I am on a quest now to lower the fat, salt and carbohydrates of what we are eating, and to that end I cooked a delicious chicken dish for us the other day that I had adapted from a cookery book entitled "The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook" from Diabetic Living.
Garlic Cashew Chicken is a lovely melange of crisp and colourful vegetables, flavourful chicken strips, with a nicely spiced sauce, and brown rice . . . and plenty of garlic. Yum!
I cut the recipe in half and it worked very well. I only used two small sized chicken breasts, which I sliced into strips crosswise and then browned in a non-stick pan I had sprayed first with low fat Fry Light Avocado Cooking Spray. We don't get Pam cooking spray over her so . . .
After that you take the chicken out and you stir fry the vegetables . . . onions, carrots, bok choy, green peppers, garlic. . . one serving of this provides you with a full serving of vegetables.
I didn't have bok choy so I just used sliced cabbage and it worked well. You make a simple sauce using chicken stock, hoisin sauce, freshly grated gingerroot, cornflour, and red pepper flakes. This sauce has lotsa lotsa flavour. It is really tasty. I love hoisin sauce.
You stir the chicken back into the sauce and vegetable mix along with some cooked brown rice and then the whole thing gets poured into a casserole dish, tightly covered and baked.
Then you uncover it and sprinkle the top with cashew nuts and chow mein noodles. We cannot get the fried chow mein noodles over here (and its a good thing too because I could eat them like potato chips and they are not that good for you.) So I just used some cashew nuts. Banged back in the oven to toast the nuts . . .
And with a final sprinkle of sliced spring onions, this went down a real treat. I did serve Todd some additional brown rice on the side of his because he is not needing to watch his carbs and can use the extra calories. One of our neighbors brought him a piece of their wedding cake last evening as well, so he was one very happy camper.
*Cashew Garlic Chicken*
Makes 6 servingsPreheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Spray a 2 litre/2 QT baking dish with low fat cooking spray and set aside.
Whisk together the chicken stock, hoisin sauce, fresh ginger, cornflour, red pepper and black pepper. Set aside.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until bubbling and the chicken is no longer pink inside. Sprinkle with the cashew nuts and chow mein noodles (if using). Return to the oven for a further 4 to 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with the sliced spring onions and serve.
This really was delicious. Don't let the long list of ingredients put you off. Once you get them all assembled the dish goes together really quickly. I was able to enjoy the extra serving today. I made something suitable for Todd to eat, so he wasn't left out and I got to enjoy another healthy meal. I'd call that a bonus! I hope you will try it. I think you will really enjoy it, and maybe even more so in knowing that you are eating quite healthy as well. At 340cal per serving and 40g of carbs (and even less if you leave out the chowmein noodles) this is a winner/winner chicken dinner! Bon Appetit!
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