Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Asain Chicken

Hey all! This is my first post in a trial blog of mine called Normal Meal Time. I love the YouTube series Epic Meal Time. However, I feel constrained by not getting Type 2 Diabetes with compounding interest after every meal, regardless of how delicious anything wrapped in bacon is.

This blog is hopefully going to be dedicated to healthy living and delicious eating. I get a lot of recipe ideas from All Recipes, then typically modify them to my personal taste. Additionally, this site will feature a lot of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables to help those on a budget and those who don't like wasting time slicing up vegetables.


Anyways, here is my first meal, which should take about 15 minutes to cook. 
Cooking terms for noobs are  here.


Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Chicken

Brandon's Hotness Rating:* 1/5
Brandon Servings: I made three full meals out of this one


Ingredients:

  • 3 large chicken breasts (cubed)
  • 1 can diced pineapple (strain out the juice)
  • 1 package of frozen oriental mix vegetables - contains onions, red peppers, broccoli, water chestnuts, green beans
  • 2 cups minute brown rice
  • 2 packets of soy sauce (about 2 tsp)
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • Red pepper flakes (to taste)
  • Black pepper (to taste)
Kitchen Utensils: (we all hate doing dishes)
  • Two medium-sized skillets
  • One small pot
  • Cooking spoons

Directions:
1. Cook the rice according to specified instructions on the box. This should take about 1-3/4 cups of water and 5 minutes. Continue to step two while cooking the rice.

2. Heat up a skillet to medium heat. Dice chicken into cubes and cook covered for about 5 minutes (until white with a little pink).

3. Before the chicken is cooked all the way through, strain and add the pineapple, brown sugar and red pepper. Turn the heat up to high. At this point, there will be a good deal of liquid in the pan. The chicken will absorb the residual juices from the pineapple, since the fruit is so watery.

4. At this point, your rice is probably done. Go ahead and take that off the stove and add another medium-sized pan on medium heat. Keep an eye on the chicken and pineapple. Do not constantly stir it. We actually want the pineapple to slightly burn on each side, basically caramelizing it. Don't worry - the juice from the pineapple will keep the chicken moist.

5. Toss the bag of frozen vegetables on your second skillet. You may not need to spray the pan if there is a decent amount of ice in with the vegetables. When the vegetables appear to be nearly done (the broccoli should look limp-ish), add the soy sauce and black pepper.

6. When the pineapple is caramelized, turn off the stove. Hopefully, we timed all of this right and your vegetables and rice are all done. Serve the rice in the bottom of the bowl, followed by a layer of the veggies and topped with the pineapple chicken. My preference, anyways.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Share it with your friends and family, and be sure to comment if you tried it.

Healthy Eating Tip #1:

Find out when a certain type of vegetable is on sale at your local grocery store, prep and freeze them. For instance, I bought six red peppers, washed them, and cut them into strips. This makes for an easy saute experience down the road, saves money on vegetables, and allows you to eat fresher-tasting vegetables when you cook.


*Brandon's Hotness Rating

This is based on a 1-5 scale, with one being "flavorfully warm" at all and five being "prepare to sweat and possibly feel this tomorrow." I know some people are sensitive to heat levels, so I try to be very accurate about this representation. 

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