Orange Chicken and Spring Rollin' Haiku
Asian is the theme
Chicken and veggies with orange
Spring rolls made tasty
Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since the last post, but I finally have the time to write about another fun and yummy dinner we had last night! I made this dinner from a special request for something Asian. And I'm so glad I made this because it was something different that I have never made before and I am extremely happy with how it turned out. Last night we feasted on orange chicken with stir-fry veggies and spring rolls! And we even had a couple dinner guests joining us! Tim and Mike were our guests for the evening, and they were great company. As you might already know, Tim is Kara's boyfriend and Mike is someone that I invited over for this dinner event. So with six hungry mouths to feed, it's a good thing this recipe made a lot!
With the help of Kara and Juli we pulled this satisfying dinner together. The orange chicken was overall pretty simple to make. The recipe that I used was one that I found to be the least labor intensive. As for the spring rolls, those required a little more work. It was a lot of chopping and rolling that went into those, but Kara handled those like a champ! And there were even three dipping sauces that Juli made to dunk the spring rolls in. They were so good that you would have thought they came from PF Changs. So with us three working on dinner, we had it done in no time and were ready for a great dinner with a great crowd.
Here is the recipe for the orange chicken! (Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book)
Ingredients
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel (I suggest a little more)
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon corn starch
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 16-oz package frozen sweet pepper and onion stir-fry vegetables (I suggest 2 bags if you like veggies)
salt
pepper
3 cups packaged shredded cabbage with carrot (coleslaw mix) (we used fresh cabbage)
orange wedges (optional)
Directions
1. Cut chicken into bite-size strips; set aside. For sauce, in a small bowl stir together the orange peel, orange juice, cornstarch, hoisin sauce, and cider vinegar; set aside.
2. In a large skillet cook almonds over medium heat about 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove almonds from skillet; set aside. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet; heat over medium-high heat. Add frozen vegetables; cook and stir about 4 minutes or until just tender. Remove vegetables from skillet; set aside. Drain liquid from skillet.
3. Add remaining oil to skillet. Add chicken; cook and stir about 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir sauce; add to skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Return cooked vegetables to skillet; cook and stir for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Divide cabbage among serving bowls. Spoon chicken mixture over cabbage. Sprinkle with almonds. If desired, serve with orange wedges.
This orange chicken was easy to make and it tasted great! You could definitely taste the orange flavor, but it wasn't overpowering and the veggies were a nice addition to the chicken. If you didn't want to use frozen veggies, I think that fresh ones would be great too. Might even be better! To be honest, the cabbage didn't really add anything to the dinner. They were more so just a bed for the orange chicken and veggie mixture. And now here is the recipe for the spring rolls!
Ingredients
1 package rice paper
3 cups cabbage chopped and julienned
3 large carrots, peeled and julienned
1 package uncooked lo mein noodles
1 red bell pepper, chopped and julienned
Directions
1. Cook lo mein noodles according to packaged directions
2. Once cabbage, carrots and pepper are chopped and lo mein is cooked, follow directions on rice paper to soak them.
3. Once the rice paper is soaked, fill with some cabbage, carrots, pepper, and lo mein noodles. Then roll them up into a burrito like shape, sealing up the ends. Place on a plate and serve with dipping sauces.
These spring rolls are so good! I can't even begin to tell you. They would be a great dinner by themselves. And when dipped in the different sauces, they are addicting. So I am going to share with you too, the three dipping sauces that Juli and Kara whipped together.
Sauce 1 Ingredients
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce
Sauce 2 Ingredients
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Sauce 3 Ingredients
1 teaspoon peanut butter
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Directions for all 3 Sauces
Mix them individually in a small dish. Adjust all the ingredients to taste. And since the soy sauce is salty, add the white vinegar accordingly to make it taste less salty.
I really enjoyed making this dinner because it was something new and different that I have not made before, and something that was new as well for the 812 house. And with first-rate guests like Mike and Tim, how could it not be a great dinner?!
And after dinner we scarfed down some homemade desserts that Juli put together. They were homemade ice cream cookie sandwiches. Made with chocolate chip cookies and peppermint ice cream filling. They were delicious!
Once we were all done eating dinner and dessert, Kara, Tim, Mike and I watched a little football and just talked about random things. Somehow we got on the subject of how big our arm span's are. So being curious youngsters we decided to measure. Kara's was the smallest at 63 inches. Next was Tim and I coming in at the same measurement of 71 inches, and with the greatest arm span was Mike at 74 inches! These measurements just reassured me that I do in fact have monkey arms since I tied with Tim and he is definitely taller than I am. Oh well, better to reach things with! After this little measurement exercise, Mike showed me how he can do a Rubix Cube! I was and still am very impressed. I don't know if you have ever tried, but they are so hard to do!
I had a great night last night with dinner and friends, and I hope your dinners are just as tasty and fun! Tonight, Kara is making roast beef with fennel potatoes and I cannot wait! It's cooking away in the crock-pot as I type. I can't wait to tell you all about it!
Stay hungry everybody! Keep making those one of a kind dinners!
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