Cashew Chicken and Broccoli

I always enjoy making Asian dishes - they are usually a perfect culmination of flavor, texture, and deliciousness. I also love the dinners that are an all-in-one type of thing.

This recipe caught my eye because lately I have loved almost any dish that has nuts in it like this.

Cashew Chicken and Broccoli

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked white rice
3 tbls soy sauce
2 teaspoons grated gingerroot (or as much as you want - I love this stuff so I add a lot)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil, if desired
1 lb chicken but into bite size pieces
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbls vegetable oil
3 cups broccoli
2 green onions (we omitted these)
1 cup salted roasted cashews (I love nuts but I still cut this in half - it is just too much for this dish)

Directions:
* Cook rice as directed (this is why my rice cooker is my best friend)
* Mix soy sauce, gingerroot, sugar and sesame oil and coat chicken - marinate for at least 15 min (or you can do this step a head of time and let it sit for a few hours - I did mine for about 6 hours)
* In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup chicken broth and cornstarch until cornstarch is dissolved, set aside
* In a skillet, heat vegetable oil on high heat, remove chicken from marinate (set aside remaining marinade) and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until no longer pink in the center
* Stir in broccoli and the remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth, cover and cook for 1 minute
* Add onions and cashews
* Stir reserved marinade into cornstarch mixture and add to skillet, cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly.
* Serve over rice

Tips/Ideas:

• I really like the sauce of this but felt there wasn't a whole lot of it, so I think I am going to double the marinade and just add more chicken broth as I see fit.
• We LOVED the broccoli in this so I am going to add more of that next time.

I have to thank good old Betty for this one - I can't take too much credit for this...

Spicy Ginger Pasta

I LOVE this meal! It is definitely in the running to be my favorite - it's a current 3 way tie between this, taco's, and this yummy BBQ Sandwich. Not surprisingly - I got 2 of these 3 recipes from Jamie. Maybe she should be the one running a food blog.

This recipe is super easy and takes about 25 min start to finish (which are my favorite kind of recipes). The flavors of this dish are just the best - a bit of spice, peanuts, and veggies that actually taste good.

Try it. You'll like it.

Spicy Ginger Pasta

8 – 10 oz Angel hair spaghetti

1-2 chicken breasts cubed (if desired)

1 cup Broccoli florets

½ red pepper

½ green pepper

½ zucchini

½ cup chopped (or not) peanuts

Sauce:

1 cup Kraft Toasted Sesame dressing

3 Tb Soy Sauce

½ tsp Garlic powder

¼ - ½ tsp Red pepper flakes

½ tsp freshly grated ginger. (I add a lot more ginger than this - I love the taste of it so just add it to your liking)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package. When there is 3 minutes left, add the broccoli. 

Meanwhile, in a fry pan add a bit of olive oil (or plain Veg oil). Brown chicken until you can't see any more pink (chicken is about 80% cooked at this point and it will finish cooking when you return it to the pan). Remove from pan and cover.

Fry peppers and zucchini . Add chicken to finish cooking (about 2 minutes). 

Turn down the head and add the sauce to the pan. Sauté until pasta is ready.

Put pasta in bowl. Pour sauce on top. Gently mix. Sprinkle peanuts on top. Enjoy!

Tips:

• You can adjust the heat/spiciness of this by using less (or no) red pepper flakes as well as limiting the ginger you use
• You can really use any veggies you might like in this. We have refined this to how we like it (the broccoli is my favorite since it soaks up the sauce, but then I love the zucchini for it's different texture, but then I love the peppers for their crunch... see what I mean? I love it!)
• You can also use any noodle you want - but long work's best for my taste
• I also use the Light version of the dressing - no difference in taste and saves some calories.
• These are hands down my favorite left-overs, I love to eat them cold right out of the fridge.

I hope I didn't talk this up too much - but it is honestly so good!

Enjoy!