Being Healthier

The wheels start maliciously turning usually AFTER I make a recipe for the first time. I warned you I was posting about chicken again soon ( but I do eat much more than chicken!). I’ve spent the last four years really experimenting, teaching myself how to cook, taking food service courses and even preparing food for 50 in lab competitions. Now that I can call myself a cook, I have this habit of waiting to the last minute only to end up zapping microwavable rice.

So I thought to myself, I could definitely come up with a creative recipe for this liquid crack I used in my Bangin’ like Bangkok recipe a few weeks ago. It is a “Peanut Thai” bottle o’ magic from Harris Teeter. I was seeking a less expensive and “healthier” option but more importantly, a QUICK recipe. The inspiration was also a friend making a recipe she had never tried before that had peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce and salsa from what I remember.

Well, no surprise here, hers tasted very similar to my favorite liquid crack bottled thai sauce . Here is how my experiment turned out.

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken cut into small chunks (I used 8 breast tenderloins)

Peanut-Thai Sauce:
1 tbsp ground cumin powder ($2~$0.09)
1 Lime, juiced ($0.50)
1/4 cup soy sauce ( lite sodium) ($1.50 bottle…~$0.08)
1/2 cup salsa ($2.50 jar…~ $0.20)
1/4  cup peanut butter ( ~$0.10) this amount was way peanutty and I love me some PB)
** 1/4 cup chicken broth ( more or less depending on how thick you want your sauce to be)

1. Cook chicken tenderloins in skillet, 3 minutes on each side.
2. While chicken is cooking, whisk together all ingredients for sauce.
3. Place chicken in glass baking dish.
4. Cover with sauce.
5. Bake on 350* for 15 minutes or until chicken is done ( Internal Temperature holds at least 165* F  for 15 seconds).

* I topped the chicken with a little gluten free bake mix ( Just a sprinkle prior to baking!) I paired my with a frozen vegetable stir fry mix with noodles, asparagus, carrots, green beans, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. It doesn’t look pretty but it was super fast and tasted awesome! 

Slow Cooker Idea:
If you wanted to do this in the slow cooker, I would try layering the chicken in the bottom of your crock pot, followed by the sauce as listed. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth to give it enough liquid for cooking on low for 5 hours.

Being Healthier:

I think this was a fantastic sauce idea and incredibly easy to make! I had doubts on the color and while I whisked, but the taste was spot on! I will most likely try to keep making that instead of always buying the bottled sauce. It came out quite thick so I would suggest adding more lime juice and more salsa, before adding more soy sauce or chicken broth. Why ? Well both soy sauce and broth have a lot of sodium by nature ( they enhance flavor via sodium!) so if you can increase your citrus juice and salsa, you are increasing flavor, liquid, and fruit/veggie goodness vs. sodium.  The total cost after breaking down the cost per serving to make this recipe was $0.97, it made quite a bit of sauce though ~ 1.5 cups. The bottled sauce was $2 on sale, normally $3. Though it is pretty comparable, it utilizes ingredients that you probably have- salsa, peanut butter is a staple for me, cumin, soy sauce…

Let me know if you try it out!

What do you have going on this week ?
It’s starting to feel like spring, Any Spring Cleaning starting?