What's For Dinner? {General Tso's Chicken}

I don't know about you all, but we love chinese food in our house, but I do not like the way I feel after eating at a chinese restaurant.  I decided to search around and look for a better alternative to eating out at a chinese place, and this is what I found.

The orignal recipe came from http://www.marthastewart.com/ and I adapted it to fit our family!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups long-grain brown rice
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 pound snow peas, trimmed and halved crosswise
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated and peeled
• 3 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 2 large egg whites
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower



Directions

1. Cook rice according to package instructions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water until smooth. Add snow peas, garlic, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, and red-pepper flakes; toss to combine, and set aside.
2. In another bowl, whisk together egg whites, remaining 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken, and toss to coat.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Lift half the chicken from egg-white mixture (shaking off excess), and add to skillet. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining oil and chicken, and set aside (reserve skillet).
4. Add snow-pea mixture to skillet. Cover; cook until snow peas are tender and sauce has thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet (with any juices); toss to coat. Serve with rice.

Now for my modifications!  I did not have fresh ginger, so I used 1/2 tsp of ground ginger and I think it did just fine.  I also did not use snow peas because my family will not eat them.  Intead, I stemed some broccoli and served it on the side.  I also used a little more oil for a more "fried" version of the chicken.  This recipe was very yummy, and even m 3 year old ate it!  I definitely found a keeper with this one, and will be adding it to my dinner rotation!