Kristy's SPICY Cashew Chicken!

My BFF makes a fantabulous cashew chicken meal. And I wanted in on the deal, so I asked for the recipe! Thanks for sharing, Kristy! I believe she stole this recipe from Rachel Ray, so we will give R-squared some props here.

This is one spicy dish, so if you're planning to share with the kiddos, you might want to make their portion sans the pepper in adobo sauce!

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Butter
Large Onion - 1/4 of it diced finely, and 3/4 of it sliced
1.5 cups Brown Rice
3 cups Chicken Stock
1.5 - 2 lbs Chicken, cut up into chunks
2 Tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning
1-2 Red Peppers
4 cloves of garlic, either chopped or minced
1.5 Tbsp Cumin
1 Pepper in Adobo Sauce, chopped up finely plus a little bit of the sauce
1/4 c Maple Syrup
3 Tbsp Honey
Cilantro (dried is fine)
Cashews

In a pot, melt the tablespoon of butter in about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the diced onions and cook for a minute or two. Add the brown rice and cook for another minute or two. Add the chicken stock, bring it to a boil, and then turn the heat down to low, cover it the pot, and let it simmer until the rice is done cooking.

The second time I made this, I skipped the onion and chicken stock and just made the rice per the regular instructions, which in my world is throwing rice and water into the rice cooker, and walking away.

In a pan, heat up a tbsp of olive oil and add the chicken chunks and sprinkle the Montreal Steak Seasoning on top. Cook for a few minutes and add the onions, red peppers, and garlic. Add the cumin and pepper in adobo sauce, and the adobo sauce and mix. After another minute, mix in the honey and maple syrup. After everything appears to be cooked add in about a tablespoon of dried cilantro and however many cashews you want...I think the recipe calls for a cup.

Note, you can freeze your leftover peppers in adobo sauce for later use. I simply processed them for about 10 seconds in my food processor and put the mixture in ice cube trays and froze them. Now when I want to spice up a dish I just take a cube and throw it in!