Chicken Satay Stir-Fry with Orange Scented Jasmine Rice

Ingredients

• 3 3/4 cups water
• 2 oranges, zested
• 2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons canola or safflower oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds chicken breast tenders, 2 packages, sliced on an angle into bite-size pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 medium yellow skinned onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded, quartered and sliced
• 1 cup shredded carrots, store bought, or 2 medium carrots cut into matchsticks
• 6 scallions, cut on an angle into 2 inch pieces
• 1 cup snow peas, a couple of handfuls

Satay sauce:

• 4 rounded tablespoonfuls chunky peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons dark soy, Tamari
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1-inch ginger root, peeled and minced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 orange, juiced

Garnish:

• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) chopped peanuts or nut topping, available on the baking aisle
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves or flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Heat water with orange zest to boiling. Add rice, return to boil, stir. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook rice until tender, 18 minutes. Fluff with fork.

For stir-fry, heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chicken, garlic and onion, stir-fry 3 minutes. Add remaining veggies and stir-fry 5 minutes more. Heat all ingredients for sauce together in a small pot over low heat, stirring the sauce until all ingredients are combined. Transfer stir-fry to a large platter and pour sauce evenly over the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle the platter with chopped nuts, cilantro, and basil. Serve jasmine rice in a separate dish with an ice cream scoop to serve the rice with -- it makes perfect, pretty, round portions of rice on the dinner plates.