Five Spice Chicken

For the chicken
1.5 lbs chicken breast (about 2 breasts)
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder see notes
1/4 tsp sea salt

For the veggies
1 yellow bell pepper any color would work
1 large carrot
1 bunch baby broccoli or half a small broccoli head
4 tsp olive oil divided
2 tsp sesame seeds

For the sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce tamari for GF, coconut aminos for Paleo
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp fresh ginger minced

Instructions
Prepare chicken:
Cut the chicken into even-sized small cubes. Cut the chicken breasts in slices, then cut each slices lengthwise into long stripes and then cut crosswise into dice.
Add chicken, five-spice and salt in a bowl. Using a spoon or your hands, combine to coat chicken with spices.

Prepare veggies:
Cut bell peppers into strips, then cut these strips in half. Make carrot ribbons using a vegetable peeler and cut broccolini into smaller florets.

Prepare sauce:
In a medium bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients.

Make stir-fry:
Once everything is ready, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat. When oil is hot, add chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes. It’s ok if chicken is still slightly pink because it will finish cooking later. Remove from skillet.
Add another 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add veggies and stir fry for about 5 minutes. They should still be crispy, so pay attention not to overcook them.
Put chicken back into the skillet and add sauce. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through.
Serve immediately with jasmine rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Recipe Notes:
Five-spice powder can be found in most grocery stores. It’s a mix of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper and fennel seeds.
If you want to eat this with rice, start heating the cooking water just before prepping the ingredients so that rice and chicken are ready at the same time. To keep things low-carb/paleo serve your 5-Spice Chicken over cauliflower rice or zoodles.
To make this Whole30-approved, skip the rice vinegar and the honey and add some date paste (blended soaked dates) to the sauce for sweetness. Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.

Variations:
You can make this recipe with de-boned chicken thighs instead of chicken breast.
Choose whichever veggies YOU want in your chicken stir-fry. Feel free to toss in some edamame, asparagus, snow peas, baby corn or a bit of shredded cabbage. Just make sure they’re all sliced or chopped equally in size before you begin cooking.
If you want to add some heat to your chicken stir-fry, add some crushed red pepper flakes.