Paleo Basil “Peanut” Chicken
Who doesn’t love peanut sauce? It’s a great accompaniment to chicken or beef satay and a signature feature in other Thai cuisine. And have you ever tried African peanut soup? Simply delicious. My favorite peanut sauce is from this beautiful lady who would pour it over chicken with rice noodles for years at the Saturday Market in Portland, Oregon. Peanuts, however, aren’t up to Paleo eating standards. Without getting too preachy, peanuts are legumes, and contain phytates, which inhibit nutrient absorption in the gut, and cause inflammation. Thankfully, all other nuts are paleo-approved, so I made this “peanut” sauce out of cashews. My pops just gave me a nice bunch of young bok choy from his garden, so I was inspired to craft my own paleo version of Thai basil “peanut” chicken with veggies, served over spaghetti squash. It’s not complicated, and it tastes great!
Ingredients:
Cashew sauce:
1/2 C. low-sodium chicken stock
1 can unsweetened coconut milk (1/2 C. for the sauce, the rest for cooking the chicken)
1 lime (we’ll juice this into the sauce)
1/2 C. of coconut aminos (or soy sauce if you’re not eating paleo)
1 TBS of fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1″ chunk of fresh ginger, chopped
1 TBS of sambal oelek (chile and garlic sauce). Sriracha or other hot sauce
1 C. cashew butter (or sunflower or almond butter)
1/3 C. chopped cilantro
Basil “Peanut” chicken:
1 spaghetti squash
2 heads of baby bok choy
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 small head of broccoli
3 TBS coconut oil
1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into 1″ bite-sized pieces
Salt and pepper (Sichuan peppercorns if you have ’em!)
1 C. fresh basil leaves, torn
3 green onions (scallions) chopped into 1/2″ pieces
Directions:
(click on the tabs below for each part of this recipe)
As with all recipes, I recommend gathering all your ingredients together, and prepping them first before cooking.
Prepare the garlic, ginger and cilantro by chopping them all into chunks suitable for blending.
In a blender, combing the stock, 1/2 C. coconut milk, lime juice, coconut aminos, fish sauce, garlic, ginger and chile sauce. Blend until smooth, about 20 seconds.
Fold in the cashew butter and cilantro, and blend until smooth, about 20 seconds. You want a liquid consistency, rather than thick, since it will be a sauce poured over the chicken. If it’s too thick, just a more chicken stock.
That’s it! Keep the sauce at room temperature for serving, and the refrigerate the leftover sauce for something else yummy later in the week. It’s great as a vegetable dip!
This is a super-easy method for cooking spaghetti squash in ten minutes, and you can avoid firing up the oven to bake it. Thanks Nom Nom Paleo for the great idea.
Cut your squash lengthwise in half, and scoop out the seeds. Since it’s just me for dinner, I’m only cooking half of the squash, and will reserve the other half for leftovers.
Place the squash in a small glass baking dish and brush or spray on some coconut or olive oil, along with salt and pepper.
Flip the squash over, and place it in the microwave. Nuke for 10 minutes.
Using an oven mitt, pull the squash out of the microwave, and shred the squash into a bowl with a fork. You can salt and pepper to taste if you wish.
That’s all she wrote! You’re now ready to top your squash with the your delicious Thai basil chicken.
Okay, so your sauce is made, and your squash is cooking, let’s make the main course.
Clean and wash your vegetables: bok choy, broccoli, onion and pepper.
Next, separate the the bok choy leaves from the stems, then chop the bok choy stems, broccoli, and pepper into bite-sized pieces. Put the chopped veggies in a bowl, ready to cook.
Now prep your onion and chicken. Bite-sized pieces, on separate cutting boards, please.
Over medium heat, add two tablespoons of coconut oil to a large pan, and then sauté onions until they are tender and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Increase heat to medium-high, and add the chicken, salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes, browning all sides of the chicken.
Move your pan to another burner, reduce heat to low, and pour in the remaining coconut milk. Let the chicken simmer you cook the veggies.
In another pan, heat 1 TBS coconut oil over medium-high heat, and then add the bok choy, broccoli and peppers. Cook until slightly softened, but not limp, about 4 minutes.
While the veggies are cooking, finish your prep by roughly chopping the basil leaves, bok choy leaves and green onions.
When the veggies are cooked, add them to the pan with the chicken, and increase heat to medium to heat through, about 2 minutes.
Stir in the basil, scallions and bok choy leaves, then turn off the heat.
Plate the chicken and veggies over your cooked spaghetti squash, and then pour some cashew sauce over the dish. You’re done! Enjoy your tasty and healthy meal.
