Orange Chicken and Fried Rice

My husband has been emailing me Orange Chicken recipes for months now.   I looked over all of the recipes that he sent me and came up with one of my own.  Since he had been requesting it for so long, I decided that Father's Day would be the perfect day to make it.  I don't normally like to create new recipes for special occasion meals, so I was a bit nervous the whole time I was making it.  The orange chicken that my husband normally gets for take-out is fried.  I wanted to create a much healthier version that still had the take-out feel.  This recipe got his stamp of approval!

Ingredients:

• About a Pound of Chicken Cut into Bite Sized Pieces
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• About 1 1/2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
• Orange- 1 Tablespoon Zest and 4-5 pieces of peel
• a couple dashes of ginger
• a pinch of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 teaspoons corn starch
• 1/2 Cup Orange Juice
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• Salt and Pepper

Salt and pepper the chicken.  Heat sesame oil in skillet.  Add in orange peels and stir for about a minute.  Next, add in the chicken stirring and flipping to make sure it is cooked throughout.  

While chicken is cooking, mix together ingredients for sauce.  Place minced garlic, soy sauce, orange juice, ginger, orange zest, crushed red pepper flakes, and honey in a small food processor and mix well.  Pour mixture into small bowl and whisk in cornstarch.  Remove orange peels from chicken skillet and discard.  Pour sauce mixture into chicken skillet and simmer for about 5 minutes sauce will thicken.  

Fried Rice

• 1 Egg
• 2 Cups of Rice
• About 1 1/2 Cups Broccoli- cut into bite size pieces
• 1 small to medium Carrot- diced
• 1/4 Cup diced Onion
• 1 1/2- 2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• 2 Cups of Water
• 1 Chicken Bouillon Cube
• 1/2 Cup of Frozen Peas
• Drizzle of Olive Oil

Drizzle olive oil into bottom of medium sauce pan and heat.  Add onions and lightly saute for about a minute. Pour in rice and stir to coat.  Add in water and bouillon cube, cover and simmer about 12 minutes or until all of liquid is absorbed.  In a large skillet drizzle a small amount of olive oil and heat.  Add carrots and saute for about two minutes.  Add broccoli, peas, and a couple tablespoons of water and cover.  This will steam the broccoli.  It will only take a few minutes so don't let your broccoli turn to mush.  Push the veggies to one side of the skillet.  On the other side crack an egg and scramble it.  

Once it is cooked all the way, combine the veggies and scrambled egg.  Make sure the egg is in really small pieces.  When the rice is done cooking, dump it into this large skillet and mix with the veggies.  Add soy sauce, turn heat to high and "fry" the rice, stirring throughout.  This will only take about 2 minutes.  

Place a layer of rice on plate and top with the Orange Chicken and Sauce.  Enjoy!

This recipe was featured on the Marvelous May Menu be sure to check out all of the other recipes and menus for recipes, ideas, and inspiration.  

Tracy's personal favorite take-out recipe is our Teriyaki Beef and Broccoli.