Orange Chicken

This recipe is from my mother-in-law. I didn't have a lot of the ingredients, so I have been collecting them the last few weeks so I wouldn't have to break my grocery budget. The sweet chili sauce and sesame oil can be found in the Asian food aisle at the store, and I found them cheapest at Wal-Mart.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c strong chicken broth
1 orange – zest & juice
1 c orange juice
1 clove garlic, minced
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 c vinegar
2 T brown sugar (more if desired for sweeter taste)
1 T honey
1/3 c sweet chili sauce (this might be a little too much for some people. If you don't like a lot of spice, use 1/2 cup instead.)
1/2 c soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 ½ tsp fresh ginger root, grated (I used ginger in the spice jar)
2 small cans or 1 large can mandarin oranges, drained, reserve juice
½ c cornstarch
4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into strips (I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot all day and used what I got off of that)

Combine chicken stock, orange zest and juice, orange juice, garlic, green onion, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, ginger root and soy sauce in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then add in the sweet chili sauce; adjust to taste.

Make a slurry with the reserved mandarin orange juice and cornstarch; add slowly to the boiling orange sauce until it is the desired consistency. Add in the sesame oil, then chicken. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over cooked rice.

Yum!