Orange Chicken and Broccoli

I love, love, love Chinese food. There is nothing better than a lazy day where instead of cooking, you get a bunch of cartons of Chinese takeout and just pig out. And as much as I love those days, it's important for me to find ways to replicate those situations while also hitting my macros and reaching my fitness goals.

I am quite literally the first person to say that you don't need to eat chicken, rice and vegetables only to be successful on your fitness journey. In fact, that's literally written in my "About Me" section of this blog profile. But sometimes, chicken rice and broccoli taste amazing and are the PERFECT meal that hit all the macros.

This meal in particular is very low in fat, so I do recommend for everyone to add some kind of fat source to this meal, whether it be nuts, olive oil, maybe some avocado, or a peanut oil/dressing, but this is what was good for me and my macros today. This was so tasty and on a rainy day, this felt like one of those days where we decided to be lazy and order takeout.

MACROS:

CALORIES: 423 calories

PROTEIN: 61 grams

CARBOHYDRATES: 44.7 grams

FAT: 1 gram

INGREDIENTS:

- 150 grams jasmine rice, weighed cooked

- 7.90 ounces chicken tenderloins, weighed raw

- 2 cups (185 grams) frozen broccoli florets

- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) g hughes orange ginger marinade

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees for 3 minutes, and line the tray with foil.

2. Cook jasmine rice or rice of choice according to package instructions, and set aside when finished.

3. In a bowl, season your chicken tenderloins with one tablespoon of the orange ginger marinade, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, red pepper flakes, and a little bit of chili powder. Mix until all chicken is thoroughly seasoned.

4. In the foil-lined air fryer, place your chicken tenderloins flat and equidistant and air fry at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. With any meat, letting it rest and not cutting immediately after its done cooking is essential to preserving the juices and moisture, so let your chicken rest for at least 3-5 minutes before chopping.

5. While your chicken is cooking, prepare your broccoli/vegetables of choice. I used frozen broccoli florets, so i microwaved mine for about 6 minutes and sprinkled with salt when done.

6. Now to plate: rice, broccoli, chicken, and pour the other two tablespoons of orange ginger sauce onto your chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sriracha, or other toppings of choice, and enjoy!