Orange Sesame Chicken with Broccoli

I don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions, but this year I’m making an exception. It’s a casual resolution but it’s one I would really like to work on.

The resolution is: to start cooking more healthy meals at home again and quit slacking!

I feel so accomplished and my body always thanks me when I make a nice meal, so now it’s just a matter of planning, preparing and executing it. I WILL be making this happen!

Last night, I began working toward the resolution by cooking up a recipe inspired by Ellie Krieger for Orange Sesame Chicken. I actually found the recipe while perusing through the Sunday paper. Here is the link for the recipe: Ellie’s Orange Sesame Chicken Stir-Fry.

I changed a handful of items in the recipe. I omitted the step where you coat the chicken with flour and lightly pan-fry it because I had already grilled up a chicken breast so I was just going to use that instead. I used a half a pound of chicken because I was just cooking for Dana and myself. orange chicken with broccoli I used broccoli and a handful of sugar snap peas instead of snow peas. orange chicken with broccoli I used Sriracha instead of crushed red pepper flakes. orange chicken with broccoli orange chicken with broccoli I ended up making the whole batch of sauce even though I only made a half batch of the chicken and it ended up being quite a bit of sauce. Next time, I would probably make the whole batch of chicken, and just save the leftovers for later.

Here is the recipe I used including changes I would make next time around! Enjoy.

Orange Sesame Chicken with Broccoli  Recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger Ingredients

  • 2 tsp. sesame seeds, lightly toasted
  • 2 medium oranges
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 3 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp. honey
  • 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp. Sriracha sauce
  • 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, or about 4 small-medium breasts, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces
  • 3 cups broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces
  • 1 cup sugar snap peas, chopped

Directions

  1. Use vegetable peeler to peel 3-4 pieces of orange peel; set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine juice from oranges, garlic, broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, honey, cornstarch, and Sriracha. Use fork or whisk to mix until cornstarch is dissolved.
  3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, lightly coated with olive oil. Add broccoli and snap peas to pan. Lightly saute for 2-3 minutes.
  4. Add sauce and orange peels to pan. Stir and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
  5. Add chicken to pan and stir to combine. Let heat through for 3 minutes.
  6. Serve hot and top with sesame seeds, discarding the orange peels.

It was a very flavorful meal and I felt like I was eating take-out at home! It was a nice change to the usual dinner rotation. Stay warm this Monday and have a good one!

What meals are you planning this week? 

Any New Year’s Resolutions?

Continue Reading Orange Sesame Chicken with Broccoli

Sweet Orange Chicken

Well this weekend just like every other weekend, flew by very quickly, but it was packed with a lot of productivity and relaxation too!

A few scenes and tidbits from the weekend

A little change-up to my standard pb and banana breakfast. I made bananas with strawberries with a spoonful of homemade almond butter. This batch of almond butter turned out perfectly and I am so diggin’ it.

fruit and almond butter

Throughout the course of the weekend I munched on a couple of these ALT bars by LARABAR which they so kindly sent me last week. This is their new protein bar made from pea protein that has 10 grams of protein. These bars are absolutely delicious and satisfying. So far I’ve had the peanut butter cookie (obviously I chose that one first) and the lemon pound cake. I let Dana taste test too and we both gave them two thumbs up.

 

larabar alt

 

Oh the joy of finding a package of these bars on your front step when you aren’t expecting it! I don’t think I could ever get tired of it.

larabar ALT

Dana and I actually sat down and watched a movie on Friday night. We have been wanting to see Silver Linings Playbook for quite some time, and by chance I checked out our local RedBox and it was actually there!

Holy cow, have you seen this movie? If you haven’t seen it, please do. It was a little dark but there was humor throughout the entire movie which lightened it, and the ending made me happy. I seriously loved it. And I love Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

bradley

 

This weekend we worked on the yard: we pulled weeds, cut the grass, planted flowers in the window boxes, mulched around one of our front trees, painted the exterior trim that needed touching up, planted herbs in pots, and hung up a decorative piece above our garage door. It felt great to be so productive and the house is really shaping up!

This weekend we celebrated my father-in-law’s birthday. The weather was beautiful that evening. We grilled burgers and sat outside for a while and soaked up the sun. It felt like a summer evening finally! We finished off the birthday celebration with Dairy Queen ice cream cake which I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

 

burger dinner

To end the weekend, I threw together a sweet and tasty dinner in the wok…

Sweet Orange Chicken!

In the wok I cooked one large chicken breast in a touch of sesame oil. I then added the veggies, some orange juice, coconut aminos, ground ginger, garlic, rice wine vinegar, honey, and salt and pepper. I let it all cook through for a while (more detailed recipe below) and then served it up!

I was going to chop up some iceberg lettuce and have that as a base under the orange chicken but I completely forgot. You could serve this just as I did, or with cooked quinoa or  brown rice.

orange chicken orange chicken orange chicken orange chicken orange chicken

It was sweet with a little hint of salty which is a flavor combination I adore.

Sweet Orange Chicken
Print
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, or 2 small, cut into chunks
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¾ cup carrot, diced
  • 1 cup sugar snap peas, chopped
  • 1½ cups broccoli
  • ½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
  • sprinkle of dried ground ginger
  • 2 Tbsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
  • 1-2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 Tbsp orange zest
Instructions
  1. In a wok or large sauce pan, heat sesame oil. Add chicken and cook for about 6-7 minutes until almost completely cooked through.
  2. Add vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add in remaining ingredients; let cook and boil for 4-5 minutes.
  4. Turn off heat, use microplane to grate 1 tablespoon of orange zest over the chicken and veggies. Serve warm with brown rice, quinoa, or enjoy by itself!

 

You can use up whatever veggies you have on hand for this recipe. It is truly so easy (like the majority of my recipes) and it was something fun and different from your standard stir-fry!

Did you cook up anything nummy this weekend?

Continue Reading Sweet Orange Chicken