Voila! Sweet & Sour Chicken with Wasabi Panko Crusted Prawns

Voila!  Sweet & Sour Chicken

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program and their partnership with Birdseye Voila!, I was provided a sample of this delicious, tasty and quick Sweet & Sour Chicken.

What?  A healthy home cooking blog promoting a processed food? 

A serving of this Voila! Meal includes over 200 mg. less sodium than a typical can of soup,  zero saturated fat, not to mention vitamin A, vitamin C, Calcium and Iron. 

We all know that Birdseye equals quality. I grew up in the country outside of Pittsburgh, PA.  It was 30 minutes to the nearest supermarket.  In the wintertime, Mom used to stock up on frozen veggies, because we didn’t know when would be the next grocery run. She would always buy Birdseye veggies because she said they were the most nutritional and tasted the freshest. 

Mom was right...

The Sweet & Sour Chicken includes white rice, tender chicken in a Sweet and Sour Sauce with Julienne Carrots, Red and Green Peppers, Diced Pineapple and Onion Strips.

You can find this savory Asian-style chicken in your grocer’s freezer section, along with a variety of others including Shrimp Scampi and Chicken Parmesan.  

I selected the Sweet & Sour chicken because my hubby, Dan, loves Asian food.   When it comes to blending the sauces, my homemade version is always hit-and-miss.  This was spot-on.  In Dan’s own words, “It’s so fresh and so flavorful, it tastes like it came from a restaurant.”

The 22 oz. bag makes three servings, although Birdseye does offer “family size,” too.  I wanted to stretch this to four servings so that Dan and I would have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I paired this with my Wasabi Panko Crusted Prawns.  Prawns taste so good with Sweet and Sour Sauce.  With just a few add ins to the main course; dinner was ready in no time! 

Ingredients:

1 – 22 ounce package Birdseye Voila! Sweet & Sour Chicken
1 Can sliced Water Chestnuts
2 ounces Saki (optional)
Freshly chopped Scallions for garnish

For the Wasabi Panko Shrimp:

8 extra large Prawns, shelled and deveined
1/8 cup All Purpose Flour
½ teaspoon of Wasabi Powder, more to taste
1 Egg, beaten
1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
Panko Bread Crumbs

Other: 

Cooking Spray

Soy Sauce for Passing at the Table

Prawns

Preheat oven to 350°. 

Spray baking pan with cooking spray.   Beat egg with soy sauce.

Dip shrimp prawns in flour, then egg mixture and then the Panko. 

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, turning once.

While shrimp is baking (here is the easy part), prepare Voila! by package directions; simply add the FROZEN contents of the package, sauce, and the add-in water chestnuts into a large skillet, and cook on HIGH for 2-3 minutes.

Stir, cover, and cook for 7-8 minutes until heated through. 

I like to throw in a little Saki -- just because I can – and stir it up to get the sauce to come together with that wonderful rice and crisp veggies.

I plate it all up just like this… topped with fresh scallions.  You can’t get takeout that looks better than this.

I cannot wait to try the other Voila! recipes.