the cabbage, carrots, and celery. Set them aside in a big bowl.

5. Separately shred the onions and keep them in another bowl.

6. Chop the mushrooms and garlic and add to the big bowl of veggies. (I know! It's a LOT of vegetables!)

7. Heat the oil in the wok and add the onions. Cook them until clear.

8. Throw in the rest of the chicken and the veggies (don't forget the snap peas). Carefully stir them as they cook.

9. Cook them long enough to soften up the snap peas, which doesn't take too long, less than 5 minutes, generally.

10. Add the chicken stock, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce, and bring them to a boil. Keep stirring.

11. Break the rice noodles up and add to the broth and veggies. By the time all of the water is absorbed the noodles should be fully cooked. However, some pieces may be a little brittle, so be sure to mix it all up completely.

12. Enjoy!

And wait until you see these nutrition facts! Since the dish is almost completely made of vegetables, and since rice noodles are so much healthier than any other pasta, the whole dish is amazingly good for you. And same disclaimer: these stats may not be perfectly accurate as they are just entered into a recipe analyzer, but they're enough to help you make good choices and estimate your intake. :)

Nutrition Facts:

makes 12 servings

Calories: 208

Total Fat: 1.4g

Saturated Fat: 0.4g

Cholesterol: 29mg

Sodium: 281mg

Total Carbs: 35.0g

Dietary Fiber: 3.9g

Sugars: 5.0g

Protein: 14.1g

Vitamin A: 56%

Vitamin C: 62%

Calcium: 6%

Iron: 11%