Tag Archives: chicken

Chicken Fried Rice

August 21, 2012
Shannon
1 comment
Asian, chicken, food, ginger, peas, rice

I’ve mentioned before certain foods that I would want to have if I was stuck on a deserted island: s’mores and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are just a few. Yes, you know I have a sweet tooth. I could probably add deviled eggs to that list too. But another food that I never tire of and could eat every single day is fried rice. And I mean every. single. day. I normally eat vegetable fried rice (a habit going back to my vegetarian days) but as much as I love it, I don’t ever try to make it at home. After all, the Chinese food restaurant is right around the corner and can have my fried rice ready for me in 15 minutes, right? Well, the problem we all know is that fried rice isn’t exactly healthy and shouldn’t be eaten often, if ever. But I can’t give it up so why not give in and try to make it, when I can control the oil and the ingredients myself? This recipe for Chicken Fried Rice seems like a good place to start.

Chicken, scrambled egg, peas, and rice are combined with a mixture of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar and lime juice. Fresh garlic and grated ginger provide additional layers of flavor to this rich dish. The lime juice really provides an additional unexpected freshness and the chili sauce gives it a slight kick, which I love. I used precooked chicken strips since I had them on hand but thin-cut chicken would work well here too since it cooks quickly. Since I try to eat brown rice as much as possible, I also used ready-made whole grain brown rice in place of the boil-in-bag rice but any kind of rice will work here. While this isn’t restaurant-style fried rice, this was a tasty and satisfying fried rice dish that isn’t as oily and doesn’t leave you feeling guilty after eating it. What’s also great about this is you can add adapt it to your own taste by adding other vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, baby corn, grean beans or bean sprouts. I’ll definitely make this again, maybe even leaving out the chicken, to satisfy that vegetable fried rice craving I get oh-so often.

The ingredients:

Combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce, cornstarch, and chicken in a bowl; toss well. Combine remaining 4 teaspoons soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, lime juice and chili paste in a small bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture and stir-fry 4 minutes or until lightly browned. (If using pre-cooked chicken like I did, stir-fry just until heated through.)

Push chicken to one side of skillet and add eggs to open side of pan. Cook 45 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir eggs and chicken mixture together.

Remove chicken mixture from pan and keep warm. Return pan to medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add onion, ginger, and garlic and cook 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add rice and cook 1 minute.

Add peas and cook 1 minute.

Add chicken mixture and soy sauce mixture. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Stir in green onions.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions

Pre-cooked chicken strips
Ready-made brown rice

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Rum-Marinated Chicken Breasts with Pineapple Relish

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I spent the weekend laying low, only going to dinner and a movie on Friday night with friends and spending the rest of my time engrossed in a new novel while watching either Food Network or reruns of various Bourne movies. That’s pretty much how I roll. Oh, and I made food. Like usual. Again, that’s how I roll. I usually scan the grocery store circulars to see what’s on sale before I decide what to make but this week, I decided to make what I was in the mood for. I sucked up the fact that chicken is ridiculously expensive in order to make Rum-Marinated Chicken Breasts with Pineapple Relish, a light chicken dish filled with vibrant tropical flavors.

Chicken breasts are marinated in a mixture of dark rum, barbecue sauce, Caribbean hot sauce and lime juice before being grilled to perfection and topped off with a golden relish of fresh pineapple and red pepper. Never had Caribbean hot sauce? I’m no stranger to Pickapeppa Sauce (a condiment made of tomatoes, mangoes, raisins and peppers, among other things) which was introduced to me by my old roommate who would pour half a bottle over cream cheese and smear it over Triscuits. True story. There was never a shortage of Pickapeppa in my apartment. But I digress. The rum marinade perfectly tenderizes the chicken and is then boiled to create a rich, silky sauce. The golden relish is tangy, slightly sweet, tart and a tasty complement to the chicken. Not a fan of pineapple’s acidity? Consider substituting any summer fruit, like mango, peach or nectarine. This is a chicken dish that I could eat, in any variation, nearly every day.

The ingredients (disregard the honey, my bad):

Combine dark rum, barbecue sauce, Pickapeppa sauce, lime juice, salt and vegetable oil in large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to the bag and seal, allowing chicken to marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

To prepare relish, place pineapple on grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill 3 minutes on each side or until soft and browned around the edge. Allow to cool slightly and chop.

Combine pineapple, bell pepper, lime rind, lime juice, dark rum, Pickapeppa sauce and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Remove the chicken from the bag and set aside. Reserve marinade, discarding any chicken bits remaining and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Set aside. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill until chicken is cooked to 165ºF. (Remove and discard skin if using bone-in chicken.)

Bring reserved marinade to a boil in a small saucepan and cook 1 minute. Drizzle cooked marinade over chicken.

Serve chicken with relish and lime wedges.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

Boneless chicken breasts

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Chicken and Green Bean Salad

I’m a sucker for creamy, rich, mayonaisse-laden chicken salad. I love my own homemade chicken salad the best (which I will share with you one day) but I’ve been known to order fattening chicken salad in a restaurant from time to time. No matter how much I might want to eat it, I really try to watch my mayonaisse intake. Having grown up in Central Illinois where everything is made with mayonaisse, this used to be more of a task than it is now. (My dad used to make his own salad dressing with mayonaisse and sugar – ugh!).

After falling in love with and devouring Cooking Light‘s Avocado Chicken Salad, I couldn’t resist trying the mayo-free Chicken and Green Bean Salad. Steamed green beans are mixed with chicken and grape tomatoes and then tossed in a light mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, whole-grain Dijon mustard, and fresh thyme. If you don’t have whole-grain Dijon, regular Dijon will work (it just won’t look as pretty). The recipe calls for cherry tomatoes but I used grape tomatoes (they are smaller and fit onto the baguette slices better). I also quickly grilled up chicken tenders which I shredded with a fork but using rotisserie or precooked chicken will speed up the preparation. Seasoned with salt and pepper, this chicken salad is a great option to take to a picnic or outdoor event. Serve with toasted baguette slices, whole-grain crackers or over a bed of baby spinach and you’ve got yourself a dish good enough for lunch, dinner or as an easy appetizer. And I bet you won’t even miss the mayonaisse!