PALEO ORANGE CHICKEN

Whenever I’m hungover or PMSing, I always crave orange chicken. I have absolutely no idea why. But I do know that from an emotional standpoint in this COVID journey, I feel like I’m hungover while PMSing. Sluggish, fatigued, cranky, irritable with very strange food cravings. So I decided to spend a little time re-creating one of my favorite recipes. This time it’s paleo with no refined sugars or other weird stuff. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

for the chicken:

• 1/4 cup arrowroot starch
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 package chicken breast (~1.5lb).

Dice chicken into cubes and cover with starch and spice combo. Either air fry at 400F for 15 minutes or saute on stove top in 1 tbsp avocado oil until browned and cooked through.

for the sauce:

• 1/4 cup coconut aminos
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt
• pepper
• juice and zest of 1 orange (~1/3 cup orange juice)
• 1 tsp arrowroot starch
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds (for topping)

get crackin’

While the chicken is cooking, begin making the sauce combo. Combine all ingredients together except for arrowroot starch and sesame seeds. Whisk thoroughly.

When the chicken is finished, place in sauté pan with sauce. Add in 1 tsp arrowroot starch, and stir until sauce thickens. It happens quite quickly, for me ~1-2 minutes.

Once finished, serve over rice of choice (I chose cauliflower), and top with sesame seeds and orange zest.

You could also serve with scallion pancakes, which would be a real treat.

Note: orange chicken is an Asian dish that has been popularized in the United States and is available at most North American Chinese restaurants. After some research, I discovered it is rarely found in Chinese restaurants in China. It is instead an Americanized mutation of the sweet and sour dishes found in China. This recipe is an homage to and appreciation of the original dish. Check out this post to read more!