Recipe: Honey Sesame Chicken with Steamed Vegetables and Rice

Finally!—A night that I don't have work and my parents are both home, and thus a chance to make dinner! I looked through my "Recipes to Try" pinboard on Pinterest earlier today to find a recipe for tonight's dinner and this quick and simple honey sesame chicken recipe was the winner. It was easy to change to suit my needs and it gave me a chance to use up some carrots and snow peas that have been slowly aging in our fridge. Most of the ingredients are things you probably have in your pantry or fridge already—sesame seeds, soy sauce, honey, cornstarch—so you shouldn't have to do too much shopping to make this meal.

Please ignore the Christmas-themed plate. :D Working on getting some plain white plates soon.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
• 2 tbsp. sesame seeds
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1-2 tsp. sesame oil, plus a little to add to the pan 
• 1-2 tbsp. vegetable/canola oil (or enough to lightly coat the bottom of a pan)
• 3-4 green onions/scallions, thinly sliced
• Approx. 1/2 - 1 cup carrots, peeled and cut into rounds or cut into 1/2 inch-thick slices (if you use baby carrots, cut them in half lengthwise)
• Approx. 1/2 - 1 cup snow peas, cleaned (there's a little stringy bit on the straight side of the pea that should be peeled off)
• Approx. 1 - 1&1/2 cups dry white rice (or enough to make 3-4 cups cooked)

Directions
In a deep, medium-sized pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil for the rice, and cook the rice according to package instructions (the rice I used was just a basic white rice that cooks in 20 minutes). In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and corn starch until well-blended, then place the pieces of chicken in the bowl and stir to coat. In a separate bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and garlic until well-blended—this will be the sauce for the dish. In a large pan, heat the vegetable oil and a splash of sesame oil over medium-high heat, then add the chicken, being careful not to get too much of the egg-and-corn starch mixture in the pan. As the chicken cooks, any excess mixture will thicken and add a sort of coating to the chicken—this is okay. Cook the chicken until just about cooked through (about 7-10 minutes) and golden brown all over, then add in the green onions and pour the sauce over the mixture. In the meantime, place the carrots and just a few drops of water in a microwaveable dish with a lid and steam in the microwave for 3 minutes. Add the snow peas in and cook for another minute. DO NOT overcook the veggies—steaming them for too long WILL make them mushy. When the veggies are cooked, add them into the chicken mixture. Add a little cornstarch-and-water mixture to the pan if you want to thicken up the sauce a bit, and feel free to add in a little more honey and/or soy sauce to create more sauce. Serve the chicken and vegetables over the white rice.

This dish, like many I've shared on my blog, is quick and easy to pull together and it's so delicious. The sauce is sweet, but savory and the cornstarch-and-egg coating adds a little texture to the chicken. The vegetables add great color to the mix and the white rice is the perfect neutral background for the dish.

Recipe: Sesame Seared Tuna with Udon Noodles

My social calendar kind of exploded last week, leaving little time to cook. I spent Wednesday evening out with friends for gourmet burgers, french fries with truffle oil cheese sauce (amazing!), and spiked milkshakes at BRGR in Pittsburgh, followed by some low-key bar-hopping in the South Side. On Friday, I spent most of my day in the car, driving down to Knoxville, TN, and enjoyed a long weekend there with my boyfriend and two close friends—we kayaked, went tubing, watched movies, and enjoyed some great food along the way (including delicious dishes and beer from a British pub called The Crowne and Goose). I got home from my trip down south yesterday and was back on duty for dinner tonight, being given the task to make something for my dad that he and I would like, but that my mom wouldn't feel bad about missing (she had to go to an event tonight and she hates to miss out on my cooking). My dad and I are big fans of seared tuna—beautiful golden brown on the outside, perfectly pink on the inside, served warm—and I love to make this sesame-seared tuna and udon noodle dish for the two of us (adapted from here and here) when my mom can't make it to dinner (she's more of a "tuna cooked all the way" kind of person).

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 20-30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

For the tuna:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. mirin (Japanese sweet wine; cooking sherry works as well)
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tbsp. rice vinegar
• Wasabi paste
• 4, 6 oz. tuna steaks (the high the quality, the better)
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds (I use toasted seeds)
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

For the udon noodles:

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp. fresh ginger root, minced or grated (I actually use a zester to finely grate it)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• 3 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce
• 1 green bell pepper, julienned (thinly sliced)
• 1 orange bell pepper, julienned (thinly sliced)
• 4 green onions, minced (grocery stores sell them in small bunches, so I just use a whole bunch. Be sure to use the whites and only a little of the green above it—that's where all the flavor is)
• 2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• 1, 7 oz. package udon noodles (I use dry noodles, not fresh)

Directions 
For the tuna: In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, mirin (or cooking sherry), honey, and sesame oil and whisk together with a fork. Divide into two equal parts, then stir the rice vinegar into one part and set it aside as a dipping sauce (divide into four small bowls so each person gets their own). Put the tuna steaks in the bowl with the remaining mixture let them marinate while you prepare the other ingredients (be sure to turn them over so the sauce gets all over them). Spread the sesame seeds out on a paper plate and press the tuna steaks into the sesame seeds to coat both sides and the edges. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat until very hot. Place steaks in the skillet and sear for about 30 seconds to 2 minutes on each side. Serve with the dipping sauce and wasabi paste. The tuna should be cooked through just slightly, and remain pink on the inside—sear it for a short amount of time if you want it mostly raw on the inside.

For the udon noodles: In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut oil, sesame oil, and hot pepper sauce. Close the lid and shake vigorously to mix the sauce. Set aside to let the flavors blend, shaking occasionally to mix it (the oils will separate if they sit too long). Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add the udon noodles, cooking until tender, about 7 minutes (follow the package instructions for best results). Drain and return to pot. In the meantime, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine the pepper slices and minced green onion. Heat in the microwave until warm, but still crisp, about 1&1/2 to 2 minutes. Add to the noodles and pour the sauce over everything, tossing to coat it all. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds.


The marinade for the udon noodles is packed with great Asian flavors, like soy sauce and ginger, which makes it incredibly flavorful. The crunchy peppers and green onion add texture and a bright pop of color to the soft noodles too. If you get good quality tuna, it will slice like butter and melt in your mouth when properly cooked, and it's absolutely delicious. Feel free to mix up what color bell peppers you use and consider grilling the tuna for a deeper flavor.

Recipe: Black Bean Hummus

So, since my spicy chickpea hummus was such a success, I decided to make a black bean hummus for my family to snack on this week. The recipe is almost identical to the spicy chickpea recipe, but the addition of paprika adds a new flavor and the use of some of the liquid from the can of black beans makes this a creamier, less dry hummus.

Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: No cooking necessary
Difficulty: Easy
Special Equipment: Food processor

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic
• 15 oz. canned black beans
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice, fresh or bottled
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp. tahini (or 2 tsp. sesame seeds and 1 tbsp. sesame oil )
• 3/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp. ground red cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. paprika

(Recipe and ingredients for flat bread for dipping can be found here; this time, I had premade pita chips and baby carrots)

Directions
Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and serve with pita/flat bread, bell pepper slices, or "dippers" of your choice. Refrigerate leftover hummus.

Like the spicy chickpea hummus I made before, this hummus is spicy and flavorful and makes for a delicious snack.