Recipe Review: Chinese Meatballs with Dipping Sauce

I know I've mentioned this before. I love Chinese food. It is so good, but often not very good for me. It's sometimes very sauce and swimming in saturated fat. But ever since I had my first taste of it, I've had a love affair with lo mein, fu yung, dumplings and egg rolls. So, when I found this recipe for Chinese meatballs, I was excited to try it.

Every day this week, I've had a pound of ground turkey crying out to me to be made. So, tonight was the night to enjoy the ground turkey. This meatball recipe I found was very easy to make. The only substitutions I made were liquid aminos for soy sauce and egg whites for whole egg. I also cut the cilantro in half because I felt it would have overpowered the dish otherwise.

My meatballs and sauce turned out beautifully.

I was eager to eat dinner when it was ready, but I needed a side dish to go along with this. Otherwise, the meatballs would have seemed more like an appetizer or party food rather than a meal. I opted to make some instant brown rice which I mixed with shredded cabbage, scallions, liquid aminos and black pepper. It was the perfect complement to the meatballs, and the sauce tasted wonderful on both the meatballs and the rice.

I definitely recommend this for anyone who loves Asian-style food. Besides, I'm always a fan of playing with my food, and meatballs are just the perfect food for this.

Clean Eating: Teriyaki Chicken with Fried Rice

When I got home from work, I immediately launched into cooking. I didn't get any pictures of the process, but I got a nice picture of the final result. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I love Chinese food, but I don't love the fact that I can't get it in clean eating style. So, I'm learning how to make my own. I know it's not authentic Chinese food, but at least it has some similar flavors.

Ingredients:
For marinade:
2 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

22 oz chicken tenderloins (I used an entire package of Perfect Portions chicken tenders)

For fried rice:
1 bag boil-in-bag whole grain rice
1 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/3 cup egg whites
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce


Directions:
In a bowl, whisk together honey, sesame oil low sodium soy sauce, minced garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Place chicken tenders in a large gallon bag. Pour marinade over chicken and let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Spray a large oven-proof skillet with canola cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken tenders and extra marinade to pan and cook for 4 minutes. Place skillet in oven and roast for 15 minutes. Once chicken has cooked, remove from pan. This pan will be used to fry the rice.

Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water with submerged bag of rice to boil. Cook for 10 minutes. Drain water and open bag with scissors.

Add sesame oil to skillet used to cook chicken. Over medium-high heat, add onion and garlic. Stir to onions and scrape any bits from bottom of pan. Add frozen peas and bean sprouts, cooking for a couple of minutes. Add egg whites and soy sauce. Stir until egg whites are cooked.

Serve fried rice with chicken.

Nutrition Facts
Serves 4
Serving Size 294.5g
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Calories - 418
Calories from Fat - 131
Total Fat - 14.6g
Saturated Fat - 1.5g
Cholesterol - 100mg
Sodium - 563mg
Total Carbohydrates - 32.0g
Dietary Fiber - 2.6g
Sugar - 11.4g
Protein - 39.2g
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Vitamin A - 3%
Vitamin C - 14%
Calcium - 2%
Iron - 8%  

Clean Eating: Jazzing Up Delivery

I love Chinese food. I've had a love affair with the deep fried, saucy goodness all my life. I guess my dad must have introduced me to Chinese food because I remember that anytime I went to visit him as a kid, I always wanted Chinese food for dinner. Unfortunately, Chinese food is not the best option if you're trying to diet. But I have the solutions: steamed chicken with broccoli (no sauce). Now, I know what you're thinking: "That sounds pretty boring, Stephanie." Ok, maybe you're right. I could probably make my own steamed chicken and broccoli, but it's so much easier to have someone bring it to me. The solution is to make you're own sauce to jazz up what might otherwise be a boring dinner. And here's how it's done:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp raw honey (I use Mountain Ridge)
1 packet of Chinese mustard

Directions:
Place ingredients in a small saucepan. Whisk over medium-high heat until evenly combined. Bring to a boil to heat through.

In a shallow bowl, add 1/2 cup of whole wheat brown rice, top with steamed chicken and broccoli and add sauce over entire dish. Delicious!