Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao chicken is one of my FAVORITE chinese dishes... I first experienced it at P.F. Changs years ago and fell in love on the spot. I have been looking for a good, easy recipe for it and stumbled upon this one. We were so excited to eat it that I forgot to put my chopped green onions on top for presentation, so just imagine them there for a little splash of green...This recipe is soooooo easy and has just enough heat for flavor, but it's not too overpowering. My kids loved it and they don't like spicy things. You obviously could up the HEAT to your own level, but we liked it just the way it was.

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast, diced into bite sized chunks
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp sesame oil
4 green onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (less if you don't want it really spicy)
3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
White rice, prepared per instructions

Prepare rice. Combine chicken and cornstarch in a bowl and toss until evenly coated. Combine the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in another bowl and set aside for later. Heat a large skillet or wok with sesame oil over medium high heat. Once the pan is smoking hot add the chicken and stir fry for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.Add the garlic, ginger, red pepper and green onions (leaving a few for garnishing) to the pan and stir fry for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar mixture to the pan along with the cooked chicken and peanuts. Coat the chicken and peanuts with sauce and heat thoroughly. Serve over rice and top with remaining green onions. Enjoy.