Sugar-Free Sweet & Sour Chicken

-
Right, let me get one thing straight here, eating healthy food doesn't mean that you have to wave goodbye to tasty food. It is more than possible to eat delicious, nutritious foods without resorting to eating  "lettuce a la mode". Okay, equally I can't guarantee my recipes will help you to lose weight either, but at least you won't be pumping your system full of processed garbage!

So, if like me you love chinese food, but are worried about it containing waayyyyyyyyyyy too much processed sugar, then continue reading here and allow me to rescue your taste buds...

So, what do you need - this will comfortably feed 3-4 people:
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into 2-3cm pieces
  • ½ cup cornflour
  • ½ cup of olive oil
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped into 2-3cm pieces
  • 1 carrot, peeled and sliced thinly
  • ½ brown onion, chopped into 2-3cm pieces
  • ½ cup of honey
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
  • 1 tbsp of soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp of garlic puree
  • ½ teaspoon of onion salt
  • ¼ cup ketchup (Hellmann's make a great sugar free ketchup)
  • 1 tbsp cornflour and 2 tbsp cold water
As with all of my recipes, before you embark on gathering all of this together make sure you check a few of your ingredients as some purees can contain processed sugar. It's usually pretty cheap and easy to grab ones without sugar from the fresh vegetable aisle in your supermarket (easy sugar-free cooking is all about checking the labels on your produce).

Cooking:
First let’s make the sauce:
  1. Add the honey, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion salt, and ketchup to a medium sauce pan, stir and bring to the boil;
  2. Mix together the cornflour and cold water into a paste;
  3. Add the cornflour paste to the pan and stir until the sauce is thickened, then remove from the heat and place to one side.
Don't be alarmed at this stage, your sauce will look a murky brown colour in the pan. Trust me, it'll come good and taste great.

On to the meat and veg:
  1. Now, take your ½ cup cornflour and add it to a ziplock plastic bag (or a clean plastic sandwich bag, and tie a knot in it) along with your chicken and "shake it like a polaroid picture". Remove the coated chicken pieces from the bag and place on a plate to the side of your cooking area;
  2. Add the ½ cup of olive oil to a wok or a large pan and place on a medium heat until it starts to sizzle. Add the coated chicken to the pan and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes;
  3. Next add the pepper, carrot and onion to the pan and continue to saute over medium heat until chicken is browned and cooked through (about another 4-5 minutes);
  4. Now pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables making sure everything is well coated;
  5. Serve immediately into warm bowls and enjoy!
I'd suggest serving this with boiled rice, or if you're feeling naughty and in need of a treat you can always try some egg fried rice (I'll post that recipe too soon).

I really hope you enjoy this recipe and can feel guilt free about eating my homemade takeaway food! I do a lot of my cooking on the fly, and always adjust the amounts of certain ingredients to suit my own tastes, so the quantities here might need a bit of tweaking to suit yours, but I find they're great for most palates.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What am I supposed to do with a courgette? (or zucchini if you're from across the pond)

-
Okay, leave the rude answers at the door folks! Seriously though, this is a recipe stolen from my Dad, who in turn probably read it in a Nigel Slater book (so please Nigel, don't sue me for copyright infringement or anything like that) after he'd grown far too many courgettes in his garden and got fed up with eating them boiled or roasted. I must confess I was more than a little skeptical when he served this up, but it's become a firm family favourite ever since. Okay, so courgettes, not the first vegetable that most of us have in the fridge/cupboard, but surprisingly pretty cheap and easy to get hold of. Mixed in with pasta, some bacon (if you like that sort of thing, personally I do), garlic and soft cheese it makes a great mid-week dinner. It's also pretty easy on the pocket too. So, what do you need - this will comfortably feed 3-4 people: 2-3 courgettes (about 10-12 inches long) 6-8 rashers of thick-cut smoked back bacon cut into thin strips 250g...
Read more

Bolognese Pasta Bake (also sugar-free)

-
Okay, so after my first two posts you might just be all Chinese food-ed out (if not I'll post some more soon, yum 😋 ) . After Chinese, Italian inspired food has to be another of my favourite cuisines. This particular recipe came about as a way to get as many of your daily veg portions into one meal without a picky 5 year old realising what she was eating (she's much older now, but still loves this recipe and even makes it herself) . Typically this isn't a recipe that I'd worry about anyone putting sugar into, but it you're more used to dumping a jar of Dolmio (other pasta sauces are available - Big H) into a pan of mince and onions then this is going to be a taste sensation for you, oh, and you get to feel good about eating it too (well, apart from the crispy cheesy topping, but I'm not forcing you to eat that, if you don't want it I'll eat it) ! So, what do you need - this will comfortably feed 3-4 people: 250g of lean minced beef 2 tbsp of gar...
Read more

Sugar-Free Thai Sweet Chilli Chicken Noodles

-
This is one of my favourite lazy, sugar-free recipes. Sure, you can pick up a bottle of sweet chilli sauce from most places, but it'll be packed with processed sugar and other artificial crap! My cooking is all about eliminating those processed nasties and replacing them with natural alternatives, all without taking half a day to prepare and cook. Most sugar-free sweet chilli sauce recipes will take over an hour of cooking just to prepare the sauce, and will stink out your kitchen! (this one won't) So, what do you need - this comfortably feeds 2 hungry adults: 2 tbsp of honey 2 tbsp of chilli puree 2 tbsp of white wine or cider vinegar 1 tbsp of garlic puree 1 tbsp of light olive oil 1 skinned boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced 1 small brown onion, thinly sliced (not chopped) 1 carrot, thinly sliced into rounds About a dozen cubes of pineapple 1/2 cup of cashew nuts 1 tbsp of cornflour mixed to a paste with cold water 1 cup of fresh apple or pineapple ...
Read more