The Death of a Recipe: Cashew Chicken

In high school, my mom started making Cashew Chicken Stirfry. A tantalizing blend of juicy chicken, slightly tender veggies and crunchy cashews are sauteed in a pungent garlic sauce and then generously spooned onto a mound of white rice. I love this recipe. It's quick, easy on a week night and with the meat and veggies all in one pan, I don't feel the need to make a salad. But mostly, I love the sauce.

We've always used Wegmans Garlic Sauce. Even now, when the closest Wegmans is 45 minutes away, I still make a trip every few months to stock up on four or five bottles.

And then I heard the sad news from my mom....they've discontinued the sauce.

*bitter sigh*

I have one bottle left....and I'm trying to stretch it as long as possible before the last few precious drops are used up. And then will come the search, trying to find a replacement, inferior though it may be.

"Wegmans, why, oh why, did you decide to replace The Garlic Sauce with the not-nearly-as-yummy Garlic Sesame??"

I suppose this is a eulogy of sorts. "Here lies Cashew Chicken, slain mercilessly by the discontinuation of The Garlic Sauce. Gone, but never forgotten."

Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry

Serves 2

*Note: I'm sure that you can use a different Garlic Sauce and it will still be tasty. 

My overly sentimental self will mourn the loss of my favorite sauce, 

but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy with some other brand =) 

Also, the proportions I have are for two people, but you can easily just add another chicken breast and veggies to stretch it for more people. It's a very flexible recipe! 

1 chicken breast, sliced thinly into 1/4 inch strips

1 - 2 T. cornstarch (just enough to coat chicken)

3 T. vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup cashews

1 head broccoli, cut into small florets

2 - 3 carrots, sliced into thin pennies

a handful of pea pods (I usually omit these)

Garlic Sauce 

White Rice

Cut up chicken. Slice into thin 1/4 inch pieces.

 Coat chicken with cornstarch in a small bowl. 

Bring salted water to boil in a medium saucepan. Blanch veggies for 2 - 3 minutes (I usually blanch the carrots for 1 minute, then add broccoli for another 2 minutes). Drain immediately and set aside. 

While veggies are blanching, heat 2 T. oil in skillet on high. Saute chicken in skillet until cooked through and lightly browned. (You want it to have nice color!). Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, then add garlic sauce -- just enough to coat. Remove chicken & sauce from skillet to a small bowl. 

Wipe out skillet with a paper towel (I hold the paper towel with tongs to keep from burning myself). Add remaining T. oil and heat on high. Add blanched veggies to the skillet and stir fry for a few minutes (not longer than 5 minutes), until they have a little color. 

Return chicken and sauce to the pan. Add cashews.

 Toss and heat through, adding a little more sauce to taste. 

Serve over white rice.