Anyone who has followed my blog for a while knows that I just adore food…especially the gourmet variety!…so when I contemplated joining Weight Watchers with my sister, I gave serious consideration about how I would go forward with my blog without stuff like heavy cream, butter, pasta and rice. I simply cannot abandon my favorite foods and have success at losing weight, because sooner or later, I’ll fall off the wagon and eat something Italian or French or Mexican…I could go on and on.
Instead I decided that I had to look at joining Weight Watchers as a challenge instead of as some sort of torture. In fact, you can eat anything and EVERYTHING on WW and still lose weight (it’s really true!), but you just have to be creative about it and utilize the tools they give you, which includes their fabulous App that scans barcodes right in the grocery store and tells you how to track your points!
Today I am presenting a completely satisfying and truly, truly delicious chicken dish and you won’t believe it only has 3 (yes, you heard me correctly…THREE!) points, thanks to the new Freestyle WW plan. The recipe does require a few specialty items, but everything should be available in your local market. The sauce makes this dish amazing, so don’t skip items unless you really don’t care for them or can’t find them.
Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I use FROZEN Perdue individually flash frozen kind and they are perfect for this dish), sliced or chunked into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup of frozen broccoli florets
- cooking spray
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (you can use fresh or the prepared garlic)
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced
- 4-5 green onions aka scallions, chopped, including the green parts
- 1/2 of a red or orange bell pepper, cored and roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions:
- Place the broccoli in a bowl with a little water and cover with plastic wrap. Pierce the wrap a few times and microwave for about 5 minutes. Drain water and set aside.
- Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium high heat.
- Toss in the green onions, garlic and ginger and cook for about two minutes. Keep an eye on your pan to avoid burning.
- Add the bell pepper and sauté for a minute or two.
- Toss in your chicken pieces and sauté for about five minutes or until the chicken is white and cooked through.
- When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, toss in the broccoli florets and mix in to the chicken.
- Carefully drizzle the sesame oil over the entire thing. Then add the oyster sauce and soy sauce. Stir to incorporate all the ingredients.
- After cooking for about a minute, push the chicken and broccoli out to the sides to make a little well of the liquids. Add the cornstarch and stir it into the liquid. The cornstarch will thicken the sauce. Once the sauce has thickened, push the chicken and broccoli into the well and mix to combine everything.
- Divide into two dishes and sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy!
For those on Weight Watchers, half of this recipe counts for 3 points. One point each for the cornstarch, sesame oil and seeds. The oyster sauce–which really gives the dish depth–is free in this quantity. Obviously if you eat this with rice, you need to add the points for it. If you are going to use rice, I would recommend serving steamed jasmine rice.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you do, come back and tell me about it. And, please, feel free to spread the word!
Miss Rita to the Rescue! 