FOFF No Wok Needed Slow Cook Cashew Chicken

This week Carla Vavala offers another slow cooker recipe that is easier to follow than baking refrigerator cookies. From the book Fusion of Food and Friends. This is a recipe that tastes even better as left overs. Beware of adding the nuts and make sure to use UNSALTED since the fish and oyster sauces plus the broth (it might be a good idea to use reduced salt broth) give this dish enough salty flavor. *Vegetarian lentil version offered below and is more flavorful than the chicken…just saying.

1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts – cubed
6 cloves garlic (Ted said it could have done with less but that’s a matter of taste)
3 TBS fish sauce
3 TBS oyster sauce
2 TBS white sugar
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
4 to 6 celery stalks, chopped (optional)
Chicken broth to cover
1 lb. unsalted cashews (I only had mixed nuts available but they worked out fine)
1 cup Basmati rice, steamed according to package directions

*Vegetarian version: Use 1 cup lentils. Soak and cook in slow cooker or you can easily do the lentils on the stove top in an hour. Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

In a slow cooker, add all ingredients except the broth, nuts and rice.

Mix to combine.

Pour enough broth over the mixture to cover everything. If more liquid is need, simply add a little water.

Cook on high for 5 hours or low for 7 hours.

After the cooking time is complete, add the nuts and allow to cook an additional 30 minutes until the nuts are warmed through.

Serve over the steamed rice.

Ted was just "mahhh" over this recipe UNTIL he had the left overs the second day AND added some of the lentil version to his chicken. Then it was more like “Oh wow. This tastes better than yesterday and the lentils really have a lot of flavor”.

As for my lentil version, I loved it. Robust flavor, a bit overdone on the salt since I didn’t have unsalted nuts but very good.