136.8…Spicy Basil Chicken

Last night’s dinner was courtesy of April’s Cooking Light issue again. When I saw the recipe for Spicy Basil Chicken, I thought my husband would really enjoy it. He loves Asian style chicken dishes.

Spicy Basil Chicken (Serves 4)

Adapted from Cooking Light, April 2012

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1/4 cup minced shallots

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

6 (4 oz.) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 Tbsp fish sauce*

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp lower-sodium soy sauce

1 1/4 tsp chile paste with garlic (such as sambal oelek)*

1 tsp water

1/2 tsp cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup sliced basil leaves

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots and garlic to pan; cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add chicken to pan; cook 8-10 minutes or until chicken is done.

2. Combine fish sauce and the next 6 ingredients (through salt) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add fish sauce mixture to pan, and cook for 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring to coat chicken. Remove from heat. Stir in basil.

*Substitute lower-sodium soy sauce if fish sauce is difficult to find. The flavor won’t be as complex, but soy sauce will still add a salty note. You can substitute thinly sliced Thai bird chiles or jalapeno for the sambal oelek-or leave it out completely if you’d rather enjoy a mild dish.

Note: I ended up DOUBLING the sauce. We are sauce people over here and I knew the amount called for would not have been enough for us. I actually wished I had tripled the sauce.

Printable Recipe

I served the Spicy Basil Chicken with brown rice and steamed broccoli.

We enjoyed the dish but we weren’t wowed by it. The original recipe called for chicken thighs which I’m sure would have been more flavorful. I also did not have any more fish sauce and couldn’t find it so I did substitute for more soy sauce. Fish sauce would have made it better for sure. I’d give it a try….you just might want to at least double the sauce.

By the way…the calorie count for 3/4 cup (using chicken thighs) is 291 calories….pretty good!

Breakfast this morning was toast with my homemade peanut butter and a bowl of strawberries and blackberries.

I took the kids to school, went to an event in my son’s class and then to Starbucks for a latte.

I was hungry so I snacked on a mini Luna Bar in White  Chocolate Macadamia.

Great flavor….not a lot of bar for 80 calories. I went to an event in my daughter’s class and then came home for lunch.

Turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich with veggies and hummus. I picked up the kids from school and came home to get the laundry started.

I have a couple of new recipes to try this weekend that I’m excited about.

What’s on your agenda for this weekend?

Have you cooked anything exciting from a magazine lately?

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