Orange Chicken

Confession:

I look at our Hawaii pictures at least once a day.

What an incredible trip. I discovered I love surfing. We took an outrigger canoeing tour on the Pacific. We easily polished off a pineapple a day and of course, we got our whale watch on. You could hear their tails smack the surface of the water from the beach. It sounded like thunder, but whale tails are way cooler than thunder. Jaw-dropping, really.

Confession:

I bought an undisclosed number of Reader’s Digests in the Maui airport.

Look who’s in there?! Make it Naked!

I was contacted and asked if they could mention my Ochazuke recipe and, of course, I said yes. I never heard anything back, but a friend posted on my Facebook wall that she was reading the issue and saw my name. I do think it’s funny that there is no mention of the recipe at all. Just that I put 4-6 tea bags in my chicken broth. Weird. How much chicken broth? And what else goes in there? But regardless, I think it’s super cool, and I buy one every single time I see it in the store.

Confession:

I don’t feel like doing ANYTHING! Dishes are piling up. I haven’t run much since we got back. Work is taking me longer than it should. And I don’t feel like cooking! Gasp! But there isn’t a restaurant downstairs where we can just charge dinner to the room. Someone has to make it.

Confession:

Like, big time confession.
It’s not me.
I rarely make dinner.
There. I said it.

As much as I (normally) love being in the kitchen, Jon might love it even more. I met Jon in a kitchen and I can’t seem to get him out of there. I’m ok with that. Especially times like now, when all I want to do is watch TV and read 20 copies of Reader’s Digest.

This is a Jonny Fulton specialty. He’s really great at stir-frys and Asian cuisine. And Mexican. And Pizza. And chili. And anything grilled. You get the point. I enjoy his cooking, and I think you will too. He mixes it up often, and this time he took chicken and seasoned it with fresh orange juice and crushed red pepper. Then he added some veggies that he cut all fancy-like, some tamari, Sriracha, put a lid on it and drank a beer. I wasn’t completely useless. I took the pictures.

Jon’s Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 an onion, sliced
1/2 cup snow peas, chopped
1 orange
1/2 cup edamame (I used organic frozen)
1/4 cup cashews, chopped
1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons tamari, separated
1/2-1 teaspoon Sriracha
1-2 scallions, chopped for topping
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (about 5-6 turns of the pepper grinder)
Brown rice for serving

Directions:

1. In a ziplock bag or in a shallow dish, add the chopped chicken. Squeeze half the orange and sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper over the chicken. Let sit for at least 20 minutes or refrigerate for up to 2 hours.
2. When the chicken is ready, in a large pan heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the garlic, carrots and chicken. Add 1 tablespoon of the tamari and 1/2-1 teaspoon of Sriracha depending on desired heat lever. Cover and let cook on medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes or until the chicken is mostly cooked and the carrots have started to soften.
3. Add the onions and snow peas. Season with the black pepper. Add the other 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper if desired. Add the juice of the other half of the orange and the zest of 1/4 of the orange. Add 1/2 tablespoon tamari. Cover and let cook 5-7 minutes.
4. Add the edamame and cashews. Stir. Let cook until edamame is defrosted (just a minute or two).
5. Top with scallions and serve on a bed of brown rice.

Notes:

1. He used chicken this time, but he’s made this with shrimp and beef as well.
2. The lid is key. Be sure to cover when cooking to help steam the veggies and make the dish a bit more saucy. Enjoy!