Sunday, April 4, 2010

Sesame Chicken

Source: Good Things Catered

I love chicken, but it's easy to get bored with it. It had been awhile since I'd made anything with Asian flavors, so I browsed through my Reader and this recipe caught my eye.

I LOVED the chicken! Garlic chili sauce (in the Asian section at your grocery store) has great flavor and kick! That, combined with the bread crumbs and sesame seeds, made for a very flavorful chicken. The noodles were flavorful, too...but just not my bag, baby. I like tahini in hummus, but I'm really not a huge fan of peanut butter in general. I think if you like those flavors, though, go for it! Next time I think I will make the noodles with the veggies and sesame seeds, and then splash on some soy sauce for flavor. Yum!

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp sesame oil
1 heaping tablespoon Chinese garlic chili sauce
1 c. bread crumbs
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 Tbsp black sesame seeds
1 tsp olive oil

Directions:
-In medium bowl, combine chicken, sesame oil and garlic chili sauce.
-Toss to combine well and place in fridge.
-Marinate chicken for at least 20 minutes and up to 2 hours.
-Remove from fridge when ready to cook and place a nonstick pan on stove over medium heat.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Place olive oil into pan and heat until almost smoking.
-Meanwhile another shallow bowl, add bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt, pepper, sesame seeds and toss to combine.
-Using tongs, place chicken breast into bread crumb mixture and coat well.
-Place into hot pan and repeat with remaining chicken breasts.
-Cook until golden in color on one side, about 2-3 minutes and flip.
-Cook an additional 2-3 minutes and place pan into preheated oven.
-Bake until internal temperature of 160 is achieved (do not over cook) and remove, about 10-15 minutes.
-Place chicken on warm serving plate, let rest for at least 10 minutes and serve.

Sesame Noodles

Ingredients:
1 (8oz) package whole wheat thin spaghetti
1 large carrot, ends removed and sliced into thin matchsticks
1 heaping Tbsp tahini
1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp good quality sesame oil
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
6 green onions, sliced thinly, dark green ends removed
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 c. reserved pasta water

Directions:
-Cook pasta according to package directions.
-Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine tahini, peanut butter, sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce and green onions.
-Stir to combine well and set aside.
-In last 2 minutes of cooking time, add matchstick pieces to boiling water.
-Remove 1 c. pasta water from pan and set aside.
-Drain pasta and carrots and place into large bowl along with other ingredients.
-Add 1/2 of reserved pasta water and toss to combine all ingredients.
-Add sesame seeds, let sit for 1 minute and add additional pasta water to obtain desired consistency.
-Serve warm or cold.

No comments: