Open Sesame Chicken with Bok Choy Salad

I may not have Rachael Ray's knife skills, but I can still cook a mean dinner! Let me first thank my friends who have gotten me hooked on this darn blogging thing. Thank goodness I have spare time at my office to scan the mulititude of blogs out there, or I think I would get the d.t.'s! This is seriously addictive and not for the time challenged person. With that said, I have found so many wonderful blogs (as you can see listed under my favorite blogs). One such blog, Closet Cooking, I found an easy and delicious recipe for Sesame Chicken. I needed something to go with it and Wes had mentioned Bok Choy a week or so ago - who knows why - so I did a search and came up with a fabulous salad from Southern Living. If you've never had bok choy before, don't be afraid! This is a great recipe to give it a try. Honestly, it tastes just like a salad green in this recipe. I'm stealing the pictures from Closet Cooking and Southern Living just so you can get an idea of what it's going to look like. I thought I'd start with something easy that ALL of you can try. Stick with me and you'll be cooking creme brulee and beef wellington before you know it! Without further ado, here are the recipes:

Sesame Chicken
My rating: 5 stars for ease and taste


Ingredients:
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons ginger (grated)
1 pound chicken (cut into bite sized pieces)
1 teaspoon peanut oil
4 servings cooked rice
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
green onions to garnish

Directions:
1. Mix the soy sauce, pineapple juice, honey, sugar, ginger and chicken in a ziplock bag and marinate in the fridge for about an hour.
2. Heat the oil in a pan.
3. Add the chicken and marinade to the pan and saute until the chicken is cooked and the sauce begins to thicken, about 10 minutes.
4. Serve on cooked rice and garnish with the sesame seeds and green onion.

My notes: This was so easy and quite tasty! I didn’t use the sesame seeds. The taste was very good and there was plenty of chicken for 4 servings using 1 double chicken breast (about 1.5 lbs). I served this with Bok Choy Salad and brown rice. Next time I could add some veggies with chicken (water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, peppers).

Bok Choy Salad
My rating: 5 stars, again for ease and taste


(Courtesy of Southern Living)
Ingredients
2 (3-ounce) packages ramen noodle soup mix (I only used 1)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3 tablespoons slivered almonds, chopped (I didn't chop)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 bok choy, shredded
6 green onions, chopped

Preparation: Remove flavor packets from soup mix; reserve for another use. Crumble noodles. Combine noodles, sunflower seeds, and almonds. Spread on a 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown; set aside.

Bring sugar and next 3 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat; cool.

Place bok choy and green onions in a large bowl. Drizzle with sugar mixture. Add ramen noodle mixture, tossing well. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 decent servings