Honey Glazed Chicken Bites

My “honey” and I love Chinese food. Specifically orange chicken or sweet & sour chicken. It takes a toll on your pocketbook if you are buying for a large family, not to mention who knows what they put into it. We decided to buy bulk at our local >cough< warehouse spot. I say cough, because these days people have been talking negatively about them. We need these Costco‘s in our life right now, so we shop there and love it. Anyway they have this really nummy orange chicken, but it simply, again, isn’t enough for us all, yes even at Costco there is something NOT big enough for us :D. I decided to try my hand at recreating something at home that would satisfy the craving, but with a twist. (1) Using something sweet for the sauce & (2) not making it spicy so my younger kids would eat it. You will love the texture of this batter as it is really light and delicate, unlike a traditional deep-fried, well, anything really. You can eat it plain or add the honey sauce.

Chicken needs to marinate for about 30-45 minutes

Fry chicken in batches so you don’t overcrowd pan and to keep oil temperature the same

Making the honey sauce

Toasting sesame seeds

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1” chunks
Vegetable Oil for deep-frying

BATTER INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup water
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 egg white
SAUCE INGREDIENTS
1 ½ tablespoons coconut oil
2 teaspoon ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
½ cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch, mixed with 1 teaspoon water
Handful of toasted sesame seeds (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix all batter ingredients together until combined then add chicken and stir to coat all chicken, cover and marinate for 30-45 minutes in refrigerator.
2. Heat deep fryer or large pot of vegetable oil to 350 degrees F.
3. Once oil is ready, fry chicken in batches to maintain oil temperature and avoid overcrowding. Chicken bites should cook about 5 minutes to completion. Drain on a paper towel. Continue until chicken is all cooked.

Sauce:

1. Add coconut oil, ginger and garlic to fry pan or wok and heat for about 3 minutes until aromatic.
2. Add salt, honey, vinegar, and water and mix well.
3. Combine 1 teaspoon of water with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and add to the sauce.
4. Simmer for about 5 minutes and sauce has thickened. Add sesame seeds on top if using.
5. Serve over the top of my Coconut Rice.

Coconut Mango Chicken Bites

Inspired by my love of BITE sized food!

Picture from Kitchen Simplicity, gorgeous homemade wrappers!

INGREDIENTS
24 wonton wrappers
1 tsp coconut oil (or other cooking oil)
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger (may sub 1 tsp dried ground)
2 cups cooked chicken, small dice
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 mango,  peeled and diced
1/2 c. pineapple, diced
Lime juice approximately 3 limes
salt to taste
Cilantro chopped

WON TON DIRECTIONS

1. To make the wonton cups. Take 1 wrapper and lay flat, take a second wrapper and put on top off center.
2. Press fresh wonton wrappers into muffin tins, pressing any folds firmly to the sides.
3. Bake at 350°F for 5 minutes, until golden. **WATCH THEM CLOSELY, THEY WILL BURN ON YOU** Set aside to cool.

FILLING DIRECTIONS

1. Heat about a teaspoon of oil in a skillet and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes, or until soft.
2. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
3. Add the chicken and saute until browned.
4. Add coconut milk, lime juice and salt/pepper.
5. Cook, stirring often, until bubbly and thickened.
6. Cool slightly or chill before spooning into won ton cups.
7. In a small bowl combine mango, pineapple, cilantro, lime juice.
8. Add mango mixture and cilantro on top just before serving.
9. Serve over a bed of coconut rice and garnish with 1 lime slice

Thai Chicken and Spinach Wraps with Peanut Dipping Sauce

I want to thank Kimberly over at Badger Girl Learns To Cook for allowing me to share my love of cooking with her foodie friends. I want to thank my mom, Monica Mooney, the creator of Sweet Heat Chefs for encouraging me to begin cooking and sticking with it when I wanted to quit. 

My name is Jasmine, I am 12 years old. My love of food and cooking began when I was around 2. My mom had me up on the counter mixing cookie dough and adding ingredients to the bowl as she went. As I got older, chopping and slicing came into my repertoire, and a few nicks here and there I eventually learned my lesson on how to do it correctly. 

I would like to talk about some yummy Thai wraps that are so flexible you can change out the ingredients any way you like and make them to your own liking. That is the fun one can have with food. 

You know the saying, “don’t play with your food?” Well my mom always told me TO play with my food. I have 4 other siblings and I think we all enjoy cooking and or helping out in some way in the kitchen because of my mom’s encouragement in that way.  

Like a typical mom, as I know anyway, my mom is always trying to get her kids to eat more vegetables. I have to admit, at 12 years old I still don’t like too many vegetables. I know I should eat them and that they are good for me, I just can’t get past the taste of some of them (cauliflower being the WORST! Sorry mom I don’t like your roasted cauliflowerL) So, when my mom started putting spinach into different foods, I was rolling my eyes like the typical pre-teen. Yet when I tasted it…I actually liked it! Spinach is now one of my favorite vegetables and that is what inspired my Thai Chicken & Spinach Wraps making it a fun “Thaifusion” of flavor! 

FILLING INGREDIENTS

1 bundle Saifun noodles
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, grated
4 chicken breasts cut in half and diced in smaller than bite sized pieces, or ½ lb ground chicken
Salt/pepper to taste
½ can bamboo shoots, diced
½ can water chestnuts, diced
1 cup shredded, carrot
2 tablespoons soy sauce, low sodium
2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
2 cups washed baby spinach leaves
12 rice paper wrappers

PEANUT DIPPING SAUCE INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons soy sauce, low sodium
¼ cup hot water
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, grated
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoons sesame seed oil
1 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter, your preference

DIRECTIONS FOR PEANUT SAUCE

Combine all ingredients, EXCEPT, the peanut butter and mix well. Using a whisk add in peanut butter and mix well. Refrigerate until the wraps are finished.

DIRECTIONS FOR WRAPS

1.       Take Saifun noodles and place in heat resistant bowl. Heat up 2 cups boiling water. Pour boiling water over noodles and cover, set aside.

2.       Preheat skillet with 2 tablespoons coconut oil. Add garlic and ginger cooking only a few minutes so as not to burn garlic. Add chicken and salt/pepper. Cook a few minutes until pink is almost gone, then add soy sauce, carrot, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Cook until chicken is cooked thoroughly.  Remove from heat and set aside.

3.       Set out a bowl or pie dish (I used pie dish) large enough to fit 1 rice wrapper in it without bending. Fill with warm water.

4.       Take 1 rice wrapper, dip quickly in water making sure all of wrapper is wet, and place on a piece of wax paper that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  The layers are as follows:

a.       Spinach

b.      Chicken mixture

c.       Saifun noodles

The noodles don’t need to be drained at all; I just grabbed them directly out of the water as I made my wraps.

5.       Roll the wraps as you would an eggroll and set aside on a plate.

The rice wrappers get softer and stickier as they sit. After you dip it in the water quickly it will not be soft, do not dip again in water and be sure to roll quickly to avoid a sticky mess!

6.       Continue with the remaining rice wrappers or until all filling mixture is used.

7.       Serve over coconut rice and a garnish with cilantro and the peanut dipping sauce.

Change-out ingredients

You can use pork, beef, shrimp, salmon (my favorite) and even ground turkey as the meat

You can use Napa cabbage or bok choy instead of spinach

You could add onion, shallots, mushrooms and even celery