One of my favorite
foods of all time is Orange Chicken. But have you ever seen the nutritional information that most places offer this dish?! It's crazy how bad it is for you. The
sodium is high, the sugar is intense, there are tons of added preservatives and
additives that are just bad for you. Even though it tastes amazing, really
there isn't anything healthy about it. So my first challenge was to make a
healthier clean version. This is what I came up with. So far it's been a hit
with those that have tried it. This is a clean, gluten free (depending what soy
sauce you use), no additives, no preservatives, made with natural sugar version
of orange Chicken.
Healthy Orange Chicken
Prep
time: 2 hours – 1 day
Cook time: 45 min
Servings:
2
Calories: 570 per serving
Ingredients:
2-
6 ounce Chicken boneless skinless breast cut cubed (organic if possible)
4
– Medium sized oranges fresh squeezed (should make 1 2/3 – 1 ¾ cups)
1
cup of fresh steamed brown rice
3
cups of broccoli
2
cups of sliced carrots
2
cups of snow peas
1
½ cup of bean sprouts
½
cup of diced green onions.
1
cup of sliced mushrooms
Half
can of 12oz frozen concentrated Orange Juice
2
teaspoon of fresh ginger (fresh minced preferred), dry is ok too. 1tsp will be
used for marinade
3
teaspoon of fresh garlic (minced) 1½ tsp will be used for marinade
1
½ tablespoon of crushed red peppers
1
tablespoon of honey
¼
teaspoon of black pepper
¾
teaspoon of sesame seem oil
1
½ teaspoon of low sodium soy sauce ( or gluten free soy sauce)
1
pinch of pink sea salt
Sesame
seeds.
Dash
of Cayenne pepper for kick.
Preparation:
1.
Get chicken breast and cut into ½” - ¾” cubes.
2.
In a medium sized bowl mix fresh
squeezed orange juice, honey, garlic as listed, ginger as listed, dash of black
pepper and dash of salt.
3.
Add diced chicken into marinade and make sure marinade is covering the chicken.
If not fully covered add a little more orange juice. Let set in marinade for 2
hours or up to a whole day. The longer the better.
4.
When ready to start meal, start making the sauce. Before making sauce, start
rice, follow directions for cooking rice. In a small sauce pan place half can
of the frozen orange juice concentrate. Place pan over burner on light-medium
heat closer to medium. Once juice starts to melt watch and let come to a light
boil. Make sure to stir frequently, the sugars will start to thicken and caramelize
and cause it to burn.
5.
When sauce becomes thick, a syrup like consistancy, turn the stove to simmer and
add the following ingredients; garlic, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, cayenne
pepper, crushed red peppers, salt, pepper, and ginger. Mix well, taste for
flavor. If desired, add more soy sauce or sesame oil for flavor. If desired more
spicy, add more crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper.
6.
While sauce and rice are cooking, start to steam broccoli, carrots, snow peas.
You can either steam your own mixture, or in the fresh produce you can buy bags
of pre-mixed fresh veggies and put the bags in the microwave to steam them.
7.
In a large skillet over medium-high, you’re going to start to sauté your
chicken. Don’t worry about adding marinade to the chicken. While cooking the
chicken, it will sweat out the marinade and begin to caramelize the chicken. The
chicken should take about 10-15 minutes to fully cook through depending on the
kind of stove you have. When chicken is close to finish, add mushrooms to lightly
sauté.
8.
Once chicken is done cooking, pour sauce over chicken and toss together.
9.
On a plate, add ¼ cup of cooked rice and plate veggies and bean sprouts over
rice. When done, add chicken mix over veggies and rice. Lightly sprinkle green
onions and sesame seeds over dish.
Enjoy! Please leave comments on what you think of this dish or if you have an questions.
