CROCKPOT CHALLENGE DAY 6: Sesame Chicken

We're a big Chinese food family. Bring on some sesame chicken or General Tsao's and I'm game. The problem I have since cleaning up my diet though is that my body just doesn't tolerate unhealthy foods as well as it once did. Fortunately, that does help me make better, more informed choices, however, it also makes it hard for me to eat the with the family when we have Chinese food nights. This recipe is going to be my go-to one to add to the repetoire. We paired it with chicken wings and beef skewers for the kids (there's no such thing as too much meat, right? We're carnivores over here in the Shen house!) and edamame.

NOTE: This is one of those easy to prep the night before recipes. I make the sauce the night before, throw it in a tuperware in the fridge and then pull it out, pour it over frozen chicken breasts in the AM and push ON. Easy peasy!

Clean Eating Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

Boneless chix breast (3-4 breasts)
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c honey
1/2 c low-sodium soy sauce
4 Tbls tomato puree/paste
2 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp cornstarch
1/4 c water

Serve with 2 c broccoli florets, chopped into bite sized pieces + 1 tsp sesame oil for frying
Rice or quinoa, to serve
Toasted sesame seeds, to serve

Directions:

1. Spray the inside of the crockpot with cooking spray to make it easier to clean after. Place chicken in the bottom of the cooker.

2. Combine the onion, garlic, honey, soy sauce, tomato paste and oil in a bowl. Stir.

3. Pour sauce over the chicken and cook on low for 4-6 hours (depending on how much chicken. I use frozen breasts so I cooked it for 6 hours.)

4. 20 minutes before you want to serve, prepare the rice and remove the chicken from the slow cooker.

5. Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and add it to the remaining sauce in the slow cooker. Turn the temperature up to high to allow the sauce to thicken. While it's thickening, shred or chop the chicken.

6. Once the sauce has thickened, add the chicken back into the sauce and turn to coat.

7. In a skillet, heat 1 tsp of sesame oil over med-high heat. Fan fry the broccoli until it turns a bright green color and are a little firm to taste (you don't want to overcook it!) If you're a garlic-lover, you could add some garlic to the oil when you saute the broccoli.

8. Lay the broccoli over the rice, top with chicken and sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Enjoy!