Chinese Food

I love Chinese food. It took me a while to warm up to it, but once I got the hang of chopsticks I dived right in. Since Chinese food features vegetables in wondrous variety quite prominently I've clung to the assumption that it is somehow healthier than western food. Until recently we had a Chinese place that would deliver, and I ordered with confidence certain that I was making a much healthier choice than the pizza which was the alternative for ordering in. Unfortunately, we were one of the few who really enjoyed the convenience of delivered Chinese and the restaurant has closed. Finding a new source and accepting that we'd have to pick it up ourselves has been hard.
Recently, I've been on a Cook's Illustrated recipe kick. Two nights a week I try something new from the cookbooks or the magazine. Tonight was Chinese night. Beef and broccoli is one of the few dishes that the entire family enjoys and they had a great recipe for it in the The New Best Recipe's Cookbook. It was wonderful, but all my illusions about the healthiness of Chinese are shattered. There was so much oil, fat in the meat and other stuff that I find myself wondering if I'll ever feel the same way about Chinese again. Also, how do they stand the stress of getting everything to come together at the last minute like that? Stir-fry is a bit fast and furious for me. I'm more of a Crock Pot kind of gal. All in all, it was delicious and educational, but I'm not sure I'll be repeating it any time soon.