Lemon-Ginger-Almond Chicken Lo Mein

This is a modification of our Peking Restaurant's Almond Chicken.  They serve this with rice, but Zoe and I both love the idea of Asian pasta dishes.  The water chestnuts are not my favorite, however, there are a lot of alternates or substitutions that could be made.  Sweet peppers or mushrooms might be good options.

1#  boneless skinless chicken

1lg onion

1+c  celery

2c  carrot

1c  peeled halved or slivered almonds

1c  frozen-thawed damages (green soybeans)

1sm can water chestnuts-drained

1-2T  candied ginger-slice+dice

1    lemon - zest and (all or 1/2) the juice

~ Combine chicken and 1/4 of the onion-finely chopped for flavor, with 2T vegetable oil, 1T mild vinegar and 1T Tamari or soy sauce.  Do a fast stir-fry over med-high heat for about 4 minutes, cover and turn off heat.  Let marinate while fixing the rest of the ingredients.  Add the remaining, above ingredients, return this mixture to a simmer and cook covered 5 minutes.

5lg cloves of sliced garlic

remaining piece of the onion-chopped

~ Add the garlic and onion and simmer and stir a few more minutes until the chicken is done, everything is blended and the lemon-ginger scent is prevalent.  Add more water if needed, then check the flavor.  Season with a little powdered chicken soup base and just a dash of Tamari or soy.    Thicken by sprinkling in a teaspoon of cornstarch then heating.  Continue until sauce is the desired viscosity.  If more spicy-heat is needed use a TINY pinch of cayenne pepper.

Meanwhile, cook a 1-2" diameter handful of spaghetti to barely al dente, drain and rinse in cool water.  Toss, rinse and drain again.  Add the spaghetti now, heat again and serve — or — cook the chicken-almond-vegetable mixture the day before, refrigerate overnight.  Warm and serve with just-cooked-spaghetti mixed in, (or over rice) the following day. . .Lin