Farmer's Market Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

I work on the Capitol Square which is also home to the Dane County Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings.  It's said to be the largest produce only farmer's markets in the country which means tons of selection, but also lots of crowds.  Since I'm no longer living in the downtown area, I rarely make the trek on Saturday mornings, but I have gotten in the habit of taking a break at work to head to the much smaller, Wednesday markets.

This past week at the market it seemed like there was a really good variety of vegetables at some great prices, so as I was walking around I decided to get ingredients to make a stir fry.  I had to take a couple laps around the stalls to get all my supplies and ended up with summer squash, green onion, broccoli, asparagus and sugar snap peas.  I also took home a head of lettuce and a couple khalorabi, all for only $13!  Usually when I make stir fry I go with a spicier szechuan sauce, but decided to go with a subtler peanut sauce this time.  It still put lots of flavor in the dish and didn't leave out a little spicy kick either.

Hope you enjoy!

Kelsey

Ingredients:

• 2 cups brown rice (measured before cooking), cooked
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
• Choice of seasonal vegetables (I used sugar snap peas, green onion, asparagus, summer squash and broccoli)
• Desired amount of peanut sauce (I used about half, or a little over 1/4 cup)
• Olive oil

For the peanut sauce:

• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons Asian chili garlic paste

Adapted from Food and Family.

Directions:

1. Prepare peanut sauce by mixing ingredients in a small bowl.  Heat in microwave in 20 second increments, stirring in between,  until peanut butter is no longer in large clumps. (It's okay if it's not completely melted into the mixture, the hot skillet will take care of that later.)
2. Drizzle olive oil in skillet (or wok if you have one) and cook chicken.  Set aside.
3. Pour desired amount of peanut sauce in skillet and sauté vegetables until they begin to soften.  Add chicken to mixture and stir until coated with sauce.
4. Serve over rice.

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