This cashew chicken skillet is an easy, one-pan meal with lots of fresh basil flavor and a quick savory sweet sauce that’s perfect over some rice.
Remember how I bragged about selling our house in 3 weeks back in September and saying how it was crazy because real estate transactions never really go that smoothly?
Yeah, well it’s true, they don’t.
Our buyer ended up apparently lying to the bank on his pre-approval and not telling them his employment status changed mid-year so that when we were 2 weeks out from the supposed closing date, he couldn’t actually get a mortgage commitment once they realized he didn’t have 2 years of tax returns at his current position and the whole thing fell through.
Of course this is after the $150 extra radon test we did and the $565 well test our town mandates for anyone selling a house. Neither of which our lawyer was able to pull out of this guy’s deposit.
Besides the money, the fact that we have a signed contract on another house and the little detail of me going out and buying a non-returnable $4,500 oven for that house and its kitchen remodel that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen now, we sold half our furniture and packed up half our house in preparation for this move.
So my house is now slightly reminiscent of a college dorm or a really nice crack den, depending how you look at it.
The best part is that it’s back on the market, and we’ve had showings with it in this state. Of course these people have no idea that the house was “sold” and that’s why it’s half empty and my foyer decoration now consists of a mirror on the wall and an AeroGarden ULTRA below it.
Because the dining room table set up as a food photography studio wasn’t weird enough…
I feel like I should have a disclaimer taped to the front door “please don’t judge my house, I’m a food blogger and we sold half our furniture when we thought our house was sold.
I do love fresh herbs but they aren’t normally my foyer display of choice”.
But in reality, I just answer the door, let them in, leave with Ginger and attempt not to make eye contact when they’re leaving.
While I’d really love my foyer table back, who can argue with the abundance of fresh basil in December though?
In 30 days, it went from freshly planted seeds to usable herbs and it probably would’ve been a lot quicker if I had realized the light should’ve been moved down when they were first planted (directions…ha, who reads them anyway?).
There were tips almost every day and reminders when to add water and nutrients. It’s pretty much fool proof and a heck of a lot easier than selling a house!
With my basil plants I decided to make a cashew chicken skillet.
Kind of like takeout but with lots of fresh herbs. It’s an easy one-pan meal ready in minutes with tons of freshness from the different varieties of basil.
Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines to make at home mostly because the nearest takeout place is too far away to make sense ordering from but also because I just love all the aromatic ingredients.
This Thai red curry noodle soup is another favorite when you want a slurp-worthy meal!
Apparently there are tomato plants for the AeroGarden too. If I can get my hands on those and not be forced to eat mealy tomatoes in the winter, I’ll be one happy camper!
More Thai recipes to try:
Thai Kohlrabi Noodle Salad
Sticky Thai Chicken
Thai Chicken Zucchini Noodles
Pad Thai Salad
Thai Pea Soup
Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
Thai Basil Cashew Chicken Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken, cut into small cubes
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
- Splash of water
- 1/2 cup packed Thai basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup packed lemon basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup roasted unsalted cashews
Instructions
- In a large skillet heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat.
- Once hot, add the garlic and onions and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken and cook until all sides turn white.
- Mix the fish sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce, brown sugar and water in a small bowl.
- Add the sauce mixture to the skillet along with the basil leaves.
- Stir to combine and cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Add the cashews, toss to combine and turn off heat.
- Serve with cooked rice
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post is sponsored by Kitchen PLAY and AeroGarden. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I cannot find lemon basil. Are there any substitute like lemons us or lemongrass?
Thanks Angela
Just use regular basil.
This looks outstanding! And your pictures are beautiful!
I would say your house is definitely more of a posh upscale crack den….haha totally kidding! Your house is still gorgeous :) I say we just send Uly’s away for the weekend, bust out the wall and make a bigger kitchen. Then we can put your new stove to use. Oh and can I just say I’m super jealous of your AeroGarden. I have seen a couple bloggers posting about that bad boy and I want! Fresh herbs in the winter….yes please!
Oh yum! I love this light, wholesome and super easy meal. Great flavors!
YUM! Even though I will have to buy my fresh basil from the grocery store…:)….I am so making this next week. Looks and sounds fantastic…thanks for the inspiration!
Oh what an absolute nightmare for you, I hope you find a new buyer really quickly. I’m impressed that you’re still managing to make dish after dish of delicious food in the middle of this all – this looks like a super tasty quick dinner.
Ugh – so sorry for all your house troubles but hey, ya got fresh herbs in December, right? It’s been way too long since I’ve made an Asian chicken cashew dish – can’t wait to put this one together.
This is on my menu for this weekend – it just looks so amazing! And I’m dying to use my Thai basil, so all the better.
I love love love cashew chicken! This looks so simple and perfect for a quick week night dinner. Loving the Thai basil addition too! :)