Kung Pao Chicken

Wesley and I LOVE Chinese food, but believe me Chinese food is not something that you can eat on a diet.  I found a magazine called Clean Eating that I use regularly since we are trying to eat as "clean" as possible these days.  I found this recipe for Kung Pao Chicken in the magazine and "revamped" it in order to make it even more healthy.

KUNG PAO CHICKEN

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long-grain brown rice (I used organic Lundberg Brown Rice)
• 12oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch dice
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 6-10 small red chilies, diced and seeded 
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 6 scallions, white and light green parts, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly diced
• 2 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts
• Asian Gourmet Kung Pao Dipping & Grilling Sauce (you can make your own, but after searching for all the ingredients myself I soon realized it would be much cheaper and healthier to buy a packaged version at Earth Fare)

Instructions:

• Prepare rice according to package directions-Lundberg Rice will take you an hour to cook, so be sure to make this your first step.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine chicken and 1/2 cup Kung Pao sauce and marinate for at least 25 minutes in the refrigerator.
• When the rice is about 10 minutes from being done, heat peanut oil in a large wok or skillet on high (as you can see in the picture I do not have a wok, but I am begging Wes to get me one for Christmas).  Add chilies and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add chicken mixture, spreading chicken in a single layer in wok, and cook undisturbed for 1 minute.  Then stir chicken constantly until cooked fully.
• Add 1 cup of sauce and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

• Add bell pepper, scallions, peanuts, and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until bell pepper begins to soften, about 1 minute.  

• Serve chicken mixture over rice.  Makes 4 servings.

The finished product...ENJOY!!!

Nutritional Information per serving (1 cup of chicken mixture & 3/4 cup rice):

     Calories:            300

     Fat:                        9

     Saturated Fat:        1.6

     Cholesterol:         32.5

     Sodium:           1191

     Carbs:                  28

     Sugars:                26.5

     Protein:               25

     Fiber:                    1