Chicken and Broccoli

I first need to preface this post by saying I really don’t like broccoli. I know it is high up on the list of most folks “go to” vegetable for dinner. To me it tastes like I’m eating a plant. I guess that is what most vegetables are, but broccoli florets tends to be big, cumbersome and way too much of a bite.

The one place that I do like broccoli is in chinese food dishes. Something about the way they are tossed around in a delicious sauce, and the sauce gets absorbed in the florets. That I can do. I decided to take my favorite chinese dish I make at home, Beef and Snow Peas by the Pioneer Woman and adapt it to chicken and broccoli (which were the 2 ingredients I had in my house). Like with the beef and snow peas, I back off on the oil quite a bit to keep it a little healthier. I follow the same technique. Marinating the protein in a bit of the sauce, cooking the protein in batches so that it browns nicely and marrying it all together at the end.

slice the chicken in thin pieces. I tend to do this when the chicken is still a little frozen. It’s easier to cut.

A quick sauce comes together with soy sauce, sherry, ginger, brown sugar and corn starch.

Toss the chicken with about half of the sauce

Cook the protein in batches to give it the opportunity to brown. Too much chicken in the pan will cause it to steam.

add everything back to the pan and add the remaining sauce

It was a quick dinner that came together quickly. I made a side of jasmine rice in my new 8 quart Instant Pot Evo Duo that I am completely in love with.

Enjoy a quick dinner tonight!

• 1-1/2 pound boneless chicken breast, sliced Very Thin
• 1/2 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 3 Tablespoons Sherry Or Cooking Sherry
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger
• 12 ounces, clean ready to cook broccoli florets.
• 4 whole Scallions, Cut Into Half-inch Pieces On The Diagonal
• Salt As Needed (use Sparingly)
• 3 teaspoons Peanut Or canola oil (divided)
• Crushed Red Pepper, For Sprinkling
• Jasmine Or Long Grain Rice, Cooked According To Package

In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Pour half the liquid over the sliced chicken in a bowl and toss with tongs Reserve the other half of the liquid. Set aside.

Heat 1 tsp. of the oil in a heavy skillet or wok over high heat. Add the broccoli and stir for a minute or two. Remove to a separate plate. Set aside.

Allow pan to get very hot again. Add another teaspoon of oil. With tongs, add half the chicken mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Add half the scallions. Spread out the chicken as you add it to pan, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the chicken to get as brown as possible. Turn meat to the other side and cook for another minute until its cooked through. Remove to a clean plate.

Add another teaspoon of oil and repeat with other half of chicken , allowing pan to get very hot again first. After turning it, add the first plateful of chicken, the rest of the marinade, and the broccoli. Stir over high heat for a minute or 2, then turn off heat. Check seasonings and add salt only if it needs it. Mixture will thicken as it sits.

Serve immediately with rice. Sprinkle crushed red pepper over the top to give it some spice.

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