.thai peanut chicken.

In recent months, I have made a pledge to myself and to my family to cook healthier meals.  I'm the one who has made this commitment, but you'll notice I use some unhealthy things - because my family would revolt if we went 100%.  Baby steps, people.. baby steps.

We love Asian food.  My husband has been to Thailand many times and he is usually all over anything Chinese, Thai, Japanese.. you name it.

When I was at the commissary, I bought this bottle of something called PB2 (see image below).  It's basically the pulverized remains that are usually discarded after they make peanut butter.  It's 85% less fattening than regular peanut butter, but you still get all the protein benefits -- and right now, I'm doing this protein forward diet so I'm all over this stuff!

Not only is this dish HEALTHIER than it's original, it's tasty and I swear, your family won't even notice the difference.  At least my family didn't until I told them there was no sugar in this dish and it was less fattening.

Now on to the recipe!

In a bowl, mix together:

1/2 cup PB2
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 packet (2-3 tsp) Splenda
1/4 tsp chili oil
1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 Tbsp cornstarch

Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

For the main component of the dish, I used:
3 chicken breasts, cut against the grain, into strips
1/2 cup green onion, sliced on the diagonal
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped or julienne
1/2 cup carrots, peeled and grated
2-3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup peanuts

I also added some peas, but you can add whatever vegetables you want. 

Heat your wok until it starts smoking.  Add 1 Tbsp peanut oil and saute the chicken with 2 cloves garlic, minced and 1 tsp fresh ginger root, peeled and grated.  I also added the red bell pepper, since they take some time to cook.  If you use broccoli, add in the beginning.

When the chicken is almost cooked through, dump all the peanut sauce into the center of the wok.  Stir until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken.  Add cilantro, green onion, carrots, and peanuts at this time.  Remove from the heat and serve with rice or noodles (if you want).

This will make enough food for 6 people.  Enjoy!