Sweet and Sour Chicken with Cashews

Short cuts are fun, aren't they? They get us where we want to go faster, on the road and in the kitchen. I'm always looking for a good short cut, so a stir fry recipe that employed frozen chicken nuggets immediately caught my attention. I found it in Real Simple magazine, which, based on its title, seems like a worthwhile publication for beginning chefs.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of White Rice

18 Ounces of Frozen Chicken Nuggets (or thereabouts, I didn't really measure it out)

1/2 Cup of Apricot Preserves

2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Teaspoons of Grated Ginger

4 Celery Stalks

1/2 Pound of Snow Peas

1 Chili Pepper

1/2 Cup of Roasted Cashews

2 Scallions

Steps/Analysis:

The rice and chicken nuggets are your first priority since they'll take a good chunk of time to prepare and serve as the foundation of the meal. Depending on the brands of rice and chicken you are using, follow the instructions on the box/bag/package/whatever.

The rice can finish up as you work on everything else, but you should wait until the chicken nuggets are almost finished before getting too ahead of yourself. If you need something to keep your hands busy, you can chop the celery, chili pepper, and scallions and start working on the sauce.

In a mixing bowl, combine the apricot preserves, soy sauce, vinegar, and grated ginger. Stir until thoroughly incorporated and set aside.

When you're ready, put a large pan over Medium/Medium-High heat and pour in enough oil to just coat the bottom. Toss in the celery first, and saute for a couple minutes to soften them up a bit. Then, add the snow peas and chili pepper. Once everything is nice and warmed up, bring the nuggets, cashews, and sauce to the party. Stir or (carefully) toss to coat everything in the sauce.

Finally, bring everything to the table. Sprinkle the chopped scallions over everything.

Serving/Notes:

Spoon big portions of the chicken and vegetables over a nice mound of rice and enjoy. You may want to add a little extra soy sauce, depending on individual taste. Overall, though, the sauce is very pleasant - definitely more sweet than sour.

The somewhat long list of ingredients and directions belie the fact that this is a very quickly prepared meal. I was surprised to find that I had it plated within a half hour or so from starting.