Sweet & Spicy Chicken

This is a recipe that my family has been making for years. It is a ridiculously tasty dish that also happens to be insanely nutritious and low in fat. Ok, so what’s the downside to all that? Well, it is a bit labor intensive. Like many great Asian-American meals, there is a fair bit of chopping involved.

I have, however, solved that dilemma as well! If I know I’m going to be pressed for time when I make this, I just do the prep on the veggies ahead of time. And if in a real pinch, half of the veggies in this dish can be bought from the grocery store pre-sliced and cleaned. I have yet, however, deigned to purchase any pre-chopped veggies from the grocery store. I just can’t do it. A bag of chopped, washed lettuce is about as far as I’ll go. But I digress; here is the recipe! (Without rice, this dish clocks in at about 350 cals per serving, and 10g of fat. Bit high on the sodium at 918 mg but there’s the soy sauce for ya)

Sweet & Spicy Chicken

4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp sugar
1 pinch of salt and pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped fine
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 red or yellow onion, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 green  or yellow bell pepper, sliced into strips
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin on the bias
2 cups blanched snow peas (optional)

The Sauce:

1/2 cup ketchup
4 tbsp soy sauce, low sodium
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth or stock

1) Dice the chicken into 1″ cubes. In a bowl large enough to hold the chicken, combine the cornstarch, sugar, salt and pepper. Toss with the chicken until well coated.
2) Heat the oil over medium high heat and add the chicken. The chicken should be lightly browned on all sides, this’ll take 2-3 minutes per side. Remove chicken from the pan, leaving as much oil behind as possible. Don’t worry if it’s not totally cooked, it’ll finish in the sauce.
3) Add the onions, garlic and ginger to the pan with the residual oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes over medium heat until fragrant and the onions are mostly cooked. Add the carrots and continue cooking for 2 minutes.
4) Combine the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl, and mix well to combine. Add the sauce to the cooking onion, garlic, ginger and carrots. Add the chicken and the peppers. Bring the mixture to a boil, allowing the sauce to thicken and the chicken to finish cooking. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and add more cayenne if needed. Cook for 2-3 minutes then serve over hot basmati rice.
5) Garnish your chicken with toasted and chopped cashews, or sliced green onion. YUM!