Sweet and Sour Chicken

Breast of chicken in a sweet and sour sauce with finely chopped vegetables, on a bed of Udon Noodles.

See notes below for alternative serving suggestions.

Serves 4 | 8 ProPoints/230 Calories per portion (approx)

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts (medium size, fresh, skinless)
1 medium onion
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
1/2 red bell pepper
1/3 mug of rice vinegar
4tbsp artificial sweetener
1tsp tomato puree
1tsp soy sauce
1tsp cornflour (mixed with 2tsp water)
1/2 pineapple (fresh)(optional)
375g Udon Noodles

Method
1) Wrap the chicken breasts in foil and bake in a preheated 180 Celsius oven for 30-35 mins.

2) Finely chop the onion, carrot, celery and red pepper and gently fry in a large pan, with a couple of squirts of 1Cal spray oil, until soft.  Add a dash of water if the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pan.

3) Prepare the sweet and sour sauce in a small saucepan by mixing together the rice vinegar, artificial sweetener, tomato puree and soy sauce and bringing to a gentle simmer. Mix together the cornflour and water and add to the saucepan, continuously stirring to thicken.

4) Pour the sweet and sour sauce over the fried vegetables and reduce the heat so that the sauce does not stick to the pan.  Peel and cut the pineapple into chunks and add to the sweet and sour sauce and vegetable mixture, stirring gently.

5) Bring a pan of water to the boil for the Udon Noodles.  Simmer the noodles for 4-5 minutes.

6) To serve, use tongs to portion out a bed of Udon Noodles on each plate, place a chicken breast on each bed of noodles and ladle over the sweet and sour sauce.


Notes/Ideas
After cooking, the chicken breasts could be cut into cubes instead of being served whole.

Tinned pineapple can be used for convenience, but may add additional calories and ProPoints depending on whether the can contains natural juices or syrup. Check!

Half the amount of noodles used and serve each person with a small portion of homemade chips as well.

If rice vinegar cannot be found in your local shop/supermarket (although it is readily available now), substitute with white or malt vinegar. The taste is not quite as good, but it will do.

Substitute the artificial sweetener with brown sugar for a more authentic taste, but beware of extra calories!