Orange Ginger Chicken

We found ourselves blessed with an abundance of oranges a few weeks back. I don't know if someone saw my sorbet post and thought I needed more citrus or what, but an unknown sweetheart of a person left a bag full of oranges at our door. (Thank you, if you are reading this!) We had also just received our Harry & David fruit of the month, "Royal" oranges, so I knew we needed more ways to enjoy these sweet jewels.

The Harry and David oranges came with a recipe for "Orange and Ginger Chicken," so I adapted this recipe to something a little different based on that one.

This is nothing short of delicious. Served over a bed of rice with a salad and some green beans quickly cooked with sliced almonds, this is a meal my family gobbled up with no problem.

*Make sure you prep the chicken at least a few hours in advance to sit in the marinade.

Projected prep time: 15 min; Marinate time: Few hours minimum; Projected cook time: 25-30 minutes
Marinade:
Grated zest of one large orange
1 tbsp. (loosely packed if you choose to use spoon measurement) grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper
**
1 lb. (approximately) chicken breast tenderloins, cubed
Extra virgin olive oil
1 small white onion or about 1/2 of a medium, chopped small but not as small as diced
1 cup orange juice (I used fresh-squeezed)
1/3 cup apple juice (100%)
1 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar (I used a regular/original flavor)
Kosher or sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Combine marinade ingredients in bowl,

then toss with cubed chicken breast.

Let sit for at least a few hours or overnight.

Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the chicken and marinade. Cook until browned  a little then remove from pan. I cooked mine pretty much all the way through before removing.

Add onions to the pan and cook until wilted.

Add juice and vinegar and cook on high for 2 or 3 minutes to reduce a little.

Add chicken back to the pan, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes or until you know chicken is done. Like I said above, my chicken was already done, so this just flavored it.

Turn heat up again and reduce the sauce a little more, stirring to keep chicken from sticking.

Serve over rice and garnish with orange wedges and parsley.

Enjoy!