Edamame, Cashew, and Chicken Stir-fry

Adapted from Clean Eating Magazine

I was able to visit two of my best college friends in Houston over our "summer break." Elisa and I made this wonderful dish one night while I was there, so of course I had to come back to school and share it with Amy. We have made a couple stir-fry dishes in the past, but this one is definitely our favorite. The edamame and cashews make for delicious, unique ingredients. You can feed more people with this dish by serving it over rice as well.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp. almond butter (we used peanut butter)
• 1 tbsp. grated, fresh ginger
• 2 tsp. honey
• 1 tsp. dried mustard
• 1 tbsp. safflower oil, divided (we used olive oil)
• 2 chicken breasts
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red pepper, cut into one inch chunks
• 2/3 cup cashews (we used unsalted halves)
• 1 cup frozen, shelled edamame, thawed
• 4 green onions, cut into small pieces

Directions:

Whisk together soy sauce, peanut butter, ginger, honey, dry mustard, and chicken broth. Mix well and set aside.

In a skillet on medium-high heat, heat 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil. Cook the chicken and garlic until the chicken is cooked through. Then remove chicken from skillet and cut into bite size pieces.

In the same skillet, heat another 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil. Add the red pepper, cashews, and edamame and cook for 3 minutes. Then add in the chicken, onion, and sauce and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Once at a boil, reduce to medium-low heat and cook for another 2 minutes. The sauce should thicken, and it's ready to serve!

Yield: 3 servings

Chicken Stir-Fry

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

This is a quick meal once you make the stir fry sauce if you're willing to use a bag of frozen vegetables. The sauce requires quite a few ingredients, but they are mostly pantry staples. If you don't choose to use frozen vegetables, you can adapt this meal to your liking by using vegaetables and a meat (or no meat) of your choice.

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts dethawed and cut into bite size pieces (can substitute meat of your choice or exclude meat)
• 3 tbsp. orange juice
• 3 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. water
• 2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger (or 1/2 tsp. ground ginger)
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 bag frozen vegetables (or any vegetables of your choice)
• 2 cups cooked rice

Directions:

For the sauce, in a bowl mix together orange juice, soy sauce, water, hoisin sauce, ginger, cornstarch, sugar, garlic, and if desired, crushed red pepper. Set sauce aside.

In a large skillet heat olive oil and vegetables over medium-high heat. Cook vegetables until tender (approx. 8 min.). Remove vegetables from skillet.

In the same skillet, cook meat (for chicken, cook for approx. 6 min.). Once meat is cooked, push meat to outer edges of skillet and pour the sauce into the middle of the skillet. Let the sauce cook while stirring until it starts to bubble and thicken. Then return vegetables to skillet and mix all ingredients together until everything is heated and coated with sauce.

Serve over rice.

Yield: 4 servings