Monday, May 16, 2011

Sesame Noodles with Jerk Chicken

This is a recipe I discovered while signed up for the services at Deals to Meals.  It's a great service that shows you how to save money at the grocery store without coupons.  I don't know about you but the idea of coupons, for me, sounds wonderful.  However, the reality is, it takes up a lot of time and energy that, quite frankly, I just don't have.  Besides, with our new found style of eating, there just really aren't a lot of coupons out there for the types of things we eat now.  Most of them are for highly processed and highly sugared foods.  Not all, but most.  Is that fair enough to say? 

I don't get the newspaper anyway so I don't get the inserts unless I ask my grandpa to save his for me.  He's perfectly willing to do so but I have found the services at Deals to Meals to fit my needs just right.  Besides the list of groceries on sale at a store you choose, she also gives you a whole menu for dinners, desserts, and other things for the week.  You should check them out.  They aren't available in every state but it is growing.  And the cost is very minimal.   

I tried this recipe for the first time about a year ago and I absolutely fell in love with the flavors!  Anthony, however, really liked the noodle part but wasn't such a fan of the jerk chicken flavor.  When I made it again a couple of weeks ago, he decided he liked it only after he had already grilled himself a boring piece of plain chicken.  He tried my jerk chicken just for good measure and really liked it.  Crazy guy!  So then I was forced to split my delicious chicken with the jerk husband.  OH wait!  Let me try that again... that came out wrong.  I happily split my delicious jerk chicken with my handsome husband who decided he really liked it.  That's better!  And just for the record, I don't really think my husband is a jerk.  It was just my lame attempt at being funny.  

Jerk Chicken
Marinate as many pieces of boneless skinless chicken breasts as you think you will need in the following for about 1-4 hours:

Juice of 2 limes
1/2 c. orange juice
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1 t. allspice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Grill chicken when it is done marinating.  (We always grill it but you can prepare it in a crock pot until ready to shred if you want.)

Noodles:
1 lb. spaghetti noodles
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 clove of garlic, grated
3 T. peanut butter
1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce
a dash or two of hot sauce
2 T. canola oil
2 T. honey
3 T. Sucanat (or brown sugar in a pinch)
1 can of pineapple chunks, drained (or 1/2 of a fresh pineapple)
1 red pepper, sliced thin
1/2 bag slaw salad mix (last time we made this I didn't have any so I just thinly cut some green cabbage and threw in some spinach leaves.  We actually liked it best this way)
Green onions, sliced small
Sesame seeds

Cook spaghetti according to directions.  While pasta cooks, heat chicken broth in small saucepan.  Once warm, add ginger, garlic, peanut butter, soy sauce, hot sauce, canola oil, and honey.  Whisk into broth. 

In large bowl, combine peppers, pineapple and salad mix.  Add drained pasta to the bowl and toss to combine.  Pour sauce over noodles and toss again.  Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. 

You can either shred chicken and combine it with pasta mixture or eat the chicken on the side.  We like it both ways. 

The great thing about this recipe is that it's completely clean as long as you use Sucanat, peanut butter with only peanuts (maybe some salt), and whole grain pasta.  But either way, it's still not a terrible dish! 

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