~ Random Dinner

Dinner for the day - chickpea patties, sauteed baby spinach, and spicy orange chicken:

~ Spicy Orange Chicken

Adapted from:

RecipeTips.com

Description:

Stir-fried chicken with a tasty sweet sauce~

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

450g diced chicken meat

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 carrots, sliced

1 celery sticks, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chunked

Juice and zest of 1 orange | (total of 1/2 C liquid with honey)

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp minced ginger

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp potato starch

Description:

1) Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat.

2) Add cut up chicken tenders. Sauté until lightly browned (3-5 minutes), stirring occasionally.

3) Add minced garlic and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Cook another 3-4 minutes.

4) Add frozen vegetables or fresh cut up vegetables. Cook 5-10 min or until vegetables are crisp tender. Set the chicken and vegetables aside.

5) In small saucepan, combine honey, orange juice, zest, oil, soy sauce, vinegar, minced ginger, and pepper. Heat through and pour sauce over the chicken and vegetables to serve.

Remarks:

~ Sauteed Baby Spinach

Adapted from:

Allrecipes

Description:

Fast and simple baby spinach sauteed in onions~

Ingredients:

1 tbsp oil

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

400 g baby spinach leaves

1 tbsp soy sauce

Salt and ground pepper

Directions:

1) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Stir in onions and garlic and cook until transparent, about 5 min.

2) Add spinach, sprinkle with soysauce, salt and pepper; cook and stir 3 to 5 min until leaves are wilted and reduced. If a lot of spinach is cooked, don't add it to the pan all at once. Add more spinach to the pan as each addition wilts, which will occur rapidly.

Remarks:

~ Chickpea Patties

Adapted from:

Eatmakeread Kelly

Description:

Spiced chickpea patties~

Ingredients:

1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 C diced fresh parsley

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp ground cumin

Salt and black pepper

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp oil

Directions:

1) Mash chickpeas, and add in parsley, garlic, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

2) Gently squeeze the mixture and form form into eight 1/2-inch-thick patties.

3) Coat with the flour, tapping off excess.

2) Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the patties, turning carefully, until golden brown, 3 to 5 min per side.

Remarks:

The chickpea patties were bland and dry, perhaps due to my poor cooking skills. The patties crumbled slightly when cooking, do take note to flip them gently.

~ Strawberry Daifuku

Taken from:

Cooking with Dog

Description:

Traditional Japanese sweet chewy cake with strawberry-filled centre~

Ingredients:

100g glutinous rice flour

2 tbsp icing sugar

100ml water

Potato starch

150g anko

6 strawberries (15g each)

Directions

1) Cut off stems of strawberries.

2) Split anko into half, and then into 3 to get 6 in total.

3) Shape a piece of anko so its flat and round.

4) Put strawberry in anko and spread the anko up to the stem. Make sure to cover all sides. Place the anko balls in a covered container to make sure they are moist, and store in the refrigerator.

5) Dust baking sheet with potato starch.

6) Add glutinous flour and sugar together in a non-stick bowl. Mix in water with a spatula and make sure there are no lumps.

7) Steam the batter for 15min.

8) Stir the mochi until even and put it on the baking sheet. Dust mochi and hands with potato starch. Split the mochi into half and then into 3 parts to get 6 mochi balls.

9) Shape each piece of mochi into a flat circle, dust off starch with brush and add in the anko ball. Spread the mochi to cover the anko, dusting with starch if it gets sticky. Work quickly as the mochi will not stretch enough to cover the anko ball once it cools.

10) Store at room temperature, best eaten on the day itself.

Remarks:

I like anko mochi a lot, but with a strawberry in the middle seemed a tad bit weird and that the mochi shape looked rather awful due to my poor skills. However, it's still a nice treat :)

The mochi had sparkles on the exterior surface possibly due to the icing sugar in the dough, but I don't think the camera captured it well: