This chicken stir-fry from the October 2011 issue of Canadian Living is so good, I’ve made it twice in the last three weeks. Chicken thighs are cubed, browned and then stir fried with garlic, ginger and vegetables. A tart-sweet chili sauce is added at the end. The recipe calls for onions and peppers – I also tossed in broccoli and blanched green beans when I made it the second time. I couldn’t find additive-free Thai-style sweet chili sauce, so I made it from scratch, using a recipe from allrecipes.com, which I have also included below.

To avoid additives and preservatives in these recipes, use all-natural rice vinegar, such as Marukan brand, and all-natural ketchup, such as Heinz original.

Cube and brown skinless boneless chicken thighs

Add vegetables you have on hand

Add sauce and heat until it thickens

I served Sweet Chili Chicken over rice and with sauteed baby bok choy

Sweet Chili Thai Sauce

½ cup water

½ cup rice vinegar

½ cup sugar

1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

½ tsp garlic, minced

1 tsp hot chile pepper, minced

1 tsp ketchup

1 tsp cornstarch

Pour water and vinegar into saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in sugar, ginger, garlic chile pepper, and ketchup; simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in cornstarch. Remove saucepan from stove to cool. Transfer to bowl, cover, and refrigerate until needed.

From allrecipes.com

Sweet Chili Chicken

Ingredients:

1½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut in bite-size pieces

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

1 onion, chopped

1 sweet red pepper, cut in bite-size pieces

1 sweet green pepper, cut in bite-size pieces

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped

½ cup Thai-style sweet chili sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 green onions, thinly sliced

Preparation:

Sprinkle chicken with salt. In large skillet, heat oil over high heat; stir-fry chicken until starting to brown and juices run clear when chicken is pierced, about 6 minutes.

Add garlic and ginger; stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add onion, red and green peppers and jalapeño pepper; stir-fry for 3 minutes, adding about 4 tbsp water by the tablespoon to prevent sticking to pan.

Mix chili sauce with vinegar; add to pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until reduced and vegetables are tender-crisp. Serve sprinkled with green onions.

From the October 2011 issue of Canadian Living