MEAL PREP: One Skillet Cashew Chicken Stir-fry
Wedding gifts keep pouring in and I recently received a beautiful Le Crueset cast iron pan in sexy-red (image to follow). With proper maintenance, a good cast iron pan is indestructible! This thing is a work of art, and I was really excited to use it. So I went looking for a healthy one pan recipe to break it in with.
I came across an interesting recipe for chicken stir-fry with a peanut sauce. I don’t eat peanuts (they aren’t actually nuts, peanuts are legumes, and legumes are against Paleo. The more you know!), so I got to wondering what would happen if I replaced the peanut butter with almond butter. Swapping coconut aminos for the soy turned the sauce into a light, creamy, healthy, and Paleo alternative to conventional peanut sauce. This recipe was fantastic and it’s going to make it into my regular rotation. Thanks for the pan Steve and Esther, so generous of you.
Ingredients:
2.5 lbs chicken breast
2 cups broccoli florets (I used frozen. You shouldn’t look down on frozen vegetables, they’re flash frozen at peak freshness, and are often more nutrition than fresh vegetables. Plus, I didn’t feel like dicing broccoli myself. Who has time for all that?)
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
1/3 carrot, julienned
1/3 cup raw cashews
1 cup sugar snap peas
1) A cast iron pan is fantastic, but it needs to be ‘seasoned’ by rubbing oil into it periodically. I used avocado oil, but they say any oil will work. It’s imperative that you render the pan bone dry after use and NEVER use soap on a cast iron pan! To clean it use a paste of salt and water then dry it thoroughly. I towel dried mine then threw it on the stove with the flame at medium for a while to make sure it was dry. With regular maintenance, these things will last forever!
2) Melt 2 tablespoons cooking fat in pan. I use coconut oil as my cooking fat.
3) Throw all vegetables and cashews into the pan and stir.
4) Cube chicken, seasoning with salt and pepper, then add to pan. Add sauce, mix it all up and stir regularly until the chicken is cooked through. Approximately 10 minutes.
Almond butter sauce:
4 tablespoons coconut aminos
3 tablespoons almond butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon fresh
3 tablespoons water
