Using a combination of a few ready-made items, this dish is fairly easy, fast, and tastes delicious!  I like to use Trader Joe’s Asian Vegetables, but I do not use the sauce.  The veggies, though frozen, cook nicely without becoming soggy or tasteless.  Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki sauce is a great add to this dish, but it will increase the sodium levels.  For the chick’n, I use Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n.  I do enjoy the sauce that comes with this product and will use it when cooking the chick’n.  It blends well with the Island Soyaki sauce.  Another lighter option (Stage 3 vegan) is to use tempeh (pictured above) instead of Gardein chick’n.  There are several recipes online for Vegan Teriyaki tempeh.  I like to use VNutrition‘s recipe, when I have more time to invest in the tempeh.

Be sure to sit aside some steamed veggies and rice for your Littles to enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 baby bok choy (cleaned)

12 oz sliced Golden Oak Shiitake mushrooms (cleaned)

5 oz sliced bamboo shoots

8 oz baby corn

1 package of Trader Joe’s Asian Vegetables (frozen)

1 package of Gardein’s Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n

2 cups brown rice

2 stalks of steamed broccoli chopped

1/4 cup Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki

Directions:

Cook brown rice by boiling for ~ 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.  Cut bok choy into ~ 2 ” pieces.  Drain and rinse canned baby corn and bamboo shoots.  Prepare the Gardein chick’n per directions for stove-top.  Apply the sauce once the pieces are properly browned. Lower the heat and add rice to the chick’n, stirring often to prevent burning of the rice. While the chick’n is cooking, on medium heat, place frozen vegetables in a pan and cook until warmed throughout ~ 5-8 minutes, careful not to overcook.  Add bok choy, baby corn, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms and place lid over pan.  Allow the pan to steam until mushrooms and bok choy are soft.  Add ~ 1/4 cup of Island Soyaki to the vegetables.  Once the sauce is warmed and the vegetables are coated evenly remove pan from stove-top.  Serve by plating the vegetables on top of the rice and chick’n mixture or combine all of the ingredients prior to plating.

Raising Vegan Tip:  Cook the rice earlier in the day and set aside.  This will lessen the total cooking time for this dish.  You can also focus on not overcooking the rice when it is done at a more convenient time.  You can also wash and prep the bok choy while the rice is cooking.

This recipe feeds two very hungry adults.  The Littles can enjoy the brown rice and vegetables (carrots and broccoli) prior to seasoning.  I usually prepare my Littles’ broccoli and carrots separately by steaming them.  As long as the broccoli is VERY soft, they have no problem eating them.  We call them “green flowers” in our home.