Healthy meal of the week: Orange Chicken, Brown Rice and Broccoli
leftover idea: Orange Chicken Bowl
I lit up on Panda Express a couple of years ago and started trying Asian cuisine from time to time. I have to admit that my favorite food is orange chicken with beef and broccoli along with brown rice. These two are among the healthiest options available at Panda Express and for those of you who get Chinese food from time to time, I’m sure these two options are probably offered at your places.
The funny thing is that to make orange chicken at home, it is not difficult if you can find the ingredients in your local supermarket. I went to my neighborhood Vons after work to look up the ingredients to make an orange glaze sauce that I found on the internet that uses maple syrup, orange zest, coconut aminos, and a few other items. However, since they did not sell orange zest, the attendant directed me to an aisle with Asian spices. To my surprise I found a few bottles of orange sauce made by different companies, one even by Panda Express that I really wanted to try, but opted for a gluten-free option. We’ll see how it goes.
You’ll find that when you combine orange chicken with brown rice and broccoli, you’ll have a healthy, easy-to-carry meal to take with you for lunch the next day.
Another cool idea I’m trying today is a packet of “Ready Rice.” This particular brand I bought at Uncle Ben’s is all-natural brown brown rice that microwaves in 90 seconds. I know my parents use this option not only to save time, but since the rice cooks in its own container, cleaning up is just throwing the bag away when it’s empty. No scrubbing, no washing, no dishes to wash. We’ll see how this compares to regular brown rice. The only downside to this rice is that a packet that equals two cups of rice costs $2.29, which is pretty steep compared to buying regular rice in the bag.
Necessary equipment
– skillet/skill to cook chicken
– broccoli pot
– microwave for ready rice
Ingredients
(6 servings)
– 2 pounds of boneless chicken breasts
– 1 bag of frozen broccoli (or fresh if you prefer)
– 1 bottle of Orange Sauce
– 1 bag of brown rice ready
seasonings salt, pepper, garlic powder, and 1 tablespoon butter
For the Leftover Orange Chicken Bowls:
– Plastic travel container
Addresses
1. The first and most important component of this meal is chicken. It’s also the part that takes the longest to prepare, so let’s deal with that first. You may choose to cut the chicken into small pieces beforehand which will save cooking time, however it may be more difficult to flip each individual piece every 3-4 minutes of cooking time. I chose to cook the boneless chicken breast whole and then cut into pieces. I made a long slice on the chicken to help it cook faster, but that still allowed me to easily flip the piece. Don’t forget to add any seasonings you want to include. For this example we used seasoned salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a pinch of oregano.
2) While the chicken is almost done, you can boil the water to use with the broccoli pieces. If desired, add a tablespoon of butter and a pinch of seasoned salt for flavor. Once the water is boiling, add the broccoli and bring to a boil for 8-10 minutes.
3) Once the chicken is almost done cooking, remove it from the pan and cut into small pieces. Once you have all of the chicken sliced and diced, place it back in the pan and add the orange sauce. Start with a small amount of sauce as it will be easier to add later if needed. Add the sauce to the chicken pieces keeping the heat at medium/low. Once you have your desired amount of sauce with the chicken pieces, allow the mixture to simmer for another 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4) Last but not least, for the Ready Rice bag, all that needs to be done is open the side and pull the corner back 2 inches. You don’t even need to add water. Simply place the bag upright in the center of your microwave and cook on high for 90 seconds. Surprising as it may sound, the rice came out tasting just right, not too dry and not too wet.
5) Serve a proper portion of rice, broccoli, and orange chicken. If there is any sauce left over in the pan, you may want to pour a couple of tablespoons over the chicken or rice, depending on your preference and how well you like your food to taste. Enjoy!
Leftover Food Idea: Since you have all the ingredients to make a wonderful-tasting bowl of orange chicken, let’s go ahead and make it. What makes this meal so great for lunch is that everything just tosses into a plastic travel-friendly container, so there’s literally nothing else you need to do other than microwave it at work if you’d like. So toss a tablespoon of rice together with some broccoli, add some orange glazed chicken, and even an extra tablespoon of sauce on top, cover, and store in your fridge until tomorrow.
