Sesame Chicken

This photo doesn't do justice to the flavor of the dish.  What can I say?  I was too hungry to keep snapping shots.



Now that the holidays are over, I’ve purged my kitchen of goodies and snack foods, (goodbye apricot filled cookies, pita chips and hummus) and returned to a Primal Blueprint life plan, which is primarily meat and vegetables.  

No grains, no bread, no rice, no dried beans or legumes, no lentils (are lentils a legume?) Lots and lots of vegetables.  Winter is a good time to be eating in the purple vegetable group:  Dinner tonight included braised red cabbage (with bacon!) and beet greens in pot liquor with a dash of blackberry vinegar.  I’m browsing vegetable recipes constantly.  Found one for roasted radishes that sounded so good, I picked up a bunch today.  I’ll give that a try and get back to you with the results.

I got in one final rice dish before beginning:  Sesame Chicken on a bed of brown rice.  I’ve been making this recipe for over 20 years and it’s very good on rice.  Just like the amazing combination of Portuguese sausage, scrambled eggs and white rice.  Primal advises an 80:20 approach to the plan, so if someone comes knocking at my door with the aforementioned Portuguese sausage, I’ll be eating white rice…

Sesame Chicken Recipe

You can bone, cut, and marinate the chicken breast or thighs in advance.

3 – 4 pounds chicken breasts or thighs
¼ cup sesame seed
3 TBL. vegetable oil
¼ cup soy sauce
2 TBL. brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger or ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
4 whole green onions, thinly sliced

Remove skin and bones from chicken.  Cut in about 1-inch chunks.

In a large frying pan, combine sesame seed and oil; cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, just until seeds are golden, about 2 minutes.

Let cool.  Stir in soy sauce, sugar, ginger, pepper, garlic, and half of the green onions.  Mix in chicken.  Cover and chill 1 to 4 hours.

Arrange meat with all of the marinade in a single layer in a 10- by 15’inch baking pan.  Broil about 6 inches from the heat, until golden, about 10 minutes.  Turn pieces over and continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink when slashed, about 5 minutes longer.

Garnish with remaining green onions.  Serve on a bed of rice.  Serves 4 – 6 servings.


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