Cashew Chicken

Skip the Chinese takeout and make this Cashew Chicken at home. Marinate the chicken in peanut oil, chili powder, honey, and tamari, and then cook with onions and mushrooms. You can whip this up pretty quickly if you first start with the marinade, then chop the vegetables and cook the cashews while the chicken is marinating.

Chicken:
4 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut into 1" cubes (~ 1½-1¾ lb)
¾ cup peanut or vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. chili powder
½ cup tamari or soy sauce
½ cup pure honey
2 cups raw cashews
3 cups onions, roughly chopped (~ 2 medium large)
3 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped

Garnish (Optional):
1-2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
¼ cup scallions or green onions, green parts only, chopped

Marinate the Chicken:
Place the cubed chicken in a medium bowl. Add the oil. Add the tamari until the marinade turns dark brown (~ 2 Tbsp. per breast). Sprinkle the chili powder over the chicken pieces while stirring, so that each piece of chicken gets well coated with the chili powder and marinade.

Stir in the honey, about 2 Tbsp. for each breast. Add chopped ginger if using. Marinate for ½ hour to several hours, the longer the better.

Toast the Cashews:
Heat a skillet on medium high heat. Spread the cashews in a single layer over the bottom of the pan. Stir until lightly browned, remove from heat.

Sauté the Chicken:
Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Working in batches if needed so you don't crowd the pan, use tongs to remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and place them in the pan, reserving the extra marinade.

Sauté the chicken pieces until just cooked through, remove from the pan and set aside.

Place any extra marinade back in the pan and simmer for several minutes (to kill any bacteria). Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. of the marinade into a separate bowl and reserve.

In the same pan, sauté the onions on medium high to high heat for several minutes.

Add mushrooms and continue to sauté until onions are translucent and mushrooms are cooked, several minutes more. Add some reserved marinade to the pan if necessary.

Add the chicken and cashews back to the pan with the mushrooms and onions. Stir to combine.
Cashew Chicken recipe add cashews to skillet

To Serve:
Stir in onion greens (if using) right before serving. Serve over rice. This will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator, covered.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Variations:

• One of the things I like so much about this cashew chicken is that it is a good base recipe from which one can easily expand. Several people suggested the addition of some ginger and onion greens, which I agree works well and I've added in this updated version as an option.
• I've also enjoyed it with some fresh chopped pineapple thrown in, giving it some sweetness. Others have added vegetables such as broccoli or snow peas.
• Note that the amounts specified in the recipe are all approximate. But with these ingredients, in approximately the right proportions, it's hard to go wrong.