Hellooooooo! I hope everyone had a great weekend, or if it wasn’t so great hopefully your week is off to a good start! I did a lot of cooking this weekend, including an absolutely beautiful tomato galette and some marshmallows that’ll be coming at you later this week! I mean, can we just look at this galette? I’m truly obsessed. All the details are on my insta (@ajoyouskitchen) if you want to make it too!
I also did my meal prepping! I absolutely love sesame chicken, and I’ve been trying to get a good recipe for it for a while, and this one was pretty darn good. I added some extra heat to it and the sweetness is at just the right level for me. and it was so simple! I roasted some veg, cooked up some quinoa, and while all that was going I worked on the chicken. First, I mixed up the batter for the chicken which was just egg, cornstarch, and salt & pepper. Then a quick mix of all the sauce ingredients so I was ready to go. Then it was just cutting up the chicken, mixing in the batter, cooking it until golden, then simmering in the sauce for a few minutes. It honestly all came together much quicker than I expected it to, which is always a plus.
The biggest tip I have for this is to let everything cool fully before putting on a lid and placing in the fridge once it’s in a storage container. Especially with the broccoli, if you put the lid on while it’s still hot the steam will create moisture and you’ll have soggy broccoli instead of the lovely roasted broccoli you created 🙁
I’ve got the recipe I used this time below, let me know what you think! It’s super flexible, sub in whatever grain you want and whatever veg you’ve got on hand. Let me know how it goes!
Sesame Chicken – makes 5 servings
prep time: 15 mins
cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, cubed
- 1 egg
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp oil
for the sauce
- 1 tsp oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/3 C soy sauce
- 1/2 C ketchup
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1-2 tsp garlic chili paste (optional)
- 2 tsp cornstarch
for serving
- quinoa (1 C uncooked)
- roasted broccoli (2 large heads)
How to do it
- start the veg: cut the broccoli into small florets and spread out on a baking sheet. be sure not to overcrowd or they’ll steam instead of roast. add a bit of oil and salt and pepper. roast at 425* for 15 minutes, or until crispy
- start the grain: start cooking the quinoa, or whatever grain you’re using. I used 1 C quinoa with 2 C water and a couple heavy pinches of salt. bring to a boil then let simmer until all the water has been absorbed, ~15-20 minutes. while this is cooking, start the chicken
- make the batter for the chicken: combine the egg, cornstarch, and salt and pepper in a large bowl
- add the cubed chicken to the batter and mix to coat all pieces
- make the sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl. set aside
- cook the chicken: heat oil in a pan over medium high heat. depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to do this in two batches. once hot, add the chicken in a single layer. cook until golden brown, then flip and break up into individual pieces. cook the second side until golden and chicken is cooked through
- once the chicken is cooked, add the sauce to the pan. let simmer for 3-5 minutes until thickened
- as things finish cooking, place into their own container and let cool to room temp before covering and placing in the fridge
- to reheat, place what you want to eat in a bowl and microwave for 1:30-2:00 minutes. enjoy!
[…] use is the biggest flavor component, so make sure it’s a good one! I had my own sauce recipe last time I made this, but this time I used store bought since I was looking for the quickest version I could […]