Pad Thai-Inspired Chicken Stir Fry

Hey there Kiddies,

after my last long, rambly post, and seeing as how most of my readers are foody-type people, I have decided to give you a quick recipe to tide you all over until I bake something again!

Last weekend was one of those weekends that are full to the brim, where you rush about all day and then get to about four o'clock and realise you haven't done any shopping, nor have you gotten anything out of the freezer to defrost.

Great.

(Note: chicken fillets defrost far more quickly if you slice them thinly and spread the pieces out a bit. To stop them going all gross and dry and manky, put them in a plastic bag or container with the lid on)

After a bit of a ferret through the kitchen, I came up with a workable solution. It's not a fancy recipe but it does well with few ingredients in the house. I like to fool myself into thinking that it's a little better for you than Pad Thai, but it's probably not, although there is definitely less oil and I used lo-cal noodles. Note - I would not normally have had the lime in the house, but for the fact that I zested a few limes to put in white chocolate, coconut and lime ganache to fill my birthday cake. Yummo.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken thigh fillets, fat removed, sliced thinly

Crushed garlic

Chilli sauce

Oil

Onion (I used red because it's what was in the house)

Broccoli, cut into small florets

Kale, sliced (an afterthought to add some more greenery, and, again, was in the house/garden)

More garlic!

Chang's super lo-cal noodles, rinsed and drained (although any cooked noodles would do, preferably rice)

Chopped cashews

More chilli sauce!

Brown sugar (approx. 2 heaped tsp)

Fish sauce (approx. 1 tbsp)

Soy sauce (approx. 1tsp)

Lime juice (approx. 2 limes' worth)

Cashews to garnish

I'm sorry but you're going to have to figure out the quantities yourself. It will depend on how many people you're feeding and what your taste buds are like. The dressing/marinade can be adjusted to suit your taste and the quantity you are making up, as can the chilli sauce. You could also add fresh chilli to give it some real zing, and some corriander/cilantro (which I just remembered I had a squeezy tube of and should have used but didn't. AND I have squeezy lemongrass! DAMNIT!!!). This dressing/marinade is also fantastic on a Thai beef salad, but that's another post for another (summer) day!

METHOD:

Heat about 1tbsp oil in a large frypan. Stir-fry chicken with a teaspoonful of crushed garlic and some chilli sauce (you'll need to taste test). When the chicken is cooked through remove from the heat and set aside.

There should be enough oil and juices left in the pan now to fry up your onion (until softened), broccoli (until bright green and heated through/cooked to your liking) and kale (until wilted - obviously add it much later than the other things). Add the chopped cashews and stir, then the drained noodles and mix until evenly distributed (tongs will help). If it starts to stick, add a little water. Add more chilli sauce to taste.

Add the chicken back in along with the dressing/marinade and mix it all through until everything is hot. Serve garnished with whole cashews.

Quick, easy and quite healthy. If you want to cut down on the calories, add more kale and broccoli and less cashews. Those puppies are quite deceptively high in energy!