Creamy Peanut Chicken with Rice

This creamy peanut chicken packs a lot of flavor into a quick and east weeknight meal. Serve it over rice and you’re ready to dig in.

Coolest thing that happened over the weekend? My team and I won Harry Potter trivia on Saturday night! With 21 teams, we were convinced we would be trailing after missing 4 of 32 questions in the first half. As we listened to them counting down the top 15 teams we began to get worried as they neared the top 5 and we had not yet heard out team name – could we really have been worse than #15? 5 – not us, 4 – still not us, 3 – could we really be in the top two? 2 – yet again not us. Low and behold we were rocking the #1 spot! Tension rose for the second half as we fought to retain our throne of nerddom and despite missing a few more questions we the reigning champions in the end. To make it even sweeter we won half of money collected to participate ($5/person) which amounted to $200 or $50/person. Who knew Harry potter knowledge could earn money? We proceeded to bar hop around the Knoxville Market Square-area to celebrate.

Coolest thing that you should cook this week? This creamy peanut chicken made with coconut milk, peanut butter and just a little kick thanks to some garlic-chili paste. Lots of flavor for a quick weeknight meal.

One year ago: Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Three years ago: Broccoli Garbanzo Pasta

CREAMY PEANUT CHICKEN WITH RICE

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1-2 Tbsp sambal oelek garlic chili paste

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried ground ginger

1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish

Juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced

1 large carrot, peels and diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 cups cooked rice

Chopped peanuts, for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, sambal oelek, garlic, ginger, cilantro, and lime juice. Whisk to combine. Cover and let sit on the counter for about half an hour.
2. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium high. Add the chicken and diced carrot, season with salt and pepper and sauté for about 4 minutes, until browned all over and the carrot is beginning to soften. Add the diced pepper and sauté another minute. Stir the peanut sauce into the chicken and cook until heated through.
3. Serve chicken immediately over a bed of rice with chopped peanuts and extra cilantro for garnish.

Source: Adapted slightly from Bev Cooks.