Sweet and Sour Chicken

Another great Pinterest find! I changed up the original recipe just a little and Jason loved it! He asked for it to be in 'our rotation'. (that's a pretty big deal, btw.) He suggested that I add peppers and pineapple to the sauce next time. Why didn't I think of that!? I served it with steamed rice, broccoli and my homemade veggie egg rolls.

Sweet & Sour Chicken
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cut into one inch pieces
1/4 cup grape seed or olive oil
1 egg, beaten
1/4 - 1/2 cup flour
1/4 - 1/2 cup cornstarch
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup chopped pineapple
1 cup chopped bell pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Coat an 8x11 baking dish with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine sugar through red pepper flakes and whisk until combined. Pour just enough of the sauce to coat the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add pineapple and bell pepper to bowl; set aside.

2. Heat oil in large skillet. Place flour, egg and cornstarch in shallow dishes; season cornstarch with salt and pepper. Working in batches, dip the chicken into the flour, egg, then cornstarch. Carefully place chicken in oil and brown both sides. After chicken is browned, but not cooked through, place in baking dish.


3. Once all the chicken is browned, pour the remaining sauce over the chicken and bake for 35-40 minutes, flipping once or twice. Serve over steamed rice and enjoy!

Peanut Noodles

This is one of our favorites, but we haven't had it in forever!  I was so glad that Jason suggested it for dinner this week.  It's a fairly fast dish and has lots of veggies.  Redmond even ate some....okay, he didn't eat any of the veggies, but I'll take it!

Peanut Noodles
Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 oz whole wheat/grain pasta or Soba noodles (I like to use linguine)
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 red bell pepper, cut in 1-2 inch chunks
1-2 bunches of green onions, all but 2 cut into 1 inch pieces; cut the other two into small pieces for garnish
3 oz carrots cut in 2 inch pieces
4 oz snow peas
1 stalk baby Bok Choy, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp minced ginger (you can add more if you like ginger - I'm not a huge fan)
1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth
3 tbsp natural peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
2 1/2 tbsp lite soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
Red pepper flakes (optional)
1 oz lightly salted peanuts, chopped

Directions:
1.  Cook noodles according to package; drain and set aside.  While noodles are cooking, heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil and cook the vegetables, ginger and garlic until beginning to soften. Add noodles to vegetable mixture.


2.  In a small saucepan, combine the broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey and red pepper flakes and heat over medium heat.  Simmer, whisking frequently until mixture is well combined and has thickened.

3.  Pour the peanut butter sauce over the noodles and vegetables and mix well with tongs.  Serve with chopped nuts and scallions on top.  Enjoy!

Vegetable Egg Rolls

I absolutely love Chinese food, especially eggrolls.  Vegetarian eggrolls are hard to come by and, of course, are deep fried in oil.  These are baked, but still come out crispy.
I made a large batch of these so that I could freeze them.  You could easily cut the recipe in half.  I only cooked 3 this evening for Jason and I.

Vegetable Egg Rolls
Makes approximately 22 egg rolls

Ingredients:
1 package egg roll wrappers 
14oz coleslaw mix
1 can bamboo shoots, drained and sliced
1/2 cup bean sprouts
4-6 scallions, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced thin
1 large carrot sliced thin or julienned (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup light soy sauce
2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp ground ginger
dash of salt and pepper

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375°.  Place slaw mix in a microwave-safe bowl with 1/4 cup of water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes; stir, cover and microwave for one more minute. Drain any excess water and transfer to a large bowl. Combine all other ingredients (except egg roll wrappers), mix well and let sit in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

2.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place an egg roll wrapper on a clean, dry surface. Moisten the entire edge of the wrapper with water (just dip your finger in the water and run it along the edge), and, using a slotted spoon, put a large spoonful (about 2 tbsp) of the mixture into the wrap.

3.  Roll the wrapper as instructed on the package (or check out my cool picture tutorial below!), being sure to seal the wrapper when you reach the end. Carefully transfer the eggroll to the prepared cookie sheet, seam side down. Continue with the remainder wrappers and filling.*

4.  Spray the top of the eggrolls with nonstick spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with desired dipping sauce.

*If you would like to freeze the eggrolls, place the sealed eggrolls on a wax paper-lined baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  Place the cookie sheet in the freezer and allow eggrolls to freeze completely.  Once frozen, tranfer to a freezer bag.  To re-heat, place on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray and spray the tops of the egg rolls.  Bake at 375° for  30-35 minutes, until golden brown.

Filling and rolling an egg roll:


Position the wrapper so it's angled, like a diamond.
Wet your fingertip and run it along the edges.



Place the filling towards the bottom corner.



Tightly wrap the bottom corner around
the filling and roll halfway up the wrapper.



Fold both sides in towards the center,
continue tightly rolling the eggroll.



Tada!