Chicken Chow Mein

My husband LOVES Chinese food. He craves it like I craved beef and spicy food when I was pregnant with my girls. It's actually pretty funny, since all I have to do is say broccoli beef or fried rice or sweet and sour chicken or chow mein and he starts drooling, Pavlov's dogs style. When we stumbled across this recipe, I decided to add some shredded rotisserie chicken to it to make it a meal and we were all obsessed: me, Hubby, the 4-year-old, and the toddler. We now make this once every other week without fail. It is fast, easy, and completely delicious. I love having this chicken chow mein in my recipe arsenal, since it is always a hit!

There are a couple of important things to note in this recipe. The first is the yakisoba noodles. You can find those in the refrigerated section in your grocery store's produce section. The other is the ginger. The original recipe calls for grated fresh ginger. We tried it that way and thought that it made the recipe taste a little sweet, which we didn't like, so we use ground ginger. It has a spicier flavor that we love. These are just our preferences, so use what you like! 

Chicken Chow Mein

*Adapted from Damn Delicious

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded 

4 stalks celery, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

2-3 cups cabbage, chopped

2 packages yakisoba noodles, sauce packets discarded 

2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
Crispy chow mein noodles, optional

For the sauce:
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 heaping teaspoon white pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside. Cook yakisoba noodles according to the package directions. We do ours in the microwave. You just poke a couple of holes in the packages and microwave them separately for a minute and 20 seconds, give or take (again, we've made this so many times that we have it down to a science). Once done, break up the noodles and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat canola oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add onions and celery and sauté for 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Add cabbage and sauté for 2 minutes. Add chicken and noodles and stir to heat through. Make a hole in the ingredients and pour in the sauce mixture. Remove from heat and gently toss the chow mein to get it all coated in the sauce. Serve immediately topped with crispy chow mein noodles (the ones in the blue can), if desired. Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Salad

This salad was absolutely delicious! We try a lot of new recipes and some are great, but only a few make it into the regular rotation. This is one of those special dishes that we both love. Full of fresh ingredients, flavorful chicken, and crunchy chow mein noodles, Asian chicken salad is a bright, yummy, and easy dish to throw together any night of the week. While we loved all the flavors, we might try to give it a Thai spin next time by changing up the marinade just a little with the addition of red pepper flakes and peanut butter instead of Chinese 5-Spice seasoning, which has a licorice-y flavor. That's another nice thing about this dish-you can change it up to fit your taste very easily. Again though, we loved this one!

Asian Chicken Salad
*Adapted from Pinch of Yum

For the chicken:
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ginger (or 1 tablespoon minced ginger)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons Chinese 5-Spice seasoning

1/4 cup chopped green onions
2-3 cups coleslaw or shredded lettuce
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1-2 cups shredded carrots
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
2 cups cooked, shelled edamame (it's called mukimame when you buy it pre-shelled and is much more convenient in steam bags for easy cooking)
2 cups crunchy chow mein noodles
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Salad dressing of your choice (I used Litehouse toasted sesame ginger)

Whisk together the soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar, and 5-spice seasoning. Marinate the chicken in the sauce for at least 1 hour. Bake chicken with the sauce at 400º for 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally, until cooked through. Let cool and shred.

Toss chicken, green onions, coleslaw, almonds, carrots, cilantro, edamame, and sesame seeds together.

Serve tossed with salad dressing and top with crunchy chow mein noodles. Enjoy!

Asian Lemon Chicken

This dish had so many flavors going on, plus the crunchy texture of the corn flake crust. The only thing we would have changed about this recipe would be to flatten out the chicken a little bit to tenderize it and to give it a more surface area for the corn flakes to adhere to because, let's face it, the best part about this kind of chicken is the crispy part! The flavors were really great though and well balanced, from the soy sauce in the egg wash to the ginger in the crust to the lemon in the sauce and the green onions on top. Another good one that we will re-work a little bit to make it great, in other words.

Asian Lemon Chicken
*From You're Gonna Bake it After All

For the chicken:
4 chicken breasts
1 cup finely crushed corn flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste
1 egg white
1 teaspoon soy sauce

For the sauce:
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ketchup
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Line a baking sheet with foil and place it in the oven. Turn the oven on to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, beat the egg white, soy sauce, and a splash of water until frothy. In a shallow dish, combine crushed corn flakes, ginger, and pepper.

Season the chicken on both sides with a little bit of salt to taste. Dip the chicken in the egg wash and then in the corn flake mixture. Place on a clean plate as you're coating the other pieces of chicken. Remove the hot foil-lined baking sheet and spray it with cooking spray. Arrange the chicken on the sheet and spoon the remaining corn flake mixture onto the chicken, pressing as you go to help it adhere. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

While the chicken is cooking, combine the chicken broth and cornstarch in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir until smooth. Add honey, lemon juice, ketchup, and garlic powder and mix well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon peel. Serve the chicken with the sauce spooned on top and then sprinkle sliced green onions on top. Enjoy!

Chinese Noodle Casserole

This is one of my mom's recipes. I love it as an easy go-to dish that always tastes good and has great flavor and texture. It also reheats really well, just add extra chow mein noodles for crunch.

Chinese Noodle Casserole

1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken (about 2 large chicken breasts)
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup cashews, split
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth
1 5-ounce can chow mein noodles (I use WAY more than this-love the chow mein noodles!)

Combine chicken and celery in a mixing bowl.

On a funny side note, here is our puppy, Gus, helping me by eating the leftover celery.

Add cashews.

Mix to combine.

Combine soup and broth until blended.

Pour over chicken and stir to mix.

Layer mixture in a greased 2-quart deep casserole dish starting with half the chicken mixture then half the noodles.

Repeat and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until heated through.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Every once in a while I get crazy food cravings. We have a Chinese restaurant by our house that delivers (YES! Delivers!) the most amazing and delicious food and I get a hankering for their dishes at least a couple times a month. Unfortunately, this habit can get pretty expensive, so I've been looking for good Chinese food recipes for a few weeks now. I tried out this recipe for Sweet and Sour Chicken from Tasty Kitchen on my parents. Everyone loved it! My dad did suggest that I cut out a little bit of the sugar; it was a touch too sweet for him. I will also work on thickening the sauce up too. However, overall, my mom loved it and so did I. I can't wait to eat the leftovers this afternoon!

Because I was feeding so many people, I doubled the recipe in everything except the chicken. I used 5 good-sized breasts instead of 3. I also added a can of pineapple chunks, half an onion, and a red bell pepper cut in chunks.

Sweet and Sour Chicken
*From Tasty Kitchen

3 chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
Red bell pepper, cut in bite size pieces
1/2 a white onion, cut in bite size pieces (or larger if you're feeding my dad, so he can easily pick them out . . . )
1 can pineapple chunks, drained of juice

For the sauce:
3/4 cup sugar (next time I will cut this down to 1/2 cup)
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt
A few shakes of red pepper flakes

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cut up pepper and onion and drain the juice from the pineapple and set aside.

Cut chicken in chunks and season with salt and pepper. Dip in the cornstarch and then the egg. It will be a mess, but it's worth it! Fry the chicken in oil until it's browned on all sides, but not cooked through (about 3 minutes on each side). Place in a single layer in baking dish.

Add the pepper, pineapple, and onion. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over the chicken, pineapple, pepper, and onion.

Bake 1 hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes. Make another batch of the sauce (optional) and bring to a boil on the stovetop. Let this cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened and reduced, about 6-8 minutes. Serve chicken over rice.