Spicy Chicken and Snow Peas

*recipe taken from Self's EatLikeMe food blog* There's nothing like quick and easy stir-fry, and this one is so tasty and versatile, that it fits the bill perfectly! I realized after my second time of making it, that the really great part of this entire dish is the sauce. Everything else is completely tweakable to suit your taste! The first time I made it, I used the snow peas...second time around, there were none at the grocery store so I subbed in a bag of frozen mixed veggies (containing broccoli, peppers, onions, mushrooms...etc) and used the fresh carrots and peppers the recipe calls for. AMAZING!

Spicy Chicken and Snow Peas

Olive oil
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed (I used 2 large)
1 pouch (3.5 ounces) boil-in-a-bag long grain brown rice (I used regular brown rice, started it at the very beginning of the recipe, and it was ready by the end)
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Teaspoons chile paste with garlic (grocery store didn't carry this, so I used hot pepper flakes to taste)
1 teaspoon bottled fresh ginger (also didn't have)
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1.5 cups matchstick cut carrots
1 cup thinly sliced red bell peppers
2 cups snow peas, trimmed (or any other veggie you prefer!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted, dry roasted peanuts, chopped (didn't use)

Place 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a nonstick skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add chicken cubes and cook until all sides have turned white and the center is no longer pink, about 7-10 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Start cooking rice according to directions on the package, but omit the salt and fat. Once rice is done cooking remove from heat, but keep warm.

Combine sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chile paste and ground ginger in a small bowl.

Coat the skillet with cooking spray and add sesame oil, heat over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and bell peppers, saute for 2-minutes. Add the cubed chicken and snow peas to the pan and saute for an additional 1-minute.

Remove carrot, pepper, chicken, snow pea mixture from the pan and set aside.

Return pan to the stove; over medium-high heat add soy sauce mixture to the pan and bring to a boil. Cook mixture until it has reduced to 1/4 cup (about 1.5 minutes) stirring constantly.
Divide the rice amongst four plates and place chicken/vegetable mixture over the rice.
Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of sauce over each plate and top with 4 teaspoons of chopped peanuts.
This recipe serves 4.