Orange Chicken

Talk about a quick dish! KK usually sets out the ingredients for me before I get started cooking (usually it’s the night before :)).  Of course, I'm always appreciative of his planning, but this is one of the moments when it really makes a difference! There isn’t much time between each step, so it helps to have everything ready otherwise you'll be frantically running around the kitchen, trying to find the ingredients.  We served this dish with some Minute Rice, which I just after I put the chicken in the skillet.  The goal of the first step is only to brown and crisp the outside of the chicken; it will not be cooked through.  Don’t worry though, there’s more cook time in step #3! Both KK and I found ourselves adding excessive amounts of Sriracha sauce to this dish because it was a little bland, so I’ve updated the ingredient list below to add a little extra kick to the dish before serving it.

Orange Chicken

Adapted from Recipe Girl

Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

2 tsp sesame oil

1 lb boneless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper, to taste

15-oz. can mandarin oranges in light syrup

½ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

2 tsp cornstarch

2 tsp Sriracha sauce

Directions

1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper; place chicken in skillet and cook until golden on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.

2. Drain oranges, reserving ¼ cup of the light syrup.  Add oranges and reserved syrup to the skillet; let simmer for 2 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together chicken broth, soy sauce, corn starch, and Sriracha sauce.  Add mixture to skillet and simmer until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes.  Serve immediately.