Guilt-free Chinese

As i'm sure you have all noticed, major chain restaurants (those with more than 20 locations) are now required by law to post each dish's calorie content on their menu. I find this particularly annoying. 


I first noticed this information listed at P.F. Changs,The Habit and the Cheesecake Factory. Did you know that the Cheesecake Factory's "skinny" menu boasts "every meal under 590 calories!" I guess that seems like nothing compared to their Farmhouse Cheeseburger, which contains 3,210 mg of sodium and a whopping 1,530 calories. 


I understand these frightening numbers are listed for a reason and yes, I'm now able to make informed decisions based on them. My only problem is this--- did they really need to plaster the nutritional information for Panda Express on their giant lit-up menu? We all know it's terrible for us, but it's just too delicious to pass up. 


I bring you the solution- try my new recipe, it's 100% fat free and tastes even better than the real thing!

Fat Free Orange Chicken

Photo courtesy of Delanie Billman

Orange sauce:

1 cup water

1 cup orange juice

2 teaspoon galangal (or finely minced ginger)

½ cup brown sugar

1 ½ tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon Sriracha hot chili sauce (add more to taste)

Juice of ½ lemon

2 teaspoons orange rind

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ tsp garlic powder

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

2 tbs water

Chicken:

12-14 ounces of chicken (two large chicken breasts)

2 tablespoons corn starch 

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

Juice of 1/2 orange

1 cup low sodium chicken broth 

Cut chicken into small, bite sized pieces. Place in bowl with cornstarch and toss until coated. Squeeze orange over mixture and soy sauce. Toss until coated evenly. Set aside in fridge. 

To make the sauce, whisk first 10 ingredients in skillet. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for about 20 minutes until slightly thickened. Mix together corn starch and water in small bowl, then slowly add too sauce. Stir until slightly thickened. Set aside. 

Heat 1/2 cup chicken broth in medium frying pan. Once simmering, slowly add in the pieces of chicken. Allow to brown (mine took about 6 minutes but it depends on how big your pieces are!) and flip over. Add the rest of chicken broth if pan starts to get dry. Cook until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

Coat cooked chicken with the orange sauce. Serve over rice.