Ginger Chicken and Sesame Rice

After a rather scary piece of crystalized ginger at a shady Chinese buffet last year, I was certain that I did not like ginger. Wrong. It is quite tasty in the right circumstances, such as the following recipe.

Ginger Chicken with Snow Pea Salad (from the South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Meals cookbook)
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes
1 pound snow peas, strings removed
1 T plus 2 t canola oil, divided
1 T plus 1 t low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 scallions, sliced
2 t dark sesame oil

Combine 2 teaspoons of the canola oil, 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, and ginger in a shallow bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat.

Heat remaining canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden and no longer pink inside, 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and slice.

Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. While chicken is cooking, boil snow peas for 2 minutes and drain.

Combine snow peas, scallions, sesame oil, and remaining 1 teaspoon of soy sauce in a mixing bowl; toss together. Serve pea salad with chicken.

Note: I usually just add the chicken to the bowl of peas, etc., toss it all up, and serve from there. Also, last time I made it I scrambling 2 eggs with a dash of soy sauce and added it to the final product. Delicious!

Sesame Brown Rice (from the William-Sonoma Essentials of Healthful Cooking book)
1 cup medium-grain brown rice
Kosher salt
2 t sesame seeds
1 t Asian sesame oil
1 T thinly sliced green onion tops

In a saucepan over high heat, bring 2 3/4 cups water to a boil. Add the rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir once, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, without stirring, until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender, 35-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small, dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds until they are fragrant and have taken on color, about 2 minutes. Pour the seeds onto a plate and set aside.

Carefully lift the cover of the saucepan so that no condensation drips into the rice. Drizzle the sesame oil evenly over the top and sprinkle on half of the sesame seeds. Gently fluff the rice with a chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon.

Spoon the rice into a warmed serving dish. Sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds and the green onion and serve at once.