Spicy Green Beans (Similar to PF Chang's)

I failed and did not take a picture when I made it- this photo is from All Recipes.com

Tired of making the same ole green beans? Look no further! I love the flavor these beans pack- it is almost like the spicy green beans at PF Changs! I loved the recipe because I already had everything in the cupboard. Feel free to adjust the amount of spice to your taste with the chile sauce. Personally, I would add more. They have a lot of flavor though- so don't pair with an entree with a heavy sauce as well - they do better with grilled chicken, etc.

Spicy Green Beans
Recipe from All Recipes

• 3/4 fresh green beans, ends trimmed (you can use frozen if you want, just steam for longer)
• 2 TBSP soy sauce
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp garlic chili sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tsp canola oil

Steam green beans for 3 minutes in a steamer basket or in the microwave. I prefer to put mine in a microwaveable bowl with a tiny bit of water & cover with plastic wrap. Fresh beans only need about 2 minutes & frozen need about 4 (Depending on amount of beans). If you like crispier green beans, than you can skip the steaming as long as they are at room temperature (i.e. not frozen). 

In a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, garlic, chili sauce & honey and set aside. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add green beans and cook about 3 minutes. Add sauce and cook 2 more minutes, until sauce is mostly absorbed. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Chinese Chicken Salad Revisited

I've posted this delicious & easy salad recipe before, but it is just so awesome that I wanted to post it again. I make this at least once or twice per month- sometimes more! It's so easy to trhrow together and is aboslteuly packed with great flavors & textures. You can feel free to add & take-away toppings to your taste. One of my favorite flavors comes from the little "kick" in the chili paste on the chicken. Also, since I last posted this I found a delicious ready-made dressing that I actually prefer to use with it.

Another favorite slad of mine is Fiesta Chicken Salad. The pictures on my post do not do it justice. It uses a lot of the same ingredients as this salad, so its easy to get ingredients for both at the same time.

One tip- wash & chop up your veggies the first time you make it and bag the leftovers. The next day, leftovers couldn't be easier to make!


Chinese Chicken Salad
Makes enough for 2-3. Easily doubled!

• 1/2 bag coleslaw mix (you can throw away the dressing packet)
• 1/2 bag romaine lettuce
• 2 green onions, sliced into small pieces
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 small bag slivered almonds
• 1/2 package Ramen noodles, chicken flavored
• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 TBSP white sugar
• 1 chicken breast
• olive oil
• soy sauce
• salt & pepper
• garlic salt
• garlic chili paste
• Asian dressing of choice, I like low-fat Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame

Heat oven to 350. Wash and dry chicken breast, trimming fat as desired. Cover cookie sheet with foil & place cooling rack on top. Spray with cooking spray and place chicken bresat in the middle. Use a paper towel to spread olive oil & soy sauce on chicken. Season with salt, pepper & garlic salt.  Spread chili paste on top to taste. Bake for 30 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle. Cut into bit-size pieces and set aside.

While the chicken is cooking, melt butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add almonds and stir to coat. Once they start to caramelize and turn light brown they are done! Remove from heat and scoop onto a plate in 1 layer. Dab with paper towel to remove excess butter & set aside. Once cool, crumble into pieces. Set aside.

In a large bowl, place lettuce, coleslaw mix, green onion & red pepper. Top with warm chicken & candied almonds. Crumble ramen nooodles on top last. Add dressing and toss to coat. 

Enjoy!

Apricot Pepper-jelly Chicken

I was intrigued by this recipe, which started off as Orange Marmalade Chicken. I found some apricot pepper jelly (at Marshall's, where else?) and decided to try that instead. I LOVE a little spicy in my food, but this was definitely not too spicy. My roommate had a little too and she said she really liked it. The other bonus was how quick it was. I think I made this around 9pm, and I was very pleased to be eating in less than 20 minutes! :) My idea of a perfect meal... I just made some basmati rice, but you could serve this over sprouts or lettuce too. I think this will be a hit at your house too!

Sweet and Sour Chicken-Takeout style

I found this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker a month or so ago when I was on the hunt for new dinner recipes. I hadn't made this one yet, because its one of those dishes that you don't need any "fresh" stuff for. I know that sounds bad, but it just means that I usually have all the ingredients on hand in the pantry/freezer, and they won't go bad. So, I always end up making something else with ingredients that will go bad soon if not used (i.e. fresh vegetables, fish, cheese, etc.)

Well, I'm glad I finally got around to this one. It tastes like something yummy from Pei-Wei and is super easy to make and serve with frozen veggies and boil-in-a-bag brown rice (which is exactly what I did). :) Definitely not above boil-in-a-bag rice!


I only had 2 chicken breasts (the original recipe called for 3-4), but I thought there was barely enough sauce for 2 breasts, so if you make this with 4, double the sauce.

The bf and his friend, B, were over for dinner. They both thought it was pretty tasty, although they were too engrossed in their video game to offer any more detailed feedback... The bf said he wanted me to make it again, so I guess this one gets a thumbs up. Personally, I thought it was pretty delicious and easy! The most time-consuming part of this is the baking, but the rest is pretty quick. No chopping/dicing, etc.

Make this soon!

Sweet and Sour Chicken- Takeout style!

• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1" pieces)
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten (1 only had 1 egg and 2 TBSP whites)
  
• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
  
• 1/2 cup white (or rice) vinegar
  
• 4 TBSP ketchup
• 1 TBSP soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 325. Wash and dry your chicken breasts. Slice into 1" pieces (I used kitchen shears). Season with salt and pepper. In two batches (if you're making 4 breasts), coat in cornstarch and then egg, coating evenly.

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat, carefully adding chicken (Again, in two batches), making sure to separate pieces. Cook until browned on bottom and turn to brown on other side.

While cooking the chicken, whisk together sugar, vinegar, ketchup soy sauce and garlic powder in small bowl.

Place chicken in 13x9 pan in single layer.

Pour sauce mixture over chicken, turning to coat evenly.

Bake for 1 hour, turning chicken every 15 minutes.

Serve with brown rice and steamed veggies.

Enjoy! :)

-Marissa