Recipe Review-Week 2

Chicken with Snap Peas
(recipe from the Alli cookbook)

6 oz. whole wheat blend wide egg noodles
1 pound sugar snap peas
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
2/3 cup orange juice
3 T. hoisin sauce
3 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. tomato sauce
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 3-inch strips
3 T. cornstarch
3/4 cup dry-roasted unsalted cashews

1. Prepare noodles according to package directions, adding snap peas and pepper 2 minutes before end of noodle cooking time. Drain.

2. Meanwhile in a small bowl, stir together orange juice, hoisin sauce, vinegar, and tomato sauce.

3. In a medium bowl toss chicken in cornstarch, shaking off excess cornstarch.

4. In a large skillet slightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, cook and stir half of the chicken over medium heat for 5 minutes or until light brown and no longer pink. With a slotted spoon, remove chicken to bowl. Repeat with remaining chicken.

5. Return chicken and drippings to skillet; add orange juice mixture and bring to boiling. Add noodles, snap peas and pepper; cook for 1 minute or until heated through. Place in serving bowl and sprinkle with cashews.

Makes 4 servings.

Not a great pic, but I'm working on my food photography skills.

Review: While this is the type of meal that I enjoy cooking (easy, noodle/chicken/veggie combo in a sauce), the flavor of the sauce was just a little bit more tangy than either of us cared for. The recipe also required an ingredient, hoisin sauce, that I don't normally keep stocked in my kitchen, so that was definitely a negative aspect of the recipe...but I was willing to buy some just in case we really enjoyed it. I also left the cashews out because I didn't want the extra fat, but I think they would have added a dimension of crunchiness to the meal. Overall, "it's okay", according to Randy, and I probably won't make it again...it just didn't "WOW" our tastebuds. Oh well, at least I tried, right?