New Recipe: Chicken, Scallion, and Artichoke Stir-Fry

So, when I came across this recipe I was eager to try it. I love artichokes and almost anything Asian, and the directions were very simple--there was little involved other than dumping a bunch of ingredients in a pan. It sounded perfect. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Although I think the recipe would be salvageable if it were done differently.

As usual, I've added the photos to my cooking set on Flickr.

Chicken, scallion, and artichoke stir-fry: Makes 6 servings; 6 WW points per serving

Ingredients:

• 1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, very thinly sliced
• 1 pound scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces [I didn't have a full pound, so I just used one bunch.]
• 27 1/2 oz canned artichoke hearts, without oil [I drained and rinsed them before cooking.]
• 1/2 cup Asian stir-fry sauce
• 4 cup cooked linguine [I used whole wheat linguine. Also, I think that there are about 2 ounces of uncooked pasta per one cup of cooked pasta. But I'm not sure.]
• 4 medium radishes, thinly sliced [I skipped this.]
• Cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Warm a large, nonstick pan coated with cooking spray over high heat.
2. Add chicken, scallions, and artichokes and stir-fry until chicken is firm and opaque, about 10 minutes. [It didn't take nearly ten minutes to cook the chicken over high heat.]
3. Add sauce and cook until hot, about 2 minutes more. [Because the chicken cooked so much faster than the recipe said, I wound up adding the sauce and simmering it for more than two minutes.]
4. Spoon chicken mixture over noodles and garnish with radishes. [As I said, I skipped the radishes.]

The verdict: One of the rare recipe disappointments we've had recently. The concept was really nice and the food looked and smelled great. But the dish was just way, way too salty. I think the culprit must have been the stir-fry sauce, which we hadn't tried before. I don't know if I used too much of it (though I followed the recipe exactly), or if I just picked the wrong sauce. But afterward, both of our tongues were totally coated with salt. If I were to make the dish again, I would choose a different sauce or make one myself. But considering how many other dishes we've had recently that we really enjoyed, I doubt we'll be trying this one again.