This was a very easy and quick dinner for a weeknight. I had never tried frozen brown rice before, and it was really good, and so simple! It tasted just as good and freshly cooked brown rice. It's now added to the list of healthy convenience foods that I like!
Ginger-Scallion Chicken
Makes ~4 servings
Ingredients
1 pound organic chicken breast tenders
kosher salt
5 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sambal or chili-garlic sauce
4 scallions, thinly sliced, keeping greens and whites separate
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
8 oz snow peas
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced
3 cups frozen brown rice
1/2 cup organic fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
you'll also need four 16-inch long sheets of parchment paper
you'll also need four 16-inch long sheets of parchment paper
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fold each sheet of parchment paper in half and open like a book. On two separate baking sheets, place two pieces of parchment paper (two pieces per baking sheet).
2. Trim and discard tendon pieces of chicken tenders. Lightly season chicken tenders with kosher salt.
3. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sambal or chili-garlic sauce, scallion whites, ginger, and 1 Tbsp water.
4. In a separate bowl, combine snow peas and sliced mushrooms with 2 Tbsp of soy sauce mixture.
5. On one side of the fold in each piece of parchment paper, mound 3/4 cup brown rice and drizzle with 1 Tbsp water. Top with vegetables and 2-3 chicken tenders per packet. Spoon ~2 tsp of soy sauce mixture over the top of each.
6. Fold over top half of each piece of parchment paper and make small overlapping folds along entire open edge to make a closed pouch. Place in oven and bake for about 18 minutes, until parchment puffs up and chicken is cooked through. Transfer packets to plates and let sit for 2 minutes. Open carefully as hot steam will come out.
7. Top with scallion greens, cilantro and sesame seeds, to taste.
What are the nutritional benefits of this meal? Chicken is an excellent source of protein and is rich in B vitamins. Brown rice is unrefined, so contains it's original abundance of iron, zinc, manganese, selenium, antioxidants and fiber. Snow peas are an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of fiber, iron and manganese.