Chicken Cashew

Carlos and I did a one week experiment in which we ate dinners (which resulted in lunch the next day with the leftovers) that consisted of little to no carbs. No rice, no potatoes, no beans, no pasta, no bread, no nothing. I made this Chicken Cashew dish and added some extra vegetables and skipped the rice. It came out really well and was very easy to make. The original recipe is from Taste of Home magazine and I have modified it for my own purposes.

Chicken:

3 chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch chunks

2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil

Vegetables:

2 cups of pea pods, snipped

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 red bell pepper, hulled, seeded and cut into strips

2 celery stalks, chopped

Sauce:

1/3 cup of chicken broth

1 tablespoon of cornstarch

1 tablespoon of honey

1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce

1 1-inch section of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

salt to taste

1 teaspoon of extra light olive oil

1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil

1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup of cashews 

I find it's easier to cut the chicken breasts when they are slightly frozen.

Add the sesame oil and soy sauce to the chunks of chicken. Mix and set aside. 

In a bowl, whisk in the cornstarch into the chicken broth. Then add the honey, rice wine vinegar, hoisin sauce, grated ginger, salt, extra light olive oil, sesame oil and soy sauce. Whisk together.

In a wok or large skillet, heat up a bit of canola or extra light olive oil. Once it starts to sizzle, add chicken in batches and cook until nice and brown. Set aside. Add a little more oil and cook the vegetables just until they start to get a bit brown and their structure breaks down. You still want them to be a bit crunchy.  

Add the chicken back to the skillet, toss in the cashews and stir in the sauce mixture. Cook for only a couple more minutes until the sauce thickens. Serve hot (with or without rice). Enjoy!