Soy Citrus Chicken
If you’re looking for something to make for dinner that is a little on the lighter side, look no further. This dish is full of flavor without being heavy. It also freezes beautifully for a quick and easy weeknight meal. This recipe calls to marinate the meat overnight, doing so imparts tons of flavor. If pressed for time, you can make it all the same day, just make sure the meat gets marinated for a t least a couple hours. Makes 4 servings.
Marinade:
2 large skinless & boneless chicken breasts/cut into thin, bite size pieces
3 garlic cloves/ peeled & crushed
1 inch ginger root/ peeled & crushed
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1/6 cup white vinegar
1/8 cup sugar
Pinch of salt 1 tsp
Sauce:
1 tsp lemongrass puree or fresh minced lemon grass
1 shallot or half a small onion/fine dice
1 jalapeno (seeds removed)/ fine dice
2 garlic cloves minced
1 inch fresh ginger/ peeled & grated
1 TBsp fish sauce
1 TBsp Lime juice
2 TBsp brown sugar
1 TBsp Soy sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup chicken broth
1 heaping TBsp cornstarch
1 large head broccoli/ bit size pieces
1 cup quinoa, farro, barley or rice
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish
In a small bowl/tupperware container, mix chicken breast, crushed garlic and ginger (leave in big pieces so they’re easy to remove), orange juice, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt. Refrigerate overnight or at least a couple hours.
On day meal will be served, start cooking your selected grain according to package instructions. While this is cooking, drain chicken breast marinade liquid and remove big chunks of garlic and ginger. Remove as much liquid as possible. In a large sautee pan, heat oil and cook chicken. Once cooked, remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan, add a little oil and cook lemongrass, shallot, jalapeno, garlic and ginger until soft. Add fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, soy sauce and orange juice. In a small bowl make a slurry with the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the chicken broth (mix together until smooth) then whisk into cooking mixture along with the other 3/4 cup of broth. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly.
You can cook the broccoli at this point in the sauce or you can steam it separately and add it in. Mix in chicken until warmed through. Divide your cooked grain among your individual bowls then ladle the chicken and sauce over the top. Top with toasted sesame seeds & serve. Enjoy!
