Cashew Chicken

A Delicious Stir Fry! I got this recipe from a book called Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely. The only changes I made were to use fresh garlic and fresh ginger as opposed to powdered. I also used less chicken, so I had plenty of extra sauce. Oh yeah, I forgot, I also added some mushrooms because I had some that needed to be used.

Sean is, for some reason, not a lover of stir fry. He puts up with it, but its best if I don't make it a lot. I think he became jaded towards them when I started cranking them out using the frozen stir fry vegetable mixes. I liked them just fine, but he got sick of them. Now, if I make stir fry, it has to be good. Sean declared this one among the best. I think the fresh ginger is what put this stir fry solidly in that category.

I used something called ultra gel to thicken the sauce. Sean likes a less thick sauce, so if I were to use cornstarch, 3 tablespoons seems like way too much. Personally, I would cut it back to 1 or 2 tablespoons.

Cashew Chicken

3/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced finely
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced finely
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
Some red onion, sliced
2 large carrots, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch strips
1 cup cashews

Directions:
In a bowl, combine juice, honey, soy sauce, cornstarch, garlic, and ginger.

In a wok or large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil until it begins to smoke. Stir fry vegetables for several minutes until the onions become fragrant. Set aside and keep warm.

In the same skillet, heat another tablespoon of oil until smoking and stir-fry chicken strips until browned and tender.

Add cooked vegetables, cashews, and sauce mixture. Continue cooking until sauce bubbles and thickens.