Thursday, April 24, 2014

Basil Orange Pineapple Chicken

One of my favorite Food $ense recipes, is the Polynesian Skillet. It reminds me of one of my favorite meals growing up that my mother would make, Sweet & Sour Chicken. Which is one of my favorites that I still get when I go to Chinese restaurants. But the Food $ense recipe for Polynesian Skillet is so much less expensive and much much healthier for you. 

This is a recipe that we make a lot around here, it is quick and easy and healthy. The big three things that make a recipe a winner around here. But I was craving something a little bit different last night. I wanted to stay with the same type of flavors. We had a delicious fresh pineapple here to use and I had some peppers in the fridge.

I found the most interesting recipe on Dole.com for Basil Orange Pineapple Chicken. It cooks up the same in a lot of ways at the Polynesian Skillet, but with a few different ingredients in the sauce.

Ingredients:
1 medium fresh DOLE® Tropical Gold® Pineapple
2 teaspoons Butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
  salt, to taste
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 small red bell pepper, seeded, thinly sliced, I used a green pepper also for color and added veggies.
1/2 cup frozen DOLE Pineapple Orange Juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup white wine, I don't cook with wine so I just used orange juice.
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 oranges, peeled, sliced

Directions:
In nonstick skillet, saute  pineapple in margarine until lightly browned.  Remove. ( I think this extra step of preparing the pineapple first makes it taste Amazing!)



Cut chicken into evenly sized cubes. Season with salt. Brown chicken in oil. Cover, simmer 6 minutes. Remove.

Sauté red pepper in same pan. Combine juice concentrate, wine, mustard, cornstarch and onion powder; stir until blended. Add to pan. Cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens. Add chicken, basil and black pepper to sauce. Spoon sauce over. Add oranges; heat through. Serve with pineapple.