Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Yummy Dinner

I cooked last night! That's a pretty amazing feat, in and of itself. I don't dislike cooking, but I can satisfy my hunger pains with cereal or popcorn or a sandwich just as easily as with a home cooked meal. And it's faster, with less clean up, and less brain work.

But, even though I don't cook nearly as much as before I got married, I have a bad habit of collecting recipes. See, I find recipes all over the place - online, in the paper, in a magazine - and they sound so good, so I clip them out or print them, and then they get thrown into my "recipe cupboard", oftentimes never to be seen again.

Every once in a while I'll sort through the mess and put the really interesting recipes on top of the stack, thinking maybe, one day, I'll actually make one of them.

And last night I finally did! I made Thai Chicken Stir Fry with Spicy Peanut Sauce, and it was SOOOO good. This recipe I found on Cooks.com (I think), and it looked yummy for many reasons -- it's simple, most of the ingredients I already had at home (I had to go buy broccoli), and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Thai food.

B wandered into the kitchen and almost fell over when I told him I was going to cook. He looked at the recipe, pointed at BROCCOLI and said NO, just like a 3 year old. I told him he could pick it out, but I was putting it in.

The dish was delicious, even B said so as he sat munching on it without broccoli. Here's the recipe, give it a try if you want to.

THAI CHICKEN STIR-FRY WITH SPICY PEANUT SAUCE

2 whole chicken breasts, skinned, boned & cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. water
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
3 to 4 c. sliced broccoli or spinach

In a small bowl, blend peanut butter, water, soy sauce and sugar; set aside. In a wok or large skillet, heat oil over high heat. Add garlic and pepper; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add chicken, stir-fry until firm and white, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli or spinach, stir-fry until bright green, about 3 minutes. Stir in peanut butter mixture. Cook, stirring constantly until sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes. Serves 4.


I made the recipe exactly as it says up above, but I think I'll change it a little bit next time. I think it made more sauce than I needed, and it wasn't as spicy as I'd like. I would probably add some chili sauce to the sauce and not use all of it in the pan. Also, I served it over rice, but I bet it would be great over noodles, too.

Enjoy! I sure did!

7 comments:

G&K said...

Sounds yummy! G & I have been trying at least one new recipe a week- we haven't found one we haven't liked yet, some we would adjust a bit, but it's been fun to try new things!!! I need to post some of them as we try them.

Sara said...

I haven't been cooking much lately, either. But I'll have to try this one out!

Amy said...

yum! that looks so good, thanks for sharing! i'm always looking for new things to try with ingredints i'd have at home...then i'm more likely to try it!

Jenni said...

I think I'll have to try this one, too. I already know most of my family will turn up their noses at the thought, but they're often surprised. You'd think they would have learned to be more open minded about these things by now! I am sick to death of spaghetti with red sauce and meat. Blah!

Sally said...

Jenni - your family sounds like my hubby. He tells me all the time, "I'm 37 years old, and I know what I like. Stop telling me I'll like it!"

Ok, honey...keep acting like a 5 year old! =)

If you guys try it out, let me know what you think. I forgot to mention that you could also cut down the oil a little bit if you care...you didn't really need 2 tablespoons.

Terri said...

wow that does sound good and I'm going to try it out. My family loves Thai but I've only tried cooking it at home twice and it didn't turn out anywhere near as good as the restaurant!

G&K said...

We tried this on Sunday. Alterations I made: I used asian stir-fry mied veggies, and I did add the chilie sauce since you said it wasn't that spicy, and I used organic natural peanut butter. G liked it, and it was different but I don't think I'd make it again- I didn't really like the texture of the sauce with the peanut butter. And it still wasn't spicy enough either...