Crispy Honey Chicken

Adjusting to this new semester is taking some time, hopefully soon I will get into more of a routine so I can post more regularly. My little sister, Alex, came into town last week to surprise me for my birthday, which was awesome. Best. Present. Ever. She is the real chef in the family, so we took a night and made dinner for the boys. This Crispy Honey Chicken was (mostly) my dish, and she made fried rice to go with it.

I was trying to find a vegetarian recipe (that I would want to eat) for a family friend, and thought fried rice would be good.... but then I realized it has eggs in it so it might not actually be vegetarian... oops... so back to the drawing board on that one.

I have gotten some positive feedback about the recipe index I finally figured out how to put up (thanks Coach K's Sister :] ). Hopefully it helps you navigate around the site a little bit easier.


Crispy Honey Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 pound thinly sliced, boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 4 breasts to feed 4 people with rice on the side)
• 2 egg whites
• 1/3 cup cornstarch (or flour – for dredging, I ended up using a bit more than this, but it was a good amount to start)
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
• a handful of sugar snap peas (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Prepare and slice all of the vegetables. I used what I had, and what I like, so bell peppers and onions, but I left the broccoli and snap peas in from the original recipe in case you are more adventurous than me.

Prepare the chicken by cutting it into 1-inch pieces (I used scissors) and season with salt and pepper.

In separate bowls, add the egg whites (lightly beaten) and the cornstarch or flour. (The cornstarch will yield a “crispier” chicken).

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add veggies with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add in soy sauce and garlic and stir so veggies are coated, about 60 seconds. Remove from skillet and set aside in a bowl.

Now here is the trickier part:
Heat the same skillet (or you can use a different one, but lets think about doing the dishes later people--Cough Alex Cough) over medium-high heat and add remaining olive oil. Dip chicken pieces in egg whites and then lightly dredge in cornstarch. Add to the skillet and let brown for 2-3 minutes, then flip. Continue with remaining chicken pieces, and do so in batches if needed.

Once chicken is cooked, add veggies back in the skillet. Add honey and thoroughly mix to combine. Taste and season with salt, pepper, additional honey or soy sauce.

It was really good with fried rice, but plain rice would be just as awesome. Mine didn't turn out all that crunchy necessarily, but the honey gave it just enough sweetness... my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

And the boys loved it, so that is a plus :)

In other news:
I am super excited for the Superbowl next weekend (go Niners!) and we are having our second annual "dish-off" party, so stay tuned because whoever brings the best dish will be featured with their recipe on the blog!