Fiery Chicken with Vegetables

This was the first recipe I tried from my new cookbook, Cheap. Fast. Good! And I'm pleased to say, it was delicious! It was easy to make, and the recipes are written in such a way that makes you maximize your cooking time. I like it already. :)

Note: The recipes in the cookbook all seem to call for long grain rice. Of course, that's not what we eat in our house. :) I just skipped the instructions for preparing rice that were given in the recipe and prepared my own in our well-loved rice cooker. I'll include the instructions from the book, in case you would like to prepare the rice that way (or if you don't have a rice cooker).

Fiery Chicken with Vegetables
Ingredients:
1 can fat-free chicken broth (1 c. for the rice and 3/4 c. for the vegetable sauce)
1 c. long-grain rice (I actually made 2 cups of Japanese style short grain rice)
1 lb. chicken breasts
1 T. vegetable oil
1 bag frozen broccoli stir-fry vegetable mixture (without sauce)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. soy sauce
2 t. minced ginger (either fresh or bottled...I bought a jar of it)
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
2 T. cornstarch


Directions:
Prepare rice by combining 1 c. chicken broth and 1 c. water in a covered medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rice, stir, and reduce heat to low. Cover the pan and simmer until rice is done, about 20 minutes. (Or, like I said, prepare rice in a rice cooker...you can even substitute part of the water with chicken broth for flavor.)

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. While the oil heats, defrost your chicken if needed. Once oil is hot, add the frozen vegetables and stir occasionally. While the vegetables start to cook, cut the chicken into small cubes, adding them to the skillet as you go. Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 5-6 minutes.

Add garlic to the pan and stir. Next, add soy sauce, ginger, sugar, and red pepper flakes*. Stir well and cook for about two minutes to blend the flavors. In the meantime, combine cornstarch and 3/4 c. chicken broth in a small container with a lid. Cover and shake to combine until there are no more lumps.

Drizzle mixture over the chicken and vegetables. Stir continuously until sauce thickens, about 1 minute (it really does thicken up pretty quick). Serve over a bed of rice.

*The red pepper flakes are the reason this recipe is called "Fiery". If you like things a little less spicy you can reduce the amount of red pepper flakes. If you don't want it to be spicy at all, you can leave them out. Paul and I enjoyed the kick, and it wasn't too spicy for us. :)