Cashew Chicken is one of my husband’s favorite Chinese dishes. He requested I make this recently and this is what I came up with. It is a good recipe and fairly simple. I think next time we will make lo mein noodles instead of rice to eat it with. Rice is good, but we are preferring noodles lately. We go beyond the basic recipe and add more veggies than is typical. When you make it feel free to add whatever veggies you want. I hope you will give it a try. It is full of yum. 😛

Ingredients
  • 1 – 1 1/2 lb chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 tsp sea salt or less
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced ( or a mix of colored bell pepper)
  • 1/2 onion, sliced
  • 1 carrot, sliced (optional)
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped (optional)
  • 1 can water chestnuts, sliced, drained (optional)
  • 1 cup shredded cabbage (optional)
  • 2 tsp ginger, minced
  • 4 green onions, chopped (optional)
  • rice or noodles (enough for 2-4 servings)
Sauce:
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
Directions
  1. Place chicken, salt, soy sauce and cornstarch in a bowl. Toss to coat. Set aside.
  2. Cook rice or noodles according to package directions.
  3. Heat a skillet on med high heat and lightly toast cashews. Set aside.
  4. In a small bowl mix together sauce ingredients. Stir until completely combined. Set aside.
  5. Heat oil in large skillet on med. high heat. Add chicken and cook 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and set aside.
  6. In same skillet add veggies and cook 1-2 minutes until slightly softened.
  7. Add water chestnuts, mushrooms, garlic and ginger. Cook 1-2 more minutes.
  8. Add chicken and sauce to pan. Toss to coat.
  9. Sprinkle green onions on top.
  10. Serve with rice or noodles.