Thai Chicken Saute

I tried so very hard to make the last "e" on "saute" have an accent, but failed.  That's really all I have to say about this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 package Chicken Tenders
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Onion, sliced
2 Green Bell Peppers, sliced
2 Garlic Cloves, diced
2 tbsp Ginger, grated
1 can Light Coconut Milk
2 tbsp Sriracha
1 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Lime Juice
2 tbsp Cilantro, chopped

1. Whisk cornstarch and fish sauce together, then toss with chicken.

2. Cook chicken in a pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, turning once.  Remove from pan.

3. Slice onion and the peppers, dice garlic, and peel and grate ginger.  Add all to the pan, and cook for 3 minutes.

4. Return chicken to the pan, and cook for 1 minute.

5. Stir in coconut milk, sriracha, sugar, and lime juice, and cook for 5 minutes or until coconut milk condenses a little.

6. Serve over rice, with cilantro as garnish.

Nice and simple.  I haven't mastered Thai or Indian food yet, probably because I don't have the right spices, but this is a pretty decent approximation.

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Original Recipe:

Cooking Light

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This was great - filling, but super light and healthy.  The leftovers keep for days and days in the fridge, too, and are good cold.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Fish Sauce
3 tbsp Lime Juice
1 tbsp Light Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Coconut Oil (or Grapeseed or Peanut)
1 Onion, diced
1 bundle Green Onions, chopped
2 inches Ginger, peeled + grated
4 Garlic Cloved, minced
1 package Lean Ground Chicken (or Turkey)
1 tbsp Chile Powder
1 Jalapeno, seeded + diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1/3 cup Cilantro (or Basil), diced
1 head Lettuce, washed

I added a red bell pepper for some crunch, which was a good call - this could use celery or something else crunchy too.  Also - use hearty lettuce or the wrap falls apart easily.. I made the mistake of not doing that.

1. In a small bowl, whisk brown sugar, fish sauce and lime juice.  Set aside.

2. Heat coconut oil in a large pan and add onion and white parts of the green onion (save the green parts for later).  Cook for 1 minute, then add garlic, ginger and jalapeno.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add ground chicken and use a spoon or spatula to break it up into little pieces.  It will start out mushy, but as it cooks, it becomes easy to separate. Cook meat until brown, for approximately 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the sauce thoroughly and cook down for 1 minute.  Take off the heat, and stir in the red bell pepper, the rest of the green onions and the cilantro.

5. Wash lettuce and spoon mixture in! Serve hot or cold.

Don't break up the lettuce like I did - the more to wrap around the filling, the better it will stay together. Mine totally fell all over the plate.

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Original Recipe:

Aida Mollenkamp

Mongolian Beef + Peppers

This recipe is a combination of two - one for the sauce and one for the peppers added in.

I made it quite spicy, so cut back on the chile paste and garlic proportions if you don't like spice.  Also, it calls for some fancy ingredients, but you can find most of them in the token "Asian" aisle in the supermarket.  And they stay good forever, so it's a worthwhile investment.

This definitely only serves two, so double for leftovers.

Ingredients:

2 tsbp Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Cornstarch
2 tsp Sherry
2 tsp Hoisin Sauce
1 tsp Rice Vinegar
1 tsp Chile Paste (like Sambal Oelek)
1 tsp Peanut oil
1 tbsp Ginger, grated
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 package/pound Steak, thinly sliced
16 Green Onion (one bundle), chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped

I added in the bell pepper, to make the recipe more of a one-stop meal.  It's a nice balance to the heaviness of the beef too.

1. Combine first 8 ingredients (through the chile paste) in a small bowl.

2. Chop bell peppers, green onions, and garlic. Peel and grate ginger. Slice beef if necessary.

3. Heat peanut oil in pan, and add beef, garlic and ginger.  Cook for 1 minute on each side, or until beef has browned.  Remove all from pan and set aside.

4. Add bell pepper to pan and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add beef mixture back in, as well as green onions.  Stir together and cook for 1 minute.

5. Pour sauce onto pan and mix.  Remove from heat.

SO GOOD. I ate this over rice - soaks up the sauce well.  Only wish I had made more!

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Original Recipes:

My Recipes - Cooking Light (Mongolian Beef - for Sauce)

My Recipes - Cooking Light (Spicy Beef + Pepper Stir Fry)

Coconut Ginger Pineapple Chicken + Vegetables

Found this recipe from SimpleBites and had to try.  I've been searching for a go-to curry recipe, and hadn't quite found the one yet.  My versions were never as flavorful as the real deal.  BUT this is the best one I've made yet, by far.  I'd say 9/10 - and with future improvements (see below), it could be a perfect score.

The original recipe is for a slow cooker, but I never think to start making dinner in time to use mine.  So I've adapted it to just cook in a large pot.

Ingredients:

4 Garlic Cloves, peeled
3-inch Ginger Root, peeled + roughly chopped
1 Yellow Onion, quartered
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Coriander
1 tsp Black Pepper
1-1/2 tbsp Turmeric
1 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Coconut Oil (or Olive)
2 tbsp Butter
2.5 lbs Chicken, chopped
2 cans Coconut Milk, not shaken
2 tbsp Cornstarch
1 can Baby Corn
1 can Pineapple
1 cup Snap Peas
1 cup Green Beans, chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped

Coconut oil is my new favorite - I was just introduced to it last summer, and it makes everything taste so good.  Not like coconut, in the same way that olive oil doesn't make everything taste like olives, but in a rich, nutty, vanilla-ish way.

I also added in potatoes, to give it more substance - had to adjust cooking time for that too.  I'm not including it in the recipe because I wasn't a big fan.  And though I didn't include them, I want to add in canned pineapple, red bell pepper and green beans next time. Make it a full Yellow Curry.

1. Put onion, ginger, and garlic into a small food processor and pulse until a paste forms.

2. Heat coconut oil and butter in a large pot and add paste, cooking for 2-3 minutes.  Add in turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt and black pepper and stir, cooking for another 2-3 minutes and stirring constantly.

I use WAY more spices than recipes ever call for.  I've just found that the recipes are too bland otherwise.

3. Add chicken + red bell pepper, coating them with mixture. Cook 2-3 minutes.

4. Open cans of coconut milk and remove cream from top, placing in small bowl.  Pour coconut milk over chicken (will just cover)

5. Drain canned baby corn and add to pot.  Add green beans, snap peas and pineapple.

6. Whisk cornstarch with coconut cream and add to pot.  Stir well.

The cornstarch thickens the sauce perfectly.  Got to remember that trick when I make soups in the future...

7. Reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer until chicken and potatoes are done, approximately 20 minutes. Add black pepper and salt to taste.

Made this with brown rice, cooked with a little coconut oil added in as well.  Had to wait a while for it to cool down, and added quite a bit of salt and pepper to my bowl.  But I think I've found it! The curry I've been searching for! Huzzah.

Time: 45 minutes total

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Original Recipe:

SimpleBites

Chicken and Cashews

Just tried this meal tonight, from Cooking Light's 100 Easy Chicken Recipes. Completely delicious - hearty, flavorful, healthy, and actually tasted like good Chinese food, not like the pale imitations that I've tried before.  Alright, Cooking Light, I see you.


Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Soy Sauce, divided
2 tablespoons Dry Sherry
4 teaspoons Cornstarch, divided
1 pound Chicken Breast, cubed
1 cup Broth OR 1 cup Water + 1/2 Bouillon Cube
2 tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1 tablespoon Honey
2 teaspoons Sesame Oil, divided
1 Yellow Onion, chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
3-inch Ginger Root, peeled + grated
2-3 Garlic Cloves, minced
2-3 Green Onion shoots, diced
1/4 cup raw Cashews

Here are all of the ingredients.  Oh, but minus the red bell pepper.  And the garlic.  Off to a great start.  Just reference the ingredient list - what, you mean that you can't tell that the tupperware is full of sesame oil?

Great thing is, all of the fancy things like sherry and oyster sauce stay good FOREVER.  I mean it.  Just stow them in the back of your pantry and you'll be pleasantly surprised when you discover them a year later after you get a craving for this recipe.

1. In a large bowl, add chicken (1 pound chopped), sherry (2 tbsp), soy sauce (1 tbsp) and cornstarch (2 tsp) and mix well.

Mmm. Raw meat.

2. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce (2 tbsp), cornstarch (2 tsp), broth (1 cup), honey (1 tbsp), oyster sauce (2 tbsp).

I actually use bouillon cubes, since I never remember to buy more chicken broth, and the remaining half a box inevitably goes bad in my fridge when I do.  1/2 cube to one cup of water, and voila. I also use more than the original recipe, since I wanted more sauce.

3. Add sesame oil (1 tsp) and chicken mix to a non-stick pan and cook for 2-3 minutes (medium-high heat) until slightly browned.  Remove from pan and place back in bowl.

4. Add more sesame oil to pan as needed (1 tsp) and onion (1 medium, chopped), celery (2-3 stalks, chopped), red bell pepper (1, chopped), garlic (2-3 cloves, minced), and ginger (3-inch root, peeled + grated).  Cook for 1 minute.

The chopping is the only part that takes a little time. If only I had a chopping fairy.  Ginger, actually, is my favorite - super easy, though it looks intimidating in the grocery store. The skin peels off easily, and then use a cheese grater to shred it.

5. Add chicken back into pan and cook for 1 minute.  Add sauce from small bowl and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Cook for 1 more minute.

Not great photography, I know.  I'll work on it.

6. Turn off the heat, and stir in green onions (2-3 shoots, diced) and raw cashews (1/4 cup).

And presto! Chicken with cashews.  No need for extra salt or any other seasoning, and I had it over rice pilaf (from a box, don't get too excited).

So, just 99 more easy chickens to go. Bring it on.

Serving Size: 4

Prep Time: 30 minutes (plus 15 to cook)

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Original Recipe:

Cooking Light's 100 Easy Chicken Recipes

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 257
• Fat: 9g
• Saturated fat: 1.9g
• Monounsaturated fat: 4.2g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 2.3g
• Protein: 26g
• Carbohydrate: 17g
• Fiber: 1.9g
• Cholesterol: 63mg
• Iron: 2mg
• Sodium: 584mg
• Calcium: 45mg