You see, my family likes the occasional chinese food take out. My husband is more of a mongolian beef man while my daughter and I like sweet and sour chicken. Unfortunately our local chinese place doesn't deliver, although probably not unfortunately because if they did we would eat a lot more of it then we do.
I have been looking for an easy chinese recipe, one that we could all agree on, and one that would hopefully be healthy. Thankfully, and surprisingly to me, I found this recipe on the back of the Uncle Ben's Brown Rice box. I did change a few things to suit my taste and what was already in my kitchen, and thankfully this recipe is flexible enough so that you can make it your own. Since we are using skinless chicken breast, a variety of veggies, low sodium soy sauce, and brown rice this is a cheaper and healthier option then your local restaurant, totally customizable to your own veggie preferences and it is quite tasty.
On with the show...
First we start out with brown rice. This dinner makes 4 servings so if you are using a different brand or type of rice just make sure to follow the directions to make 4 servings of rice.
I used Uncle Ben's Fast and Natural Whole Grain Instant Brown Rice and it worked out fine and only took 10 minutes to cook.
Then I made our sauce. Combine water, cornstarch, and low sodium soy sauce and stir together until smooth.
Once I cut the chicken I pulled out my wok and turned the heat to medium-high. Go ahead and spray some nonstick cooking spray if you have it or if you are out like me you can put some olive oil in to the pan.
While the pan is preheating it is time for the veggies. The recipe on the box calls for sugar snap peas, red bell pepper, and carrots. This is where you can totally make it your own. I didn't have the snap peas or the red pepper so I looked in my fridge, pulled out what I had, and chopped it all up in decent size pieces.
First comes the green bell pepper.Then the yellow onion.
And then I took a handful of baby carrots and chopped those up into quarter to half inch size pieces.
Now that the pan is heated nicely go ahead and throw your chicken in. Give it 3-4 minutes to cook through and start getting a little brown and then...
All of a sudden I remembered that I had some baby spinach in the refrigerator so I pulled some out and gave it a quick rough chop and threw that in to the wok as well. Trying to add some extra healthiness.
Now it is time for the soy sauce mixture. Make sure to stir it up again as it has probably seperated and then pour it in the wok and stir around.
I couldn't believe how easy or how fast this recipe was. In 15 minutes I had dinner ready, and that is some kind of a record for me. You should try this recipe. Throw in your choice of veggies and have a great, tasty, healthy dinner.
Recipe adapted from Uncle Ben's
4 Servings
1 Cup (uncooked) UNCLE BEN'S FAST & NATURAL Whole Grain Instant Brown Rice
Non-stick cooking spray
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water
1/4 Cup lite or low sodium soy sauce
2 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
3 or 4 of your favorite veggies. About 1/2 to 1 cup of each chopped or cut into strips (I used green bell pepper, yellow onion, carrots, and spinach but you could use almost anything)
Prepare rice according to package directions.
Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Add soy sauce and set aside.
Apply non-stick spray or olive oil to non-stick skillet or wok.
Add chicken breast and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until almost completely cooked.
Add vegetables and soy sauce mixture.
Serve stir-fry over rice.
Garnish with green onion, lime wedge or cilantro.
Have a great dinner.
~Michelle
This would be great without the chicken breast. You know how I feel about chicken breast. Good job!
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