EASY WEEKNIGHT ORANGE CHICKEN
When navel oranges are on sale, I definitely buy a bag of them! And when chicken breasts are on sale, I buy more than a bag of them! Both of these ingredients are used in so many recipes, from entrees to appetizers to salads! It’s a little like a Chicken Piccata but without the flour coating the chicken.
And recently, I’ve been trying to watch my carbohydrate intake, trying to lose those COVID calories I packed on during the last couple years! While many of us purchased Pelotons and home exercise equipment, I was more sedentary as I worked from home, only traveling from my kitchen to my front room office. I’d wake up in the morning and work on my blog, then 8 – 10 hours working on my day job at CHOP. And at the end of the day, grabbed a glass of wine and started cooking dinner. So there has to be a compromise somewhere if I want to enjoy my food as much as I do with a glass of wine with dinner, (or a cocktail on the weekends), and realizing I need to move more in order to burn off those calories and reduce the number of calories I take in.
So, I started walking 5 miles most days, listening to pod casts and the time flies by! And, I am considering purchasing a Peloton so I can get workouts to address all my physical areas! (TBD on that.) And when it comes to some weekday and weeknight cooking and eating, reducing some carbohydrates, and adding more vegetables to my meals, and just keeping ingredients simple and as tasty as I can.
Hence my Easy Weeknight Orange Chicken! With Capella’s Olive Oil and Vinegar Store’s Blood Orange Infused Olive Oil, a couple boneless chicken breasts, a tiny bit of butter, some chicken bouillon flavor, garlic, salt, pepper, a little cornstarch to thicken the sauce, and of course, orange slices, it’s a one pan dish!
I had some fresh green beans that I actually put in the microwave in the bag they came in, and I just put a little butter, salt, and pepper, along with Hoby’s Essentials Happy Paprika sprinkled on top!
DINNER DONE IN 30 MINUTES FOR SURE!
I know you’ll love this dish as much as my husband and I do especially because it is an easy weeknight entrée and also lighter by not using flour or bread crumbs to coat the chicken. I definitely will try it with lemon, and maybe even lime and a splash of tequila? Hmmmm….do I hear a Cinco de Mayo flavored dish coming up?
Until next time,
Let’s get cookin’
Madeline
Easy Weeknight Orange Chicken
Equipment
- 1 Large Stove Top Sauté Pan
- 1 Chef's Knife
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Small Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts, boneless
- 1 navel orange
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup Capella's Blood Orange Infused Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon Chicken Flavor
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice chicken breasts open so you have at least 4 pieces, making sure they are roughly the same thickness. You can also pound the chicken between two pieces of wax paper to thin out the breasts. They will cook a little faster and be more tenderized.
- Heat oil, butter and garlic in pan on low - mediun heat until the butter melts and the garlic begins to soften.
- Cut the orange in quarters, and squeeze the juice of two quarters of the orange into the pan. Add Better Than Bouillon. Add orange rind into the pan as well. Stir until combined in the olive oil mixture.
- Lightly salt and pepper the chicken, and place in the pan. Cook for 5 - 8 minutes until chicken side down is browned. Flip chicken over and cook for 5 - 8 minutes on the other side until browned and cooked through (temperature should reach 165°).
- Remove chicken from pan onto a plate, cover with foil, and let rest.
- Mix cornstarch and water until cornstarch is dissolved. Pour into the pan, using a whisk to blend into the olive oil mixture. Turn heat to medium-high, constantly whisking until mixture starts to bubble and thicken. Reduce heat to low, continue to stir for about 2 minutes.
- Return chicken to plan, flipping once to cover with sauce.
- Serve with fresh green beans and garnish plate with orange slices.
Notes
