Saturday, September 4, 2010

Chili Cashew Chicken Noodles

When I’m having one of those 'what should we have for dinner tomorrow night' lack of inspiration moments, I often grab a Donna Hay book. I know the photos will quickly stir ideas for interesting meals, and I’ll be reminded of several things that I’ve been meaning to cook since I first got each book. Donna Hay’s Off the Shelf is where I found this Asian-inspired cashew chicken dish. The flavors here are bright and lively with lemon juice, cilantro, and fish sauce, and there’s a minimum of fuss in the preparation. For a stir fry meal, the list of vegetables to chop was a short one with only red bell pepper, red chillis, and onion. You could easily make this a little more complicated with the addition of some greens like spinach or baby bok choy, but I stuck to the original version.

Thick rice noodles were boiled while the boneless chicken was sliced and the vegetables were chopped. The stir frying began with the onion and chillis. Once fragrant and cooked through, those were removed from the pan, and the sliced chicken was added and browned. Then, sliced bell pepper and whole cashews were added followed by fish sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, the onion and chilli mixture, and the drained, cooked noodles. Everything was tossed until combined and topped with cilantro leaves. I held back a few red chilli slices to garnish each serving.

As is typical of Donna Hay dishes, this was as flavorful as it was easy to prepare. It was a comfort food kind of meal with lots of textural contrast between the noodles and the crunchy peppers and nuts. I was a little surprised that lemon was used here instead of lime, but the flavor wasn’t a disappointment. It mixed nicely with the fish sauce and soy sauce, and of course cashews and chicken just always play well together. And, the good news is that looking through that book again gave me some renewed inspiration for a few more upcoming meals.




29 comments:

  1. I really enjoy Donna Hay. Her recipes are easy, simple and full of flavor. This one looks wonderful - wish I could pull it from the screen and eat it right now. Nice photos!! Enjoy your holiday weekend.

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  2. Yep. Nothing like some cool food photography to inspire when your hunting down 'what should I cook' recipes :) I'm a bit of a fan of Donna Hay cookbooks too..., Oh hell..., I'm a fanatical obsessive compulsive cookbook buyer (so the truth is I could probably say that about just about any cookbook) :)

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  3. Flava, flava, flava. Finding a good fish sauce is so important though. There are some that are much stinkier than others, and that is not so fun. :)

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  4. Mmm rice noodles have a texture that I love and that is just so satisfying. It's stir fries like this, simple and oh so tasty, that remind me why I love cooking so much!

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  5. THis dish is right up my alley, I love this. I love putting nuts in with stir fries or curries, it just gives it that "special something"
    *kisses* HH

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  6. This looks easy and quick to make...what more important is that it looks super delicious!

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  7. What a moth watering dish Lisa, I especially love the cashew nut in there. It making it more delicious and tempting.

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  8. I totally love Donna Hay!! Like you I search through her books for inspiration and those photos never cease to amaze me! This is another fine example of a fab recipe!!

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  9. I love cashews- this looks fantastic- you are stirring my hunger with this one!

    Going to the hatch chili post now, NJ finally had them at the market a few weeks ago, so I got to roast some! yeah!

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  10. I have some noodle bowl recipes up my sleeve in the near future but this one looks super good too. I will definitely keep this one in mind! I love chicken and cashews together!

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  11. Love this sort of dish when I go out to eat, this looks like the perfect quick fix. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. People always rave about Donna Hay. I have to check out her recipes.

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  13. I love Donna Hay for the photos and presentation and the ideas, finally; this idish sounds lovely and simple to execute.

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  14. cashews and cilantro--two of my favorite c ingredients! surprisingly lovely dish, lisa!

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  15. I adore Donna Hay. And this recipe is so bright and fresh looking! Great photos, Lisa! Looks simple enough to make, too.

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  16. Going from endless cookbooks to ONE, I will rely a lot more on blogs like yours to get my cooking going, Lisa

    I should have brought my DOnna Hay book, would be perfect to have right now

    Love this recipe!

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  17. I heart rice noodles. I've been sort of on a kick with them lately. From soups to dry dishes. I'm totally wanting this right now.

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  18. Lisa, your noodle dish looks very nice, colorful...and look so so tasty...love the texture of rice noodles :-)

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  19. These rice noodles sound fantastic especially with cashews, an excellent dish!

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  20. Chickens and cashews are a combo I have never been able to resist since I was a little girl. I think this dish will be one I'll be making all the time now.

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  21. So true! Donna Hay is great for inspiration! All of those beautiful photographs! Just like this Lisa! :D

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  22. This looks so delicious Lisa :-)

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  23. I need to check out Donna's cookbook. This meal looks like a perfect weeknight meal.

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  24. Oh my gosh. you know how yummy it looks. imma let my mommy make one. thanks for sharing..

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  25. This looks like a perfectly balanced dish - cashews are just so good!

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  26. This looks great. I love vibrant colors in food. Makes everything look yummier. :)

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  27. Love Donna Hay. This has to be our dinner soon. I do the cashew chicken but with noodles it makes a complete meal. Love the peppers in it.

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  28. Very nice dinner idea, thanks for the recipe to try.

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