Skinny Chinese Take-out, Say What?!

One of the things I really miss about the east coast is that there seems to be a sketchy dilapidated building on every corner serving delicious chinese take-out. one of the best things about these gourmet dining facilities  is that they all have the EXACT SAME MENU.

Seriously. No matter if you are in Petersburg, Richmond, D.C. or even the good ol' NYC they all have the same take-out menu and they pretty much taste the same....I said "pretty much". Well here in good ol' Kansas this is not the case, there is no chinese take-out. The closest one is like 30min away, and guess what? They will not deliver to my house, surprise, surprise.

As a lover of asian food this is especially hard, so we make it a point to drive the 30 miles to the nearest hibachi place every few weeks. However our sweet little town is going to be home to a Panda Garden in March. Can I get a WOOT WOOT?! As you may have guessed, I am going to be all up in that! ( Also I saw the menu and to my delight.....it was the same as the chinese place down the street from my parents house, in Va. So maybe it will taste the same, Fingers crossed.)

So anyway, back to what this post is actually supposed to be about....

Not only do I like to eat asian food. I like to cook asian food as well. When I was a senior in high school I went on this crazy asian food cooking kick. I came home from school and I would cook eggrolls, and fried rice and general tso's. It was delish and thank goodness for a fast metabolism, just sayin'.

I still cook a ton of asian food, which isn't surprising since I am part asian....I had a Korean roommate in college, so that counts right?

No? ok.

Well, the other night I had a serious hankering for some General Tso's, however the Hubs and I do like to eat healthy and light especially on work nights since he has to be up at zero dark thirty doing jumping jacks. I had it..... Skinny General Tso's Chicken and Fried Rice Quinoa. BTW it was thebomb.com.

So here it is people!

P.s. This is a picture of some of the specific items that I mention in the recipes.

Also, the asian seasoning is REALLY good for stir fry and any chinese food, I got mine at TJ MAXX (LOL) but here is a link for where I know you can find it . 

Asian Spice

Skinny General Tso's Chicken

2 chicken breasts

1 TBS asian seasoning

Ty Ling Naturals or some other General Tso's sauce

olive oil/non-stick spray

Preheat oven to 375*, and cube your chicken. Spray non-stick spray in your baking dish, add chicken, toss with asian seasoning cover with foil and bake until juices run clear. Half-way through baking ( just eyeball it) uncover your chicken for the second half of baking to let all your juices evaporate. When the chicken is done remove it from the oven and coat with some of the general tso's sauce. Set your oven to broil. Cover a baking sheet with foil and broil until your individual pieces of chicken get little crunchy edges. Remove from oven and coat with as much sauce as you want.

*Notes*

I used the Ty Ling's sauce because it is lower in sugar and carbs than homemade sauce or other store brands. also, broiling is super important, since you are not breading and frying your chicken, broiling provides the slight necessary crunch.

Fried Rice Quinoa

1 package of quinoa or about 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa

2 eggs

1 cup chopped onion

2 cups chopped nappa cabbage

1/2 cup choped carrot

1 TBS minced garlic

Salt 

Pepper

1TBS soy sauce

2 TBS Kikkomon Stir fry Sauce

2 Tsp Asian seasoning

non-stick spray 

1 TBS butter

Cook your quinoa according to the package directions. Let it cool to room temp. Heat a skillet and add non-stick spray, add onion and carrot, cook until tender. Add garlic, mix well. Add nappa cabbage and cook  until cabbage has wilted down. Pour quinoa into skillet and mix well. Add salt, pepper, asian seasoning, stir fry sauce and soy sauce. Mix well. Push the mixture to one side of the skillet. Melt the butter and scramble two eggs in the open side of the skillet. After you have scrambled the egg mix well into the quinoa and serve.

*Notes*

Quinoa is a great source of protein. With the recent studies about rice being naturally high in arsenic and the FDA encouraging people not to eat it as much, we have switched to quinoa. Also the butter is entirely optional, if you want to get really skinny with it.