Sweet & Sour Chicken with Egg Fried Rice

My little Italian blog has had an Asian take over this evening - although maybe sweet and sour chicken is something the brits invented like tikka masala? Sorry, I haven't done my research...We have been really craving chinese food for ages, pretty much the whole flat with the exception of Emily (who is a good, hard working girl unlike the rest of us) has been hungover for the whole of the weekend and we needed something take away-esque. It was the last weekend we could really justify going out as we have essay deadlines again soon, so we took full advantage. I'm not going to tell you any stories because I will get in trouble for gossiping, all I'm going to say is that some of us will not be going near alcohol any time soon (cough, Holly, cough).

Serves 4
Ingredients:

3 Chicken Breasts (Diced)
2 Carrots (In Batons)
2 Red Peppers (Cut into Chunks)
1 Can Pineapple Chunks (Drained)
100g Cashew Nuts
1 Onion (Diced)
6 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
4 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
3 tbsp Sugar
1 Clove Garlic (Finely Chopped)
Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper
200-250g Rice
2 Eggs (Beaten)
150g Peas

Place a pan of water and leave to boil. Boil the rice until cooked, drain and leave to cool (or rise under a cold tap).

Fry the onions and garlic in a pan, add the chicken and leave to cook through for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add the carrots and peppers. Mix the ketchup, vinegar and sugar in a bowl and add to the chicken and veg. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and add the cashew nuts and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Add a few splashes of water if the sauce gets too thick.

While the chicken is simmering, heat a frying pan with some olive oil and leave to get really hot. Then add the cool rice to the frying pan. Push the rice to one side of the pan and add the eggs to the other side of the pan. Leave to cook through and then use a fork or a chopstick to break up the egg and mix it into the rice. Next add the peas and leave to cook for a few minutes. Serve the rice with the sweet and sour chicken for an easy and healthier version of a classic.

It was a welcome break from pasta and now we can have chips too because we invested in some ketchup!
We are expecting really high waters tomorrow, higher than my wellies apparently, according to our resident weather girl, Emily. Looks like I will get a chance to wear my bikini after all!

Oh I also forgot to mention that we had an apple strudel for pudding. I didn't make it but it was soooo good and now I feel really greedy - just like every other day I suppose.