Peanut Chicken Archives -

Peanut Chicken Salad RECIPE

Post author:Melanie
Post published:January 20, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Lunch / Recipes / Sweet Treats
Post comments:3 Comments

Oh, happy day! I hope you are all having an amazing weekend.

I originally wasn’t planning on posting today but just had to when I got the a-okay from Dana’s mom to share her delicious peanut chicken that I mentioned on Friday.

I know some of you had mentioned your interest, so here you go! I did adapt it just slightly, so what you see below is Sue’s recipe but with my adaptations.

Peanut Chicken Salad

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups quinoa, cooked
1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter
3 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 TBSP sesame oil
3 TBSP water
1 clove garlic, minced
~4 cups veggies: broccoli, onion, mushroom, carrots (whatever you have on hand)
1 cup cucumber, cut into strips
3 cups shredded romaine lettuce

Instructions

Cook chicken on stove top until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.
While chicken cooks, combine peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, oil, garlic and water. Stir until smooth.**You may have to warm the peanut butter in the microwave to soften.
Add veggies into pan; stir. Let cook for 6-8 minutes until veggies are beginning to soften yet still have a slight crunch.
Toss peanut butter mixture into chicken and veggies. Stir to combine well.
On a large serving platter arrange the lettuce on the bottom, next the cooked quinoa, and finally the chicken and veggies.
Finish by adding the cold cucumber strips to the top.
***If you have chopped peanuts, sprinkle some on top of the dish to further improve presentation***

This one is definitely a crowd pleaser. What’s so nice about this dish besides the fact that it tastes amazing, but it also serves as a full course. We didn’t serve anything for our guests besides the chicken salad. I suppose you could serve some type of fruit on the side, but I just didn’t feel it was necessary since there are so many components to the dish. ENJOY!

A few things real quick before I head to the living room to cut coupons, I was a maniac in the kitchen yesterday. I made dried fruit, nutty granola bites, and a savory lentil dish for dinner. I didn’t do a great job of writing recipes down but I think I will be able to remember and hope to share with you this week.

Also, my lunch yesterday rocked my socks off. I threw together the remains of our container of dark leafy greens, then added quinoa, black beans, tomato, avocado, salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder. IT WAS SO GOOD.

Oh, and one more thing. It is 0°F in Minnie this am and feels like -17. After we go grocery shopping this morning I may not want to leave my warm home for the rest of the day. 🙂

Happy Sunday!

Peanut Chicken Salad

Post author:Melanie
Post published:January 18, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Friends / Recipes
Post comments:6 Comments

Is anyone else doing their Friday happy dance?! HAPPY FRIDAY my friends!

So guess what? Yesterday, I did it again. No peanut butter for breakfast! That’s because I was saving myself for dinner but more on that in a sec. I should also mention I did have banana with pb for breakfast on Wednesday. I am trying to scale back just a little bit for real.

But yesterday I had another Greek yogurt bowl that I had put together and refrigerated the night before.

For lunch I had carrots, cucumber, a banana, and a nice big salad with tomatoes, black beans, olives, feta cheese, and hummus.

I made a quick stop at the gym on the way home from work and then had a sweet and juicy snack once I got home…

Then I got ready for dinner. We had our friends Adam and Stacy over for dinner last night and on the menu: Oriental Peanut Chicken; recipe courtesy of Dana’s mom.

We switched it up slightly and used quinoa instead of rice.

We sautéed two chicken breasts, broccoli, onion, carrots, and mushrooms…

Next we drizzled the sautéed chicken and veggies with homemade peanut sauce and gave it a good stir. This is why I saved my peanut butter consumption for dinner time. This sauce is gold it is so delicious. I may have to ask my mother-in-law if I can divulge the recipe to you all. 🙂

And lastly to put it together: one heaping layer of romaine lettuce chopped into shreds onto a large serving platter, next layer on the quinoa, then the sautéed veggies and chicken, and finally top with fresh chopped cucumbers.

!!!! It was so good!!! Our company was pretty great too! 😉 We had such a fun time with them as always. I get an extra wrinkle line each time we hang out from laughing so much.

I hope you all had a great week and are looking forward to the weekend as much as I am. I am off to an appointment, then work, and tonight we are celebrating Betsy’s birthday! We don’t have too much planned for the weekend but one thing I know for sure is the rest of the Christmas stuff is coming down (our wreaths are still up–whoops) and the few Valentine’s Day decorations that I do have are going up! Woooo!

How long do you keep holiday decorations up before getting crazy tired of them and taking them down?