Stir-Fired Chicken with Cashews

Cashews have many benefits for healthy hair, bones, and heart. Cashews also lower blood pressure. Cashews are a friendly snack for women during menopause, and it helps women to have a pleasant, good night sleep.  I also read about the health benefits of blackstrap molasses, and I became quite intrigued about the possibility of substituting molasses for sugar in some of my recipes. You can Google about the health benefits of blackstrap molasses to have more information.  I have now started to use blackstrap molasses in most of my cooking every day to replace the sugar content.  Instead of picking up a chicken stir-fry with cashews takeout at a local Chinese restaurant, here is an easily made at home stir-fried dish that will be a good healthy meal.  It is a simple but tasty recipe for chicken.  I like to add a few mushrooms with this dish, but use whatever vegetables that suit your taste but keep them in small portions. Nearly every vegetable will work well.

Ingredients:
Marinade ingredients:
1/2 lb boneless chicken thighs or breasts, sliced
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp dry sherry
Sauce ingredients:
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tsp blackstrap molasses
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Other ingredients:
1/2 cup roasted cashews
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup red onions, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
2 button mushrooms, quartered
1 sweet chili pepper, sliced (optional)
 Chili flakes
2 tbs peanut oil
1 tsp sesame oil
Green onions for garnish
Hot cooked rice

Directions:
Combine the chicken with the marinade ingredients and then refrigerate until needed.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl.
Have the rest of the ingredients ready.

Heat oil in a wok until hot.  Add garlic and onions and cook until fragrant. 

Add chicken and stir to cook until no longer pink (about 3 to 5 minutes). 

 Remove chicken combination from the wok.  Add carrots, mushrooms, and sauce ingredients (cook for 2 minutes).

  Add the diced red bell pepper and cashews and return the chicken combination back to the wok. 

Make a quick toss to coat with sauce.  If sauce has not thickened, you might want to stir together a mixture of 1 tsp cornstarch with 1 tbs water and then add it to the sauce. 

 Add the sesame oil, chili flakes, sweet chili pepper, and green onions. Serve with rice.