Kung Pao Chicken

We all know that sometimes chicken can be a little bit.... boring! So we like to find all kinds of ways to spice it up - sometimes literally! As you will remember, we love the 'Cook This Not That' cookbooks and for Christmas Steve received two new books from this series. Many of the recent recipes we have posted to our blog were from the 'Cook This Not That: Easy & Awesome 350 Calorie Meals'; however, this recipe for 'Kung Pao Chicken' is from the 'Cook This Not That: Skinny Comfort Foods' cookbook.

This recipe definitely delivered on its ability to add some flavour and spice to the chicken, but I would not agree that this dish is a comfort food - a little too spicy for my liking!

Here are the ingredients that you will need for this recipe:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced (we used chicken breasts because they were on sale)
1/4 cup rice wine or sherry (we used sherry)
1/4 cup low sodium chicken stock
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sriracha or other Asian chili sauce (we used sriracha)
1 tbsp peanut or canola oil (we used canola oil)
4 dried red chilies or 1 tsp red pepper flakes (we used the red pepper flakes)
4 scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp mined, fresh ginger
1 large zucchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup roasted peanuts

And here is how we brought it all together:

1. Combine the chicken, rice wine, stock, soy sauce, balsamic, sugar, cornstarch, and sriracha in a large bowl. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours in the fridge.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the chilies, scallion white parts, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds, until fragrant but not browned. Add the zucchini and bell pepper and continue cooking, using a metal spatula to keep the ingredients in near-constant motion, for about 3 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned.
3. Remove the chicken from the marinate and add to the wok, stir-frying for about 3 minutes, until lightly browned on the outside. Add the marinade and peanuts and cook for 3 minutes longer, until the liquid comes to a boil and begins to thicken and cling to the chicken an vegetables. Stir in the scallion greens and serve over a small scoop of steamed brown rice, if you like.

As I mentioned above, this recipe was a little too spicy for me, so if we do decide to make it again we will make sure to cut back on the red pepper flakes!

Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think about it!

Bon appetite & enjoy!