Healthified: Cashew Chicken
Gone are the days of unhealthy, MSG filled Chinese take-outs that also feature heavy carbohydrates like rice and noodles. But not gone are my cravings for Chinese food! A typical Chinese dish contains an average of 1400 calories, two thirds of a day’s fat and no vegetables. It’s equivalent to 3 McChickens and a 32oz Coke. I can definitely avoid McDonalds but I am not giving up Chinese cuisine all together.
I played around with some traditional cashew chicken recipes and replaced certain ingredients with healthier ones to make it paleo-ish and gluten free-ish. I also added a ton of vegetables and served it with quinoa instead of rice. It has definitely become a new favorite healthified dish in my house. I’m so excited to share this recipe with you. Happy, healthy cooking from my kitchen to yours!
Healthified: Cashew Chicken
The Goods
- 2 cups uncoooked quinoa
- 2 large boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour/starch (instead of cornstarch)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon seasame oil
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- 1 whole red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup dry-roasted cashews, unsalted
- green onions, chopped to garnish
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons raw honey
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha (or 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)
DO THIS
1. Cook quinoa accordingly.2. In a large bowl, combine chicken, tapioca flour, and black pepper; toss to coat.3. Heat coconut and sesame oils in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides until cooked, about 5 minutes per side. Remove cooked chicken.4. In the same skillet, sauté onions and garlic until lightly brown. Add ginger and broccoli; cover and cook for 2 minutes, stirring once. Add bell peppers and mushrooms; cover and cook for another 2-4 minutes, stirring once until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add cashews and cooked chicken to the same skillet. Turn heat to medium low.5. Sauce: In a small bowl, mix rice vinegar, raw honey, coconut aminos, and sirracha. Pour sauce over the skillet coating chicken and vegetables; stir until sauce thickens, about 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with quinoa and garnish with chopped green onions. Adapted from My Recipes
TIPS
*Make sure you prep all your ingredients before you start cooking. *I actually doubled my ingredients to make more servings = Lots of yummy leftovers!*Don’t have rice vinegar? Use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead.
© Sabrina tan
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May 29th, 2014 at 7:13 pm
I need to make this for Trevor! He loves cashew chicken. Thanks babes !
May 30th, 2014 at 11:25 pm
oooh let me know how yours turned out. Tell trevor hes so lucky to have you! xo