This Chicken is all dressed up for Date Night!

I am so proud of this recipe that I am about to share with you, because I came up with it all on my own, from the depths of my memory banks. No help from Pinterest or from the Food Network. I wanted to make some thing real special for Scott, and this is what I came up with:

• 1 pkg of chicken cutlets
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 zucchini, diced 
• 2 small yellow summer squash, diced
• 2 cups brown rice
• 1 cucumber diced
• 1/4 of a red onion, minced
• 1/2 bottle Italian dressing
• 1/4 cup of sesame dressing

1. Marinate the chicken cutlets in Italian dressing, at least one hour before you plan to cook them. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. (My go-tos!)

2. Start cooking the rice according to the package.

3. Dice the cucumber and onion, and marinate them in sesame dressing for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

4. In a large sauce pan, on medium-high heat, saute the pepper, zucchini and squash until they are fork tender. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

5. While you are sauteing the vegetables, put some oil in another large saucepan and heat it to medium-high heat. Cook the chicken through until there is no more pink. 

6. When the rice is done, add it to the mixed vegetables.

You can use the rice vegetable medley as a bed for the chicken. Finally, just place the cucumber onion mixture on top. It will act like a cold, refreshing salsa-like salad on top of the chicken. Scott and I were both extremely pleased with the recipe, and I will definitely add it to my date night recipes. If you need a special meal to wow the one you love, or are trying to impress, feel free to steal this one!

Do you have a special date night meal that you make for your significant other?

An Asian Sensation!

Two nights ago, Scott asked me to brainstorm for Thursday night's dinner, so immediately, I started thinking, but of course I drew a blank. Thankfully, he sent me a helpful text message, "look through all your good Asian recipes." Well, to clarify, they're not my recipes, they belong to Pinterest and to the users who posted them on Pinterest. On the other hand, they are good, so I thumbed through the few that I had repinned, and the Mongolian Beef stuck out for me. 

Mongolian Beef has been one of my favorite Asian dishes since I could remember, and the Elephant Bar Restaurant makes a pretty mean Mongolian Beef that I remember and love all too well. So, I figured if they can do it, I surely can do it. I found a very easy to follow recipe right here with very few ingredients. 

For, the most part, Scott and I stuck to the recipe but we made a few changes. Here are the ingredients that Scott and I used, but feel free to stick to the original.

• 1 pkg of stir fry steak pieces
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 tsp. of veg oil
• 1/2 tsp. of grated ginger
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 green onions chopped 
• about 1/2 cup mushrooms
• about 1/2 cup broccoli 

Pat the meat dry and coat completely in flour. Toss in a strainer to shake off any excess flour. The recipe says that the meat should be lightly coated. Where we used flour, she used cornstarch. I don't really know the difference, so feel free to use either. Set the meat aside and start on the sauce. While you're preparing the meat, be sure to get a pot boiling with water and cook white rice according to the package.

To make the sauce, heat half the oil in a wok on medium-high heat. Add in the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the water, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. Cook this mixture for about 2 minutes, then transfer to another container. 

Add the meat back to the wok and fry it until it is brown. Throw in the mushrooms and the broccoli and add the sauce in. The recipe instructs that you can now continue to cook the sauce to reduce and thicken it, or you can finish it as is. Scott and I cooked it down for another 5 minutes or so. Be sure to add in the green onions at the last minute. Pour it over a bed of white rice and enjoy! 

Seriously, this turned out so well! I was pleasantly surprised. I would venture to say that it is just as good as any Chinese or Japanese steakhouse...not to mention, it's super quick! Give it a try and let me know what you think! I'm definitely going to make this one of my go to meals! What is your favorite Asian inspired dinner? And can anyone tell me the difference between cornstarch and flour?