Chicken with Black Bean Sauce

One of my favorite restaurants is PF Changs; I love everything about it – the atmosphere, the food, everything!  I had been wanting to try to makeover their chicken with black bean sauce and finally got around to it.  After eating this version, I could kick myself for waiting for so long; it was divine!

I won’t bore you with a bunch of nutritional information, only to say that this version shaves 300 calories PER serving off the original and you won’t miss a single one of them!

Ingredients:

Chicken marinade:

3/4lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced

1 T dry sherry (note:  if you don’t already have this in your pantry, get some.  Since I bought it, I use it a lot!)

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Black Bean Sauce:

          2 tsp cornstarch

          2T water

          ½ cup fat free chicken broth

          2 T dry sherry

          2 T low sodium soy sauce

          2 T black bean garlic sauce

          1 tsp sesame oil

Veggies:

          1 T canola oil

          2 medium zucchini, diced

          2 cup eggplant, diced (about ½ of a large eggplant or 1 small eggplant)

          1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

          2 tsp fresh garlic, minced (2 cloves)

          ½ cup fat free chicken broth

Preparation:

Note:  If all of your ingredients are prepped, this recipe comes together quickly.

In a medium bowl, or resealable bag, place marinade ingredients.  Place in fridge for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the black bean sauce ingredients and stir until the cornstarch is incorporated.  Set aside.

After 20 minutes, remove chicken from refrigerator.  In a large skillet or wok, heat the canola oil.  Add chicken and stir fry for about 5 minutes, until the chicken begins to brown and is no longer pink.  Remove and set aside.

To the wok, add the ginger and garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.  Add the zucchini and eggplant and stir fry for about 1 minute.  You want these to remain crisp tender so don’t cook for too long. 

Stir in the chicken broth and simmer the veggies for about 2 minutes.

Add the chicken back to the wok.  Stir the black bean sauce again and then pour over the chicken and veggies.  Bring to a boil and continue for about 2 minutes. 

Remove from heat and serve over brown rice.

Nutrition:

Serves 4

Calories 200 / Carbs 7g / Fat 8g / Protein 23g / Fiber 2g / Sodium 1028mg