Sweet and Sour Chicken

I've made sweet and sour chicken before, but I feel it's kinda like chocolate chip cookies or something - you can just never try too many variations.

I got this Cooking Light version in one of my daily "Dinner Tonight" emails and thought it was really good; next time, I will totally add some sauteed mushrooms to it.

(Sorry for the weird picture; I didn't realize that my f-stop was set so low until later. At least, I think that was the problem. Sometimes I like to randomly throw around the photography terms I know, even if I have no idea what I'm talking about. It makes me feel smart.)


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon bottled ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World)
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 (15 1/4-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
• 1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dry-roasted chopped cashews (I omitted)
  

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, red pepper, and chicken to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken mixture from pan; set aside.

Add onion, celery, and bell pepper to pan, and sauté 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain pineapple, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Add 1 cup pineapple chunks to pan; cook 30 seconds. Reserve remaining pineapple for another use. Combine the reserved 1/2 cup juice, soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, and sugar in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth.

Return chicken mixture to pan. Stir in juice mixture; bring to boil. Cook 1 minute. Sprinkle with cashews.