Pineapple Sweet n' Sour Chicken (GF)

When you're on a gluten free diet, it can be really difficult to find gluten free Chinese food options.  Most of my favorite Chinese dishes (cashew chicken, sesame chicken, and sweet and sour chicken) are either coated with flour or cooked with soy sauce (which contains wheat).  I love this recipe for sweet and sour chicken because it always cures my craving for yummy Chinese and won't leave me feeling bloated or sick.  It tastes just like it came from a Chinese restaurant; Scott and I both agreed we like this recipe even better than take out we used to get.  My whole family (even the kids) also love this recipe and request it whenever I'm in charge of family dinners.  If you don't eat gluten free, you can make this recipe with soy sauce instead of tamari sauce and it will still taste great.  So stay in tonight and try this recipe instead of ordering take out.  You'll love it!

Pineapple Sweet n' Sour Chicken

*Recipe adapted from a recipe found on Mels Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil or olive oil

1 large green, red or yellow sweet pepper

1 small can chopped pineapple (drained)

Sauce:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 Tablespoons ketchup

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon tamari sauce (100 % soy sauce that can be found in the health or Asian cooking section of most local grocery stores)

1 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  While the oil is heating, cut the chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces.  Season with salt and pepper.
3.  Place the cornstarch into a gallon-sized ziplock bag.  Dump all the chicken pieces into the bag and toss to coat the chicken.
4.  Whisk the eggs together in a shallow pie plate.  Dip the cornstarch-coated chicken pieces in the egg and place them in the hot skillet.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  You want the pieces to be a nice golden brown but not cooked all the way through.  Place browned chicken onto a single layer baking dish.
5.  Continue this process with the remaining chicken pieces.  (This process does get a little messy but don't worry, the cornstarch washes off easily.)
6.  Mix the sauce ingredients together and pour over the chicken in the baking dish.
7.  Bake for 1/2 hour.  While the chicken is in the oven, chop the pepper and drain the pineapple pieces.  Remove the chicken from the oven and flip the chicken pieces with a spatula.  Add the pepper and pineapple to the chicken and place back in the oven.  Bake for an additional 30 minutes.

The chicken should look like this at this point

7.  Serve over hot rice and enjoy!  

-What's your favorite Chinese food dish?