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.  

Teriyaki Beef and Broccoli

My husband has been asking me for a long time to try to duplicate some of our favorite take out items.  This was my first attempt and it was a mighty fine one if I do say so myself.  He said it was definitely a keeper (and believe me if he doesn't like something he lets me know). It was much easier than I expected and came together with out a bunch of weird ingredients- which is a bonus because I hate buying ingredients and only using them for one thing that I may never make again.  This I will definitely be making again. I think I will attempt chicken fried rice next.  Wish me luck!

Ingredients:

• About a Pound of Sirloin cut into cubes or strips
• 7 Tablespoons Teriyaki Sauce (divided )
• 4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 4 teaspoons of Cornstarch
• 1 Cup of Water
• 2 teaspoons Minced Garlic
• 3-4 cups of Broccoli
• A couple handfuls White Mushrooms (optional)
• 1 box of Linguini cooked accordingly to box (use whole grain for healthier option)
• Dash of Oil
• I think next time I will add bean sprouts

Serves about 5

Cut the meat into strips or cubes and marinade in 3 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce for at least 30 minutes.  Heat a dash of oil in a large skillet.  Brown meat.  Remove Meat from pan.  Set aside meat leaving drippings in the pan.  

While meat is browning bring a pot of water to boil.  Blanch the broccoli in boiling water for about 2 minutes.  Drain broccoli and set aside.  

Combine soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, water, garlic, sesame oil, and cornstarch (adding cornstarch last) in a container with a lid.  Shake until it is all combine.  Dump mixture into skillet with beef drippings and over medium high heat stir the mix constantly as it thickens (maybe 4 minutes or so).

Add in the mushrooms and cook until tender.

Toss in the broccoli and beef coating everything in the brown sauce.  This step will also re-heat the beef and broccoli if it cooled down.

Add the cooked linguini to the skillet and toss with the sauce.  Enjoy! 

This recipe was featured on the Marvelous May Menu, be sure to check out the rest of the May Menu.