Cashew Chicken (Cook's Country)

Cashew chicken is likely one of the top 3 favorites for Chinese food. That said, I'm super picky about how it gets made. Too often they put bell peppers in it and too often they don't make it with enough cashews. I did not have that problem today. 

I misread the amount of cashews to put in. I read 1 cup and the recipe is for 1/2 c.  I certainly won't complain that I had more cashews than chicken. 

This recipe was good, but I didn't like the soaking the chicken in a slury of cornstarch. When it hit the hot pan it kinda jelly-ed up. It was gross. When I make this again, I won't put in the cornstarch in the beginning. 

Also DEFINITELY use low sodium soy sauce. 5 tablespoons total is a lot of soy sauce. It was still relatively salty with the low sodium, so do not salt your chicken or anything else. 

Cashew Chicken
Recipe from Cook's Country June/July 2020

Photo from Cook's Country

• 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 5 T low sodium soy sauce, divided
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1 T dry sherry
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/3 c hoisin sauce
• 1/3 c water
• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• 3 T vegetable oil
• 1/2 c raw cashews
• 2 celery ribs, sliced on bias
• 6 scallions, white parts sliced thin, green parts cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine chicken, 2 T soy sauce, cornstarch, sherry, and sesame oil in a bowl. 

Combine hoisin, water, vinegar, and remaining 3 T soy sauce in separate bowl. 

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add cashews and cook, stirring constantly until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spook, transfer cashews to small bowl. 

Heat oil left in skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken and cook stirring frequently until beginning to brown. Add celery, scallion whites, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and cook until celery is just beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. 

Add hoisin mixture, bring to a boil, and cook until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thickened. Off heat, stir in scallion greens and cashews. Serve.

Slow Cooker Beef Tips and Rice

 Its cold here in the Pacific Northwest. Perfect day for some comfort food. So out comes the slow cooker. I've had this recipe on my list a couple of times and for whatever reason never made it. 

So easy to put together. I made some small modifications. Shocking! I didn't use beef bouillon cubes. I had the Better Than Bouillon Beef flavor in my fridge so I used that. I added a touch of salt too since it's less salty than bouillons. And I COMPLETELY forgot the onion, so there's that. 

Slow Cooker Beef Tips and Rice
Sixsistersstuff.com

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  Photo from Sixsistersstuff.com

  2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat
• 1 1/4 c water
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1 (10.5 ounce) cream of mushroom soup
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 2 (.87 ounce) packages brown gravy mix
• 3 c cooked rice

Spray slow cooker with non stick cooking spray. Turn onto Low setting.

Place stew meat in the bottom of the slow cooker.

In a microwave safe bowl add the water and 2 beef bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil in the microwave and then stir until cubes are dissolved.

Then add in the soup, chopped onion, and gravy mix packets.

Stir until combined and pour over the beef in the slow cooker.

Gently stir until all the meat is covered.

Cover with lid and cook on low setting for 6 hours.

If you like the gravy a little thicker at the end of the cooking time, add in 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch.

Serve over cooked rice.

Garlic Mushroom Chicken Bites

More garlic this week. There will be no kissing vampires for me.  Blueberry came over for dinner and shared this with me. She approved and I approved. It's a keeper for sure.

Garlic Mushroom Chicken Bites
Recipe from Cafedelites.com

• 2 t oil, divided
• 1 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch
  
• 1/2 tsp salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp each garlic powder and onion powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 8 oz sliced brown mushrooms
• 3 T butter
• 1 brown shallot, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T fresh chopped parsley

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add chicken. Season with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. Mix well and sear chicken all over until browned and cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer cooked chicken to a plate; set aside and keep warm.

Heat remaining oil in the same pan with 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the mushrooms and cook, while stirring, until just beginning to brown and soften, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the remaining butter to the pan. Let melt and sauté shallots and bell peppers until just soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the chicken back into the pan along with any juices released while resting. Mix through all of the ingredients to evenly coat in the pan juices. Continue cooking until all vegetables are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 1-2 more minutes.

Taste test and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm.

Lemon Garlic Butter Flank Steak with Mushrooms

The Pantry Goat came by for dinner tonight. Thankfully I had something on the menu that would not only be delicious, but would allow for leftovers for her!

This recipe was absolutely a 5 star - must repeat again - recipe.

Lemon Garlic Butter Flank Steak with Mushrooms
Recipe from Therecipecritic.com

Marinade: 

• 
  1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pinch of red pepper

• 2 pounds flank steak
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 16 ounce sliced mushrooms
• 3 T butter
• ¼ c chicken broth
• juice of one lemon
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• fresh chopped herbs for garnish

Mix together ingredients of the marinade (soy sauce through red pepper flakes).

Add the flank steak and the steak marinade to a zip lock bag and seal and let marinade for 30 minutes. Remove the steak from the marinade and discard marinade. Slice the steak into strips against the grain.

Add the olive oil to a medium skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the steak strips and garlic and cook for about 2-3 minutes until the steak is cooked to desired liking. Remove the steak and set aside on a plate.

Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Remove and set on the plate with the steak.

Add the butter, chicken broth, juice of one lemon and red pepper flakes to the skillet. Allow to simmer and add the steak and mushrooms back to the skillet. Toss to warm up and garnish with fresh herbs.

Creamy Lemon Chicken with Garlic

 This will be new recipe #84. I think hitting my 100 will be no problem this year. I guess that's ONE good thing about COVID.

This was a super easy, low carb dinner. I served it with broccoli too...gotta get my greens in. I chopped the chicken up into bite size pieces. That's just how I roll. I don't think that makes too much of a difference.

Creamy Lemon Chicken with Garlic
Recipe from Thatlowcarblife.com

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  Photo from ThatLowCarbLife
  

  1 pound thin sliced chicken breasts
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 c chicken broth
• 1 T lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T butter
• ¼ c heavy cream
• 1 T dill

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and heat until shimmering.

Add the chicken to the skillet and cook until browned on each side and cooked through, about 8 minutes total. Remove chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add the chicken stock, to the pan and whisk to deglaze the pan. Add the lemon juice and garlic to the pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Allow chicken stock to reduce by half, about 10 minutes.

Whisk the butter and cream into the chicken stock until butter has melted and mixture is smooth and creamy.

Return chicken to the skillet and sprinkle with fresh dill. Cook for 1 minute to rewarm the chicken.

Serve immediately.

Baked Chili Lime Chicken Tenders

This is a flavorful, flavorful recipe. It has some kick to it, so be careful. I know Chili Garlic Sauce is hot, so I only used 1/4 c instead of 1/2 c...that was a perfect adjustment for me. 

I served this with sautéed mushrooms and rice. Super easy, super yummy. Make this recipe.

Update: I just realized I used chili garlic sauce, NOT chili sauce. The two are very different with very different flavor profiles. I may make this again with chili sauce.

Photo from SixSistersStuff

Baked Chili Lime Chicken Tenders
Recipe from Sixsistersstuff.com

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken tenders
1/2 c chili sauce
2 T orange marmalade
1/4 c soy sauce
2 T lime juice
1 T dried minced onion
1 tsp minced garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
4 green onions (sliced)
1 tsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange chicken tenders in single layer in pan.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together chili sauce, orange marmalade, soy sauce, lime juice, dried onion, garlic, and salt and pepper. Pour mixture over chicken.

Cover pan with plastic wrap and let marinate in fridge for about an hour (I let mine marinate for about 3 hours), turning chicken once, about half way through marinating time.

Remove chicken from fridge, discard plastic wrap, and bake chicken for about 30 minutes.

Remove chicken from oven, turn chicken pieces over and return to oven and bake for 10-15 more minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear).

Garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.

Chunky Beef, Cabbage and Tomato Soup

Its been a couple of weeks since I've cooked something new. Finally feeling settled in the new place and cooking will make me feel even more settled. 

It's a blustery, rainy, coldish day here in Seattle. The perfect day for soup. And I found just the soup! I've made a couple of cabbage and beef soups in the past. All of them delicious. This one, equally as delicious. Super easy and enough leftovers for everyone. 

Make this soup. SkinnyTaste never disappoints and this one doesn't either. 

Photo from SkinnyTaste

Chunky Beef, Cabbage and Tomato Soup
Recipe from SkinnyTaste

• 1 lb 90% lean ground beef
• 1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 c diced onion
• 1/2 c diced celery
• 1/2 c diced carrot
• 28 oz can diced or crushed tomatoes
• 5 c chopped green cabbage
• 4 c beef stock
• 2 bay leaves

Brown ground beef and cook until browned breaking the meat up into small pieces as it cooks, 3 to 4 minutes. Add salt / pepper to taste

When browned, add the onion, celery and carrots and sauté 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, cabbage, beef stock and bay leaves, cook 40 minutes on low. 

Remove bay leaves and serve. Makes 11 cups.

Tater Tot Taco Casserole

I'm a big fan of tacos and Mexican food in general. This recipe was on Instagram and I saw it as I was unpacking the pantry. Turned out I had everything to make this recipe, and then some. 

I only made two small changes to this recipe:

1. I'm not a fan of taco seasoning. I grew up with my mom using chili powder and that was it on our taco meat. So I only used chili powder and didn't use taco seasoning.

2. I had a small can of diced green chilis, so I tossed them in. So delicious!

Photo from AllRecipes

Tater Tot Taco Casserole
Recipe from AllRecipes

Serves 8

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (1 ounce) packet taco seasoning mix
• 1 (16 ounce) bag frozen Mexican-style corn
• 1 (12 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (12 ounce) bag shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen tater tots
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can enchilada sauce

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until completely browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, taco seasoning mix, frozen Mexican-style corn, and black beans to the ground beef; cook and stir another 10 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

Combine the ground beef mixture in a large bowl with about 3/4 of the Mexican cheese blend and the tater tots; stir to combine.

Pour about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the tater tot mixture to the baking dish; lightly pat the mixture down into a solid, even layer. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tater tot layer.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining Mexican cheese over the casserole and return to oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes more.