Applebee's Crispy Orange Bowl

Spicy Orange Sauce

1 c. orange juice

1/2 c. light brown sugar

3 T. orange marmalade

2 T. soy sauce

1 T. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. minced parsley (i used dried)

1/4 tsp. chili flakes (I didn't have the flakes so i used chili powder)

1/4 tsp. minced garlic

1/8 tsp. dried thyme

1 T. rice vinegar

Almond Rice Pilaf

3 T. butter

1 c. uncooked converted rice

2 1/4 c. chicken broth

1/3 c. sliced or slivered almonds

1/4 c. diced celery

1/4 c. onion

1 tsp. dried parsley

Chicken

20 oz breaded chicken fingers baked.

(I just found a bag of frozen popcorn chicken and it worked out great!)

Veggies (all veggies are optional to suit your taste)

1 1/2 c. broccoli florets

1 c. sliced red bell pepper

1 c. sliced mushrooms

3/4 c. sugar snapped peas

1/4 c. shredded carrots (i just used chopped)

Make spicy orange sauce by combining all ingredients, except vinegar, in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium/low heat for 15 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat and add vinegar. (I started this part first but it didn't start thickening up for close to 30 minutes! so I just turned up the heat to medium and watched it really close.)

Bake your Chicken according to the directions on the package.

Start the rice while sauce is cooking, melt 2 T. butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Be sure to use a saucepan with a lid (If you don't have a lid I always just overturn a plate on top of the pan) Add 1 c. rice and saute for 2-4 minutes or until some of the rice begins to turn light brown. As the rice is cooking heat chicken broth on high in microwave for 3-4 minutes or until it begins to bubble. (I just used water and bouillon cubes) When the rice begins to brown quickly add the hot stock and salt to the pan. Cover the pan, reduce heat to low and simmer rice for 20 minutes. As rice cooks, melt remaining butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add almonds and saute for 1-2 minutes or until the almonds begin to brown. Add celery and onion and saute for another couple of minutes or until the onion begins to turn translucent. When rice has cooked for 20 minutes, remove from heat and add the almond, celery, and onion mixture and parsley to the rice. Let sit covered for 5 minutes until the remaining liquid is absorbed.

Steam all the veggies in a pot with a little bit of water and a lid for about 10 minutes on medium/low or until broccoli is tender.

Prepare the bowls by putting rice in a bowl, add a few pieces of chicken tossed in the sauce, some veggies and some more sauce to taste. Top with chow mien noodles and slivered almonds.

This is another one of those yummy recipes from the top secret restaurant book. I just can't get enough of it! Although this recipe has 4 parts practically cooking all at the same time and a million different kinds of ingredients it was actually pretty easy and fast to cook. It maybe took me 30 minutes tops! If you don't think you can do it, just try it anyway... I guarantee that it will be worth it and you will want to make it again next week!