Bourbon Chicken

I found this recipe by googling the title and came across this recipe on food.com.  It scored 4.5/5 stars and over 2,500 reviewed the recipe!  I've never seen a recipe reviewed so many times!  This dish was easy and delicious!  Great for a weeknight meal.  Mark liked it too!  I modified it a little from the original and this served 2 people for dinner plus 1 or 2 meals for leftovers. 

It's funny that this recipe is called "bourbon chicken" when it actually has no bourbon at all.  It's supposed to taste like the "mall chicken", you know, they are always handing out samples in the food court.  A lot of reviewers said it tastes like the chicken in the mall food court.  I didn't think it did but I thought it was good in it's own right.  The one in the mall probably has a LOT more sodium and other unhealthy things in there. 

Update: I ended up with some sauce leftover after we had eaten all the chicken, so I ended up dicing up some firm tofu to put in the sauce over rice.  Delicious!  So you can make this dish vegetarian/vegan too.

Bourbon Chicken

Ingredients:
5 chicken tenderloins, cut into bite sized pieces
about 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 package frozen "asian medley" vegetables or any other veggie of choice

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet.  Coat chicken pieces in about ONE tablespoon of cornstarch.  Add chicken to the hot skillet and cook until lightly browned.  Remove chicken.  Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.  Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  After the first 10 minutes of simmering, you can add the frozen veggies so that they can cook until crisp tender.  In the last few minutes of simmering, slowly add about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch until desired consistency is reached.  Serve over hot rice (I used a rice blend of brown, white, and wild). 

Kung Pao Chicken with Coconut Jasmine Rice

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, December 2010

I have been a subscriber to Cooking Light for about six months now.  I always try to cook as healthily as possible and I thought this magazine had good recipes based on browsing it at the bookstore.  I must say though, the few recipes that I have tried have been disappointing.  Maybe I just haven't picked good ones to try, but I will keep trying more.  This Kung Pao Chicken recipe looked good, quick, and easy...my type of dish!  It makes about 4 servings.  My husband and I actually both enjoyed it and it's something I will consider making again. 

Coconut Jasmine Rice:
Combine 1 cup uncooked brown rice, 1 cup water, 1/2 light coconut milk, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to a simmer; cook 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.  Remove from heat; fluff rice with fork.  Stir in 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro.
           Sidenote:  If you are Asian, like me, you probably have a rice cooker.  (If you are Asian and you don't have a rice cooker, then I will judge you.)  I threw all the ingredients into the rice cooker (except for the cilantro) and pushed the button for it to cook.  When it was done cooking, I stirred in the chopped cilantro.

Kung Pao Chicken:

Ingredients:
2 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup water
3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper (about 1 large pepper)
1 cup snow peas, trimmed
1 handful chopped, dry-roasted peanuts

Directions:
1. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion to pan; saute 3 minutes or until softened.  Add garlic; saute 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Add chicken; saute 3 minutes or until chicken begins to brown.
2. Combine 3/4 cup water and the next 5 ingredients (through crushed red pepper), stirring with whisk until sugar dissolves.  Add water mixture to pan; bring to a boil.  Add bell pepper and snow peas to pan; cook for 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender and sauce thickens.  Sprinkle with peanuts.