Chinese Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 3/4 cup frozen sweet peas
• 1 1/2 pounds cooked, cubed chicken meat
• 4 cups cooked brown long grain rice
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice seasoning
• 2 eggs, scrambled
• 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots and onion to saute until semi-soft, then add celery, bell pepper, frozen sweet peas, Chinese Five Spice, and 2 tablespoons soy sauce and stir-fry for 5 to 6 minutes.
2. Stir in cooked, cubed chicken and stir-fry another 5 minutes. Then add rice and stir thoroughly.
3. Finally, stir in scrambled eggs and 1/3 cup soy sauce, heat through and serve hot. 

NOTES:  In the original recipe from allrecipes.com, the reviews suggested adding the Chinese Five Spice seasoning for more flavor.  I'm so glad I did - it's a blend of cinnamon, anise, fennel, ginger, clove, and licorice root = delish.  I adapted the recipe only a tiny bit to make it healthier (lower sodium + sub brown rice).  Additionally, you must know that the prep for this takes a LONG time.  Even though I bought pre-cooked chicken breasts from my local deli, chopping the veggies and chicken for this dinner club meal took 2.5 hours.  Actual time cooking took a bit less than 30 minutes.  I tripled the recipe above for dinner club.  If you're only making this for a group of 4 or less, prep time will probably be cut by 1/3.  Further, brown rice is awesome and wholesome for this recipe, but is best if steamed in a rice cooker.  Use the least amount of water called for considering the quantity of rice you're steaming, because the fried rice is supposed to be "dry" not sticky.

I served this with chopped cashews, chopsticks and fortune cookies :).