November is here and with that a new recipe swap from Whisk, our Wisconsin bloggers community. Today I’ll introduce you to Sarah, a blogger from Waukesha. Her blog: Food Fun & Life in Waukesha, is a personal journal of living and enjoying Waukesha. Where she shares all the places she visits, the food she eats, events, and all the fun stuff you can do around town! Sarah also has a passion for cooking and she loves to try new recipes, then she gives them her own twist, and shares the delicious results for our enjoyment. I love that! That is what cooking is all about, trying, experimenting, and finding ourselves in each dish we prepare.

While I was looking around her blog, I tried to find something where I could use my season produce. I was inclined to try this Fall Apple Crisp, or this Butternut Squash Apple Soup; until I found the Crock-pot Cashew Chicken. Here is the thing, we have a pretty busy household, as anyone with two kids, and two working parents; so the crock-pot is a great helper in our kitchen that doesn’t get enough credit. When I am doing my weekly planning, especially in the colder months, I try to include at least one crock-pot meal for that busy night, when everyone will be getting home later than usual with no energy to cook. I am an early riser, if I can use 25 to 30 minutes in the morning to put a meal in the crock-pot; I feel half way accomplished for the day at 6AM 🙂

For this recipe, originally posted on Day Dream Kitchen, Sarah added some extra ingredients: celery & mushrooms. I had celery but no mushrooms. The original recipe calls for ketchup and Sarah used it, but didn’t like that addition, so instead I substitute with peanut sauce. I cook a lot of Asian inspired recipes so I have many ingredients on hand, like Chinese Five Spice, and fish sauce, I thought they would definitely give the recipe a little more depth. I also browned the chicken breasts whole and cut it into stripes after. I felt that way was easier to get a nice color, and crispier outside. My family enjoyed this recipe. It was nice to get home from a long day of work, meetings, soccer, and have dinner warm and ready for us. If you are ready to try this Crock-pot Cashew Chicken recipe, let’s get cooking!

Ingredients:
serves 4)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 pinch of salt
2 tablespoons canola oil

1 garlic clove, minced
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ginger powder
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons peanut sauce
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup water

3 celery stalks, sliced
1/2 cup toasted cashews
4 cups cooked white rice, for serving
Cilantro for garnishing

In a zip lock bag combine the flour, spice, and salt. Place the chicken breasts in the bag and shake well. Heat the oil in sauteing pan. Cooking in batches, shake the excess flour off the chicken, and cook over medium heat until brown and crisp, about 2 minutes per side. Let cool.

In a small bowl add all the ingredients for the sauce, whisk to combine. Cut the chicken in stripes, half inch wide. In a medium size crock-pot add the chicken, top with sliced celery, and add the sauce. Cook on low for 5 hours. Add cashews, stir to combine.  Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

To check out all the other recipes from our All Whisked Up swap, click the button below: