Orange Chicken
On the first day of my thirty-third year of life I realized there may be a limit to how many donuts I can safely consume. They were so delicious but I think I need a sugar detox after the amount I consumed! I’ve found as I clean up my overall diet, and maybe as I age, I can feel the difference when I don’t eat as clean as normal.
When my now husband and I started cooking at home years ago, a major factor was cost. We ate out frequently and thought if we made food at home, we could save some money. Chinese takeout occurred often so one of our first recreations was Orange Chicken. We were so impressed by our recipe, we ended up writing it down. I looked at the original recipe card for Orange Chicken and it is fun to see how our cooking has changed so drastically. Besides the chicken and orange it is a VERY different recipe.
Orange Chicken with Broccoli Rice
Serves 2
2 1/2 TBS freshly juiced orange (~ 1 orange)
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp minced garlic
1 TBS soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (increase to 1/2 tsp for spicy)
1/2 tsp sesame oil (1/4 in sauce, 1/4 for cooking)
6 chicken thighs
1/2 tsp corn starch or arrowroot
1/2 Bell pepper chopped
1 medium head broccoli, riced
1 red chili pepper (increase to 2 peppers for extra spicy)
1/2 cup jasmine rice
Optional additions: celery, snow peas, green onion, zucchini
Mix freshly juiced orange, orange zest, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 tsp sesame oil.
Trim any excess fat from the chicken thighs and cut into bite size pieces. Place in a container with 1/2 of the sauce.
Stir to coat chicken and refrigerate until ready to cook
Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add 1/2 cup jasmine rice. Turn down to low and cook 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is soft.
While rice is cooking, rice the broccoli in a food processor.
Chop the bell pepper and the chili pepper into chucks.
Heat 1/4 tsp sesame oil in a sauté pan over medium and add the chicken and peppers.
Cook chicken and peppers for 10 minutes
Stir cornstarch or arrowroot into the remaining sauce and pour over the chicken and peppers.
Turn down to low simmer and cook until chicken is done and sauce begins to thicken.
Mix broccoli rice with the hot jasmine rice.
Serve chicken over broccoli and rice mixture.
Notes:
If you are only using broccoli rice or if you prefer a softer texture, steam the broccoli before or after the food processor. To steam: add 1.5 TBS of water to the broccoli, cover, and cook in microwave for 2 minutes.
If you like it extra saucy, add in an additional 1/2 TBS soy sauce and 2 TBS orange juice to the sauce remaining after step 3.
