When you have a ton of ginger roots, you make Asian food. I went to Produce Junction last week and ginger was on sale 2lbs for 2$….how in the world could you go wrong? Chicken teriyaki is one of those delicious take out meals that you can make all by yourself a lot faster and healthier. This is a clutch weekday 30 minute meal that you can throw together quickly after a long day of work. The recipe is set for 4 hefty servings but it can easily be doubled or even halved if you’re cooking for two.

I’m sure everyone has seen some kind of food in a pineapple. It’s a cute idea and it goes along well with something savory and sweet so what better partner than chicken teriyaki? Teriyaki sauce is both sweet and sour and with a hearty salty flavor from the soy sauce. In this recipe I use low sodium soy sauce because I add additional seasoning and don’t want the soy sauce to over power  everything else in this dish. I add fresh ginger, garlic. rice vinegar, brown sugar and honey to the soy sauce to make perfect simmer chicken in a flavorful teriyaki sauce.

This was one of my favorite dishes to take pictures of. The bright colors don’t do the flavor any justice but it sure does look purty. The sweet juices from the pineapple get soaked up by the perfectly coked jasmine rice and add even more sweetness to the dish without spoiling the savory warm chicken. You can certainly serve the rice and teriyaki on a plate without the pineapple if you do not like pineapples or have them available.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of boneless chicken breast cut into small bite size pieces
• 2 whole pineapples cut right down the middle
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 cup of cooked jasmine rice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 crown of broccoli

For the sauce

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tsp of freshly grated ginger
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 3 grated garlic cloves
• 1 tsp salt, pepper, and onion powder each
• 3 tsp of brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
  • Whisk all together in a small dish 

1. In a medium skillet with 1 tbsp of olive oil, add your bite size pieces of chicken. Immediately season with 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of pepper and 1 tsp of onion powder. Cook until all pieces of chicken.

2. Add your small broccoli florets with an additional 1 tbsp of olive oil and cook until the broccoli is tender.

3. Add your soy mixture that you have (hopefully) made before hand. Let cook on low heat for 10 minutes. In the meantime check your rice.

*I use jasmine rice for this recipe. It has a sweeter taste that is lighter than white rice and more of a bite. I usually use 2 cups of water for every 1 cup of jasmine rice. I put everything in a pot and let it come to boil then remove it from the heat with a lid on for 20 minutes and it turns out perfect!

4. Hollow out your pineapples while your chicken cools down a little. Serve half of the pineapple filled with rice and the other half filled with your chicken teriyaki. Soooooo yummy and pretty.