Cashew Chicken

Well people I am back to the land of the living zombies.... aka night shift. Some of my co-workers actually enjoy and prefer night shift, and I say- more power to you, you crazy people. I don't know how they function long term on nights, because I feel awful, exhausted and blah the entire 6 weeks we rotate through vampire land.



This was one of my "goodbye sunlight" meals that I also made for a friend who recently had a baby. Once I'm on nights, I tend to eat breakfast foods for 2 of my 3 meals per day, and the third is usually a sandwich or something easy to prepare- like a LeanCuisine. Mental coherence is not always present at "lunchtime" at 0100, and I can't stomach the thought of dinner food when I wake up at 5pm.

This one is very easy to prepare, has a lot of fresh veggies to boost nutritional value, and the chicken is not deep fried, which is another plus. I prefer to use brown or wild rice in place of white, but since I was making this Fake out Take out for a friend and her husband as well, I figured traditional white was the way to go for this go around.

Cashew Chicken

adapted from How Sweet It Is

serves 4

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 carrots, chopped (or 6-7 baby carrots)

1.5 cups broccoli florets

1 red pepper, julienned

4 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup shelled edamame

2 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup unsalted cashews

4 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

Heat a skillet on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Add carrots and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. While carrots are in the pan, place chicken pieces in ziptop bag with cornstarch and shake to coat evenly, adding salt and pepper to season. Remove carrots once they're soft, then add the remaining olive oil to the skillet and add chicken. Brown on both sides until cooked, about 5 minutes per side. Work in batches if you need to in order to not crowd the pan. Add garlic, broccoli, red pepper, edamame, half of the green onions and cashews and stir for 30 seconds. Turn heat to medium low.

In a small bowl, mix soy sauce and honey. Pour into skillet, coating chicken and vegetables. Serve on top of rice of your choice, sprinkle on sesame seeds if you desire.