winner winner chicken dinner

chicken with snow peas

WE’VE GOT A WINNER!

This chicken with snow peas is one of the top 5 recipes I’ve made over this past month – and since I’m only sharing my favorites with you then here you go! This tastes so good you won’t even know that it’s good for you – in fact I’ll be making it over and over again even after I finish this whole “diet” ordeal.

As most of our recipes come about – FH had been begging for chicken and snow peas. However, good luck going to a Chinese restaurant and not ending up with mystery ingredients (or soy sauce) in your meal – So my mission began.

What was my mission exactly? To find a way to make FH’s beloved chicken and snow peas Whole-30-approved. I found this recipe on All Recipes (remember that site? apparently it’s still a thing!) and it looked pretty easy to modify to fit our diet… and I was right! Swapped the corn starch with arrowroot powder, used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, and added/subtracted whatever veggies I wanted and voila (is there a Chinese word for “voila”?) DELICIOUS CHICKEN AND SNOW PEAS WAS BORN.

Only six days left on the Whole 30 and I can see ice cream on the horizon (although, honestly, I’d settle for a bowl of rice or quinoa at this point!). Aren’t you excited to see Wee Eats get back to normal with photos taken with something besides my iPhone? And recipes including our beloved friend Mr. Sugar? I am.

chicken with snow peas

Ingredients

    For the sauce
  • 1 cup chicken broth (I use Imagine brand)
  • 3 Tablespoons coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
  • 1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh ground ginger root
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • For the stir fry
  • 1 pound chicken breast, thinly sliced
  • 1 Tablespoon coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 9 ounces snow peas, washed and dried
  • 1 Tablespoon sesame oil; divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper (optional)
  • Scallions, diced, for serving
  • Cauliflower rice or regular rice, for serving

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the sauce, set aside.
  2. In a separate bowl, slice chicken breast and toss with 1 Tablespoon of coconut aminos.
  3. Heat 1 teaspoon sesame oil over medium-high heat.
  4. Add chicken (in batches, if necessary, to avoid over-crowding the pan) and cook until lightly browned and cooked through. Set aside in large bowl.
  5. Add remaining sesame oil to pan and add the onions and carrots to the pan. Cook until onions are translucent (about 5 to 7 minutes). Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds more.
  6. Add chicken and snow peas to pan, sprinkle with white pepper and toss to combine.
  7. Add sauce to pan and stir to combine. Heat to a boil and reduce to a simmer, cooking until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 more minutes.
  8. Taste and add salt or pepper (or even a hint of red pepper flakes) if needed.
  9. Serve with rice or cauliflower rice, or eat on its own (it's that good).

Notes

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

https://wee-eats.com/2014/06/24/chicken-with-snow-peas-and-a-whole-30-updat/

chicken with snow peas | wee-eats.com

simple hoisin noodles

dsc_2571Boyfriend absolutely loves asian food. I don’t mean to generalize, I know there is a lot of variation between the different asian cuisines, but I’m telling you – this boy has never met an asian dish he didn’t devour. So, naturally, I’m always on the lookout for new recipes. I don’t know what it is about asian cuisine, it’s just one thing I can’t seem to conquer at home. Yeah I can make something that tastes good, but it doesn’t taste like it came from an asian restaurant. Maybe I’m lacking some mystery ingredients or special cooking technique, maybe I need to not be too lazy to break out my wok, I don’t know.

This particular recipe stood out because of its simplicity. Of course, I have to make everything complicated, so I provided extra steps that you’re welcome to do if you also enjoy making things more complicated. 🙂 It’s the first time I’ve ever used ground chicken in a recipe, I’d recommend making it in a stainless steel pan (in batches, if necessary) as it has the same issue as ground turkey (it doesn’t like to brown), or you could use diced chicken if that’s what you have on hand. I can’t imagine it’d really matter.

The original recipe called for ramen noodles, which I thought had a funny taste to them. (Maybe it’s just how they taste and I just haven’t eaten them enough since college to know). Either way, I would recommend yakisoba or even thin spaghetti in its place. BF thought the green beans were “unnecessary”, but they were a bit over-cooked so I think if I had put them into an ice bath to keep them crisp (like I usually would do) they would have been better. I also think the dish would benefit from the extra flavor of sauteed onion and/or red pepper, so feel free to saute those along with your chicken if you like. I definitely will next time.

Hoisin Chicken Noodles – adapted from Kitchen Simplicity

Print me!

  • 2 C (handful or two) green beans, cut in half (+ additional stir fry veggies if desired)
  • 1 package yakisoba noodles or thin spaghetti
  • 1/2 C hoisin sauce (you’ll find this in a jar in the “asian food” section)
  • 1 small lime, juiced
  • 3 Tbs thai sweet chili sauce
  • 1 lb ground chicken
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  1. Bring salted water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add green beans and cook for 10 minutes until tender-crisp. Immediately use a spider to transfer the green beans to an ice bath, but keep water boiling.
  2. Add noodles to water and cook according to package to directions.
  3. Mix together hoisin sauce, lime juice and chili sauce. Set aside.
  4. Cook chicken over medium-high heat in a small amount of oil until cooked through.
  5. If you’re adding extra veggies, transfer cooked chicken to a large bowl, and sautee veggies in small amount of oil. Reduce heat to medium-low, add garlic and cook one minute or until softened.
  6. Add chicken back into the pan and stir in hoisin mixture. Cook until bubbly and sticky. Stir in cooked noodles, green beans and green onions. Serve immediately. (This is easiest to do with tongs)

*Tips

*Reducing the heat before you add the garlic will help you avoid burning the garlic, which will make it bitter and yucky-tasting.

*If you add a lot of extra veggies, make double the sauce recipe so you can add more if your stir fry looks too dry.

*I served this with quick-pickled cucumbers (+ red onions) to give it a refreshing crunch.