Cashew Chicken with ginger

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
  • ¾ cup roasted cashews (we used unsalted roasted cashews)
  • 1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
  • 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce
  • 1 cup sliced scallions (we cut ours on the bias)
  • Rice, for serving (optional) (I used rice to make it feel like a complete meal)

Directions

  1. Fill a large saucepan with water (don’t fill it all the way up with water though since the chicken will be going in there as well later). Bring the water to a boil and salt the water (I used table salt), adding the chicken in afterwards. Let the chicken cook for 4-5 minutes or until fully cooked. Once the chicken is fully cooked, drain the water and leave the chicken off to the side for now.
  2. Take a wok or large skillet (I used a large skillet) and pour the oil in, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add in the cashews, stirring constantly for 1 minute or until the cashews become fragrant (we went with 1 minute). Toss the ginger in and continue to stir for another 30 seconds. Add in the soy sauce and garlic sauce followed by the chicken. Stir to make sure that the cashews and chicken get coated in the sauce and continue to stir occasionally for 2 minutes. Take the skillet off the heat and mix in the scallions.
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This was a pretty easy dish to make ! It’s just a little bit on the salty side but you can still get some heat and the fresh scallions help balance the saltiness, all combining to make a delicious dish ! It’s also nice getting different levels of crunch from the cashews and scallions to contrast against the chicken. Besides possibly adding more scallions next time, we’d be happy to eat this again !

We got this recipe from Cuisine At Home.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Cuisine At Home.

Take care everybody !

Fall Vegetable Curry

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil (we used extra-virgin olive oil)
  • 1 cup diced peeled sweet potato
  • 1 cup small cauliflower florets
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced yellow onion
  • 2 tsp. Madras curry powder
  • ½ cup organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson)
  • ½ tsp. salt, divided (we used table salt)
  • 1 (15-oz.) can unsalted chickpeas, rinsed and drained (we used regular chickpeas)
  • 1 (14.5-oz.) can unsalted diced tomatoes, undrained (we used a regular can of diced tomatoes)
  • 2 (8.8-oz.) pkg. precooked brown rice (such as Uncle Ben’s) (we cooked up a pot of brown rice)
  • ½ cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt (we used whole-fat Greek yogurt)
  • ¼ cup unsalted cashews
  • 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

  1. Pour the oil into a large nonstick skillet, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add in the sweet potato, stirring now and then for 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and add the cauliflower into the skillet as well as the onion and curry powder. Stir the mixture continuously for one minute before stirring in the broth, ¼ teaspoon salt, chickpeas and tomatoes, waiting for the dish to come to a boil afterwards. Once boiling, put a lid on the skillet and turn the heat down low enough for it to just simmer. Let it simmer for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, stirring now and then during that time.
  2. While the curry is simmering, cook the rice according to the directions on the package they’re in. Take the cooked rice and place it in a mixing bowl, adding in the last ¼ teaspoon of salt, stirring to combine. Once the vegetables are tender, split the rice evenly between 4 bowls, topping it with the curry vegetable mixture, yogurt, cashews, and the cilantro.
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This is a wonderful comforting dish to enjoy ! This curry stands on its own but you can choose to add on the toppings and have another layer of flavor and textures. The yogurt does add a creamy texture to the dish but the curry is great without it and omitting the yogurt makes this a vegan curry !

We got this recipe from Cooking Light.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Swanson, Uncle Ben’s, or Cooking Light.

Take care everybody !

Buttery Nashville Hot Sauce Chicken Wings

Ingredients

  • 3 lb. of chicken wings, split at the joints, tips remove
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
  • Sauce ingredients
    • ¼ cup melted butter (we used unsalted butter)
    • 3 to 4 tsp. ground red pepper (we used 3 tsp.)
    • 2 tsp. dark brown sugar
    • ¾ tsp. kosher salt
    • ½ tsp. smoked paprika
    • ½ tsp. garlic powder
    • 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Take 2 baking sheets and line them with aluminum foil, spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray afterwards. Divide the chicken wings between the two lined sheets, sprinkling the kosher salt and black pepper onto the wings afterwards. Place one baking sheet on the middle rack and the other on the bottom rack. Cook for 30 minutes, then switch places with the baking sheets and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.
  2. Near the end of the cook time on the chicken wings, take a small saucepan out and mix the following ingredients together in it over medium heat: melted butter, ground red pepper, dark brown sugar, ½ tsp. kosher salt, smoked paprika and garlic powder. Stir those ingredients together for 1 minute or until fragrant, taking the saucepan off the heat and stir in the apple cider vinegar afterwards.
  3. Place the chicken wings in a large mixing bowl, pouring the sauce over them afterwards and tossing to coat. Serve immediately.
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These were delicious ! It started off with a little bit of sweetness and then the heat came in. There was definitely a spiciness that kept you coming back for more ! While I did enjoy the level of heat, I can’t wait to make this again with an additional teaspoon of ground red pepper just to see what it tastes like then !

The sauce recipe came from Southern Living.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Southern Living.

Take care everybody !

Better Than Takeout Orange Chicken

Ingredients

  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 ½ pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces (we used chicken tenderloins)
  • Canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • ½ cup fresh orange juice (took about 3 oranges to get ½ cup of orange juice)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce (we used reduced-sodium soy sauce)
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
  • ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar (we used light brown sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons water (we used cold water)
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • Hot cooked brown rice

Directions

  1. Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl, leaving it off to the side for now. Take another shallow bowl and mix together in it the ½ cup cornstarch, flour, salt and pepper. Dip the chicken pieces into the egg, turning to coat. Move the chicken into the cornstarch mixture, tossing to coat all over. Shake off any excess and place it on a plate for now.
  2. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Pour ¼-inch of canola oil into a skillet (we used a Dutch oven) and get the oil to 350 degrees over medium-high heat. Using a pair of tongs, gently add a few pieces of chicken into the oil (you don’t want to crowd the skillet). Let the chicken cook for 4 to 5 minutes, turning occasionally or until the chicken is fully cooked and the outside looks golden brown and crispy. Drain the chicken by putting them on a paper towel-lined plate. You can keep the cooked chicken warm by placing it in the oven while you’re cooking up the other batches and making the sauce.
  3. For the sauce, take a small saucepan out and pour one tablespoon of canola oil into it, setting the heat to medium. Once the oil’s hot, add in the garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper, stirring now and then for 2 minutes. Add in the orange juice, lemon juice, soy sauce, vinegar, sweet chili sauce, sesame oil and brown sugar, stirring to combine. Wait for the sauce to come to a simmer.
  4. While you’re waiting for the sauce to come to a simmer, take a small bowl and mix the tablespoon of cornstarch together with the 2 tablespoons of water, creating a slurry. Once the sauce is simmering, slowly whisk the slurry into it and continue to let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened, stirring now and then during that time (our sauce thickened up almost instantaneously). Take the saucepan off the heat and add the chicken to it, tossing the chicken so it’s fully coated in the sauce. Serve the chicken over rice, sprinkling the green on afterwards.
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This recipe sounded so good I had to try it out even though I’d never ordered orange chicken from a takeout menu before. I’m happy I did because it was delicious ! There’s a nice tanginess to the sauce as well as a good level of heat that’s noticeable but doesn’t overpower everything else in the dish. If there’s one thing I’d do differently next time, it’d be making sure to eat this right away or only toss individual portions in the sauce because the crunch from the chicken starts to go away once it’s coated in the sauce. Besides that one easily fixed issue, I’d be happy to eat this again whenever I had a hankering for takeout !

This recipe came from Centennial Kitchen.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Centennial Kitchen.

Take care everybody !

Garlic Ginger Noodle Stir-Fry with Crispy Tofu & Sesame Seeds

Ingredients

  • 12 oz. whole-grain spaghetti
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided (we used 3* tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil)
  • 14 oz. extra-firm organic tofu, drained, patted dry and cut into ¾-inch cubes (we drained and then pressed our tofu to get the water out)
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cups thinly sliced carrots
  • 2 cups sliced or quartered white mushrooms (we removed the stems and then sliced our mushrooms)
  • 2 cups trimmed and halved green beans
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
  • 1 lime, sliced into wedges for garnish
  • Sauce
    • 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth, warmed
    • 3 Tbsp. raw honey or coconut sugar (we used coconut sugar)
    • 3 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
    • 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
    • 4 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 tsp. peeled and minced ginger
    • 1 tsp. chile-garlic sauce (such as sambal oelek) (we used sambal oelek)
    • ½ tsp. sesame oil (we used toasted sesame oil)
    • 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper (we used fresh ground black pepper)
    • 1 Tbsp. arrowroot mixed with 2 tablespoons water (we couldn’t find arrowroot so we used an equal amount of cornstarch)

Directions

  1. Look at the box the spaghetti came in for directions on how to cook it and follow those directions.
  2. While the spaghetti is cooking, make up the sauce: Take a large bowl out and add the broth and sugar to it, whisking it until the sugar’s dissolved. Now add in the following ingredients, stirring to combine: soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, chile-garlic sauce, sesame oil and the black pepper. Leave the sauce off to the side for now.
  3. Take a large skillet and pour one tablespoon of the olive oil into it, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add half of the cubed tofu in and cook it for 5 minutes or until it’s crispy, turning the tofu frequently so all sides can get crispy. Place the crispy tofu on a paper towel-lined plate and repeat the process with the second half of the tofu*.
  4. Using the same skillet that you used for the tofu, pour the other tablespoon of oil in, keeping the heat at medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, toss in the onion and carrot slices, letting it cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the mushrooms and green beans in, stirring frequently for 2 minutes**.
  5. Take the arrowroot mixture and stir it into the sauce to combine. Pour the sauce mixture into the skillet, letting it get heated up. Let the sauce bubble and thicken for 1 to 2 minutes (as soon as we saw it bubbling we moved onto the next part). Add the noodles and tofu into the skillet, tossing to coat in the sauce. Divide the skillet mixture among 4 plates or bowls and garnish with the cilantro, lime wedges and sesame seeds.

*By the time we were done crisping the first half of tofu up, it seemed as if the tofu had absorbed all the oil so we added another tablespoon of oil in before crisping up the second half of the tofu.

**By the 2 minute mark for the mushrooms and green beans, all the vegetables still seemed really raw so we put a lid on the skillet and cooked it for about another 6 minutes, taking the lid off just long enough to stir occasionally during that time.

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This recipe is going into our favorites if no other reason than for that sauce ! The sauce is delicious but that deliciousness gets muted somewhat once it’s tossed with all the other components. The lime juice and cilantro bring more great flavor to the dish though. If you make this a day before you plan on actually eating it, the dish kind of takes on a vegetable lo mein feel by sitting in the fridge overnight which was awesome !

This recipe came from Clean Eating magazine.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Clean Eating.

Take care everybody !