Healthy Orange Chicken

Fourth of July weekend. The first one without Mama, but by now I've stopped counting firsts because every week is a first — the first Tuesday without her, the first rainstorm, the first time I reach for the phone to call her and remember. The firsts never end. They just become less sharp. The knife becomes a bruise. The bruise becomes a tender spot. The tender spot becomes the place you protect without thinking about it.

We had a cookout at the townhouse. Small — the kids, Curtis, Vanessa and Brian and Imani. I grilled. Ribs this time — my first attempt at real ribs, the kind you smoke low and slow, except I don't have a smoker so I did them in the oven for four hours and finished on the grill and they were GOOD. Sticky, tender, falling off the bone, with a dry rub I made myself — paprika, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, cumin. Not Mama's recipe. Mine. My own rub. My own ribs. I felt her approve from wherever she is, and I also felt her say "more cayenne," because Brenda Jackson will haunt me about seasoning for the rest of my life.

Curtis ate four ribs. FOUR. He has not eaten four of anything since Mama died. He ate them standing at the grill, sauce on his chin, and he looked at me and nodded. That nod contained everything: you're doing well. The food is good. Your mother would have something to say about the sauce but she'd eat it. I'm okay. Keep going. Curtis communicates in nods the way other people communicate in paragraphs.

Fireworks at the park. Marcus and Jasmine on a blanket, faces tipped up, the sky exploding in color. Jasmine crawled into my lap — she's nine and too big for laps and I will never stop letting her — and she said, "Do you think Grandma can see the fireworks?" I said, "Baby, she's got front row seats." Jasmine smiled. Marcus pretended he wasn't listening. He was listening. We watched the sky and I held my daughter and the fireworks sounded like the end of something and the beginning of something else, and I let both things be true.

That Fourth of July taught me something I’m still sitting with: when you make something from scratch — really from scratch, no shortcuts, no packet seasoning, just you and your instincts and whatever your mama whispered into your hands over the years — it lands differently. The dry rub I built from memory felt like a beginning. So I kept going. This Healthy Orange Chicken is the next thing I made that had that same energy: sweet, a little heat, sticky in the best way, and entirely mine. Curtis nods every time I make it too.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup fresh orange juice (from about 2 large oranges)
1 tablespoon orange zest
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more to taste — Mama would say more)
2 green onions, sliced, for garnish
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, for garnish
Cooked brown rice or steamed broccoli, for serving

Instructions

Season the chicken. In a large bowl, toss the chicken cubes with 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch, salt, and black pepper until evenly coated.
Make the orange sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Set aside.
Sear the chicken. Heat the sesame oil and olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook without moving for 3–4 minutes until golden on the bottom. Flip and cook another 2–3 minutes until cooked through. Work in batches if needed to avoid crowding the pan.
Add the sauce. Reduce heat to medium. Pour the orange sauce over the chicken and stir to coat. Cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy and sticky.
Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds. Serve immediately over brown rice or alongside steamed broccoli.

Nutrition (per serving)

Healthy Orange Chicken — Sweet, Sticky, and Made With Love (Just Like That Dry Rub)