Chicken, pumpkin and basil stir fry

Sometimes it would be nice if I could subsist on the things that I bake - life would be delicously sweet indeed! However, the reality is that my baked goods are often missing a few food groups, and I would no longer be able to fit through my doorway - sigh ... I have been feeling rather flabby after winter, and although this has not held me back in the baking and tasting department (hell no!), it means that I have been turning to lighter alternatives for dinner.

The dish pictured at the top of this post is a lovely chicken, pumpkin and basil stir fry that featured in the October issue of BBC Australian Good Food. I thought that the recipe was too light in the sauce department, and I was fully prepared to go a little more heavily with the sauce - but I tasted it as is, and it was just perfect. There is no runny sauce, just a surprising amount of flavour.

If you would like to try this, you will need:

1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil
400g pumpkin, peeled and cubed
300g trimmed green beans
650g chicken breast, sliced into strips
1 sliced chilli
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 tabelspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

Put 1 tablespoon of oil in a large wok, and once hot, add the pumpkin and stir fry for roughly 10 minutes until soft, adding the beans half-way through to cook concurrently. Remove the pan from the heat, and put the veges aside, covered, so that they keep warm.

Add the 1/2 tablespoon of oil to the wok, and once hot, and the chicken and stir fry it until browned, then add the chilli and half a cup of basil, and stir fry for one further minute. Finally, add the vegetables, fish sauce and sugar to the wok mixture, and stir it through to coat the veges and meat with the sauce. Serve with the rest of the basil leaves and lime (if desired).

I really liked this - basic but good. The only slightly palaver-part about making this dish is peeling and cutting the pumpkin (never my favourite thing), but the result is worth it. Bon appetite!