Cashew Chicken with Quinoa

Well, apparently growing older, or maybe living in a new country does affect your tastes... A few years ago, or even last week I would have told you that I hate cashews, and I probably wouldn't have bothered cooking it. I didn't, until today, either.  What changed?  Well I went over to a friend's house and she'd made a salad for lunch - it had cashews in it.  I figured I'd just eat around them but I guess one was hiding under a piece of lettuce or something and so it ended up on my fork.  What do you do then? Just eat it :-)  To my surprise, it tasted just like a peanut (which I do like), so I happily ate the rest of my salad, cashews and all.  This led me to this recipe. My husband requested some more Asian dishes, and my mom has made this before.

What you need:

1 package (450g) of Pouletbrust Geschnetzelts (pre-cut chicken)
500g Kefen (snow peas)
500g Champignon (mushrooms)
1 Zwiebeln Bund (1 bunch spring onions - usually 3 to a bunch)
1 can Bambussprossen (Bamboo Shoots)
250ml Huhnbouillon (chicken bouillon)
1/4 cup sojasauce (soy sauce)
2 tbls corn starch
1/2  tsp zucker (sugar) and salz (salt)
1/4 c sonnenblumenol
1 package cashews

Slice the mushrooms, bamboo shoots,and remove ends from snow peas. If you bought whole pieces of chicken, slice those also.
Using only the green part of the onions, slice them into 1 inch pieces and then slice the ends to make a fan.
Slice the white part of the onion into 1/4 inch pieces

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar and salt.

Using 1 tbls of oil, heat over medium and lightly toast the cashews, about 1 minute, and set aside.
Add remaining oil and then add the chicken, cook about 2-5 minutes, until done. Add snow peas, mushrooms, and broth. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes.  
Add the bamboo shoots and stir in the soy sauce mixture. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly and then simmer for 1 minute uncovered.
Mix in the spring onions and top with the toasted cashews.

I am serving it with Quinoa:
Directions, or from the back of the package from Coop (translated)

Bring 7.5dl of water with 300g of quinoa to a boil. Add 1 tsp of salt. Turn down to low heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water.

I used a measuring cup to scoop the quinoa on to the plate (think mountain) and then spooned the cashew chicken on top of it.

Conclusions: It was good - but next time I think I will add either cabbage or bok choy (Asia Store). The Cashews had a touch of paprika on them and they were very good.

8.5/10

Simple Sushi

Want something that tastes good and gets easier to make over time? How about sushi?  I don't particularly care for seafood, so I make them with avocado and cucumber. Of course you can put fish or crab in them, top them with sesame seeds or not. Roll them in or roll them out.  There are many different ways to do this. This is mine, and I think they taste great.  Particularly on a warm day if you cook the rice ahead of time and let it cool.

The best place to get the nori and rice is at the Asia store in the HB. You can find it in Migros or Coop, but it is twice as expensive (and you get get 1/2 the rice)

There are 10 pieces of nori in the package, so depending on how many people you are feeding, whether it is a main course or not, what you are putting in them, is how many you will need.  I haven't gotten great with the rice yet - I still spread on a bit more than my husband would like (only one grain high he says) so I tend to cook up more rice. It'll get eaten the next day if it doesn't get used in dinner.

What you will need:
1 (or more) package(s) of nori (also available at Jelmoli, Thai store, etc.)
1 bag/box sushi rice
1 cucumber
1-2 avocados
Mayonnaise
Sushi rolling mat (to make those tight rolls)
either a flat spoon like shown above to put the rice in the nori, or a bowl of water and a regular spoon to dampen your hands and spoon so the rice doesn't stick to them).

Optional:
Wasabi paste (not optional according to hubby)
Soy Sauce (the Thai and Asian stores sometimes have low sodium - green bottle)
Ginger slices


Start by cooking the rice - I use the standard rice cooking time for this: Put in the amount of rice you want, then put in enough water to go up to your first knuckle if you put your (clean) finger on top of the rice.  Cook on high until boiling, then turn down to low for 20 minutes. This always seems to work for me.

Place your nori on the rolling mat (shiny side down) and place a small amount of rice on it. Smooth it out with the spoon until 'one grain thick' or a little more if you don't think anyone will notice :-)

Peel your cucumber and then cut in half so it is about the same length as the nori (not longer). Then de-seed and slice into thin strips. (a grapefruit spoon works great)

Slice your avocado into thin strips as well.

Place one strip of cucumber at the top of the nori on the rice, add a slice (or two) of avocado.  Squeeze a small amount of mayo out on top of this.

Fold over, and then using the mat, squeeze slightly to achieve a tight roll. Repeat until done with the nori sheets.

Using a sharp knife, slice into pieces.  Serve with wasabi, soy sauce and ginger slices if desired. Chopsticks as well