"Light" Spicy Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

February 27, 2009

When traveling, I always have the best intentions of exercising, not eating too much and not having cocktails every night before, during and after dinner, but I know from experience that these promises are not worth making because they are next to impossible to keep when you consider jet lag, different working and eating schedules, having to dine out for every meal and believe it or not, it is hard to translate "fat free dressing" into English from whatever language the menu might be in- in the case of my most recent travels, German. My carefully calculated diet of January became a distant memory rather quickly and was transformed into the much joked about "see-food" diet. Let's face it, Europeans know how to cook AND they know how to eat which is why Diet Girl got lost in Germany for a couple of weeks.

The good news is that from my dieting escapades in January I was down a full 5 pounds which I managed to keep off even post-travels!! I have also realized that though the "packaged food" diet was not ideal and not that tasty, I did learn how to eat better, feel better and make some healthier choices: Wheat and grains instead of white flour when possible, try to keep salt and carbs down, when evaluating fat, it is the saturated fats that are most important to monitor AND vegetable and fruits are practically a free food in the diet world no matter what the calories. I have also been very much on the lookout for healthy, light meals that actually have some flavor and I found a great one that I tried at home this week...Spicy Sweet-and-Sour Chicken courtesy of Cooking Light magazine (Jan/Feb 09 issue). I am not one to give props to my own cooking abilities but I rocked this one!! It rivals the best chinese take out you've ever had...AND IT IS LIGHT! See below for the recipe. Serve with easy white rice or some type of noodles or eat as is. I hope you enjoy and let us know at Foodie Favorites if you try it and what you thought.

Bon Appetit!
Diet Girl

PS- I've noticed that alot of "light" recipes call for the same ingredients so even though it might be a pain to get everything, you will use them again.

Ingredients:
4 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
5 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine) or dry sherry
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 2x 1/2 inch thick pieces
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons chile paste
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
1 cup (1/2 inch) diced onion
1 cup (1/2 inch) diced green bell pepper
1 cup (1/2 inch) diced medium red bell pepper
1/2 cup (1 inch) sliced green onions
1 cup (1/2 inch) diced fresh pineapple

1- Combine 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce, and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in a medium bowl. Add chicken; stir well to coat. Set aside.

2- Combine chicken broth, remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch, brown sugar, remaining 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, chile paste and sesame oil.

3- Heat 1/2 teaspoon canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced onion, bell peppers, and green onions to pan; saute 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Transfer to a bowl.

4- Heat remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons canola oil in pan. Add chicken mixture to pan, and spread in an even layer; cook, without stirring, 1 minute. Saute an additional 3 minutes or until chicken is done.

5- Return vegetable mixture to pan. Add soy sauce mixture and pineapple, stirring well to combine. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly.

YIELD: 8 servings (serving size: about 2/3 cup)
Calories 132; Fat 3.8g (sat 0.6g, mono 1.7g, poly 1.1g); Protein 12.7g; Carb 12.2g; Fiber 1.4g; Cholesterol 31mg; Iron 0.9mg; Sodium 304mg; calc 26 mg.

Diet Girl Note: Though it says 8 servings, for a normal eater, it is probably closer to 4 servings which calorie and fat-wise is still super light in my book!

Cooking Light
www.cookinglight.com

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