Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Lighter General Tsao's Chicken

We love chinese food, but takeout can be both expensive and loaded with calories/fat. This is so yummy, and the plates are always cleaned!

3/4 cup canned chicken broth, reduced sodium
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp peanut oil
2 medium scallions, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or 1 dried chili pepper, minced
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cups cooked white rice, kept hot

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger; set aside.

2. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallions, garlic and pepper and cook 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until browned all over, about 5 minutes.

3. Add reserved sauce and simmer until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes.

4. Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Yields about 1 cup chicken and sauce and 1/2 cup of rice per serving (total of 4).

(Feel good about serving this dish -- it's only about 300 calories a serving!!)

1 comment:

Lisa Ross said...

I made this for dinner tonight and enjoyed it. It had just the right amount of spice and Roman liked it as well (he kept calling it "Korean food"). It doesn't have quite as much flavor as the original, but I guess you have to sacrifice something to reduce the calories!