honey ginger chicken with noodles.

hi! thank you so much for the kind comments regarding my grandma’s passing. i appreciate love and concern from all of you.

i hope your weekend was wonderful! i had a fun and busy weekend, but didn’t capture any of it on camera. in fact, before last night’s dinner, i hadn’t picked up my camera in almost a week!

despite there not being any pictures to prove it, i had a weekend packed with fun and sun and managed to cross some things off my summer bucket list!

a few weekend highlights:

• friday night i had a date with my bestie, kristen. we went to desert edge pub for drinks and dinner followed by fortune feimster’s show at wiseguys comedy club. it was hilarious!
• saturday morning i went to a body combat class for my first time ever! and maybe my last.. i am just not very coordinated and was flailing my arms around like a crazy maniac. but, hey, it was a good workout! my chest and lats haven’t been this sore in weeks. thanks to kerryne for convincing me to go with her.
• marshall and i went to the farmers market saturday afternoon and got eggs, raw honey, onions, spinach, basil, and dried cherries.
• we ate at z’tejas for brunch, which is new brunch place #2 for the summer. (i am aiming to try 3 new brunch spots.) i had eaten their dinner, but didn’t even know they had brunch! i was pleasantly surprised when we stopped in there and i saw the menu. it was super tasty.
• kerryne and i went to bikram yoga sunday morning—at 8 AM! i can’t believe i made it out of bed so early on a sunday. i just typed “sundy”—which is how i say the word in my head.
• i took a glorious three-hour-long nap on sunday afternoon.
• my sister flew in last night from california so she can be here for the funeral. we played boggle. momma b won. that’s pretty rare… that wasn’t just the highlight of her weekend.. that was the highlight of her life!

another highlight was last night’s dinner. it was delicious and i’m glad i was ambitious enough to take photos so i could share it with you!

i originally saw a recipe for sesame chicken on recipe.com awhile back and had been meaning to make it. i saw that the recipe uses pre-cooked chicken strips, but i prefer to cook my own if i have the time. i mentioned that marshall and i attended a cooking class on thursday. we learned about marinades and glaze reductions, so i thought i could incorporate those methods into this recipe. it worked well.

serves four
prep time: 10 minutes
marinating time: at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight
cook time: 20 minutes
adapted from recipe.com

ingredients:

for the marinade:

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar (i used lite)
• 2 TB honey
• 1 TB ginger (i used the kind in the jar because i’m a slacker.. but fresh would be fabulous)
• 1 TB low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp garlic chile paste (found in the asian section of the market)
• 1 tsp garlic (again, i used the jarred, but 1-2 cloves of fresh would work)
• 16 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed into 1” pieces

for the sauce:

• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 TB honey
• 1 TB ginger
• 1 TB low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp garlic chile paste
• 1 tsp garlic

for the rest of the dish:

• 4 oz whole wheat udon noodles
• 2 TB toasted sesame oil, divided
• 1 cup green onions (about 7-8 onions), diced
• 1 cup bell peppers (any color), diced
• salt & pepper, to taste
• fresh cilantro for garnish

directions:

1. whisk together marinade ingredients (except chicken).
2. add chicken to marinade and coat well.
3. cover chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes but you could leave it as long as overnight.
4. whisk together the sauce ingredients. set aside.
5. chop onions and peppers. set aside.
6. cook noodles according to package directions. set aside.
7. heat a skillet over medium heat. add 1/2 TB toasted sesame oil.
8. add chicken and cook through. discard remaining marinade.
9. remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
10. return skillet to medium heat and add 1/2 TB toasted sesame oil.
11. add onions and peppers to skillet. sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions and peppers begin to wilt.
12. remove peppers and onions from skillet and set aside with the chicken.
13. return skillet to medium heat and add 1/2 TB toasted sesame oil.
14. add sauce to skillet and cook until it thickens to a glaze—it will reduce by at least half.
15. while sauce is reducing, combine cooked noodles with remaining 1/2 TB toasted sesame oil, chicken, onions, and peppers.
16. pour glaze over noodles and toss to coat. season with salt and pepper, to taste.
17. serve immediately with a bit of chopped fresh cilantro for garnish.

nutrition stats per serving (based on four servings):

step-by-step photo tutorial:

whisk together marinade ingredients (except chicken).

add chicken to marinade and coat well.

cover chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes but you could leave it as long as overnight.

whisk together the sauce ingredients. set aside.

chop onions and peppers. set aside.

cook noodles according to package directions. set aside.

heat a skillet over medium heat. add 1/2 TB toasted sesame oil.

add chicken and cook through. (discard remaining marinade.)

remove chicken from skillet and set aside.

return skillet to medium heat and add 1/2 TB toasted sesame oil.

add onions and peppers to skillet. sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions and peppers begin to wilt.

remove peppers and onions from skillet and set aside with the chicken.

return skillet to medium heat and add 1/2 TB toasted sesame oil.

add sauce to skillet and cook until it thickens to a glaze—it will reduce by at least half.

while sauce is reducing, combine cooked noodles with remaining 1/2 TB toasted sesame oil, chicken, onions, and peppers.

pour glaze over noodles and toss to coat. season with salt and pepper, to taste.

serve immediately with a bit of chopped fresh cilantro for garnish.

enjoy!

xo. janetha g.

Tagged as: clean eating, honey ginger chicken