Cashew Chicken

It was another gorgeous spring day, my mouth watered for something light and representative of the day. Pasta Primavera? ooh yum. Well the cream was too heavy for the sensitive stomachs... what else? After scouring seasonal cookbooks I found, and modified, a new recipe for Cashew Chicken. Yum. Light, Filling, and Spicy... everyone agreed this was a Keenie Kitchen favorite.

The shopping list is long, but the flavor is so good, i recommend following the sauce mixture pretty much exactly.

Shopping List:

• 1 pound of thin chicken tenders
• 1/2 cup of cashews coarsely chopped
• Bunch of scallions chopped
• 2 tbspns of soy sauce (reduced sodium)
• 2 tsps of sherry
• 1 tsp of rice wine vinegar
• 3 tsps of cornstarch
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 big bunch of broccoli crowns
• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of minced ginger (fresh is preferred but not necessary)
• 1 seranno pepper finely chopped
• S&P

Putting it together:

1. Make the sauce: Combine 1 tbspn of soy sauce, 1 tsp of cornstarch, the sherry and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl and put aside.
2. Make the topping: with about 2 tspns of light whipped butter toast as many cashews as you want. Coarsely chop the cashews and toast in a frying pan. Make sure to mix them around. When toasted take off the heat and reserve for later.

3. In the meantime slice your chicken into thin strips and in a bowl coat with 1 tbspn of soy and 2 tspns of cornstarch.

4. Heat up the pan and saute your chicken for 2-4 minutes depending on how thick your slices are. The key is to have them totally whiten up. After 2-4 minutes take off the heat and put aside.

5. Add your peppers (bell and serrano) and broccoli to the pan with a little S&P, saute until it softens

6. Add your garlic and ginger and mix around for 30 seconds or so until it becomes very fragrant.
7. Add the chicken back to the pot and add the reserved sauce.

8. Mix the ingredients in the pan, if the sauce is too thick add a little water to make the sauce coat better.
9. Serve with rice and top with the cashews and scallions.
10. Enjoy!