I found a little microwave miracle I’d like to share with you all – Asian Chicken and Cashews from the March 2007 issue of Everyday Food. I don’t use my microwave very often when I make dinner, but this recipe is a keeper.
Although I’m going to focus on the microwave recipe, I started off by cooking some brown rice on the stove. It isn’t actually part of the recipe, but that’s what I chose to serve with the chicken. Brown rice takes about 40 minutes to cook (twice as long as white rice), so it’s good to get a head start.
While the rice cooked, I prepped my ingredients. I cut one red bell pepper into long strips, 6 scallions into 2-inch pieces, 1 2-inch piece of ginger into thin matchsticks, and 3 garlic cloves into thin slices. When the rice had about 15 minutes left, I whisked together 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, and a pinch of pepper in a small bowl. I placed 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and the prepped vegetables in a 2 1/2-quart microwave-safe dish with a lid and then drizzled the sauce over the chicken and vegetables, tossing everything to coat.
I put the lid on the dish and microwaved it on high for 10 minutes, turning the chicken over halfway through. I thinly sliced the chicken crosswise, tossed it with the vegetables and sauce, and plated it with the brown rice. A sprinkle of roasted cashews finished everything off.
This dish has great flavor – the lime in the sauce is especially nice. It isn’t what I would call restaurant quality, but it’s a tasty, one-dish meal that lets you skip the skillet. Works for me!
TIPS: I used my electric knife to cut the chicken slices so I could do it as quickly as possible in the interest of keeping the chicken hot. Any serrated knife will do, though.
Recipe link: Asian Chicken with Cashews
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