Thai Chicken with Peanuts

Don't want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen, prepping dinner and sweating over the oven? Make a stir fry! At least once a week during the summer you can find me tossing ingredients into a big pan and pouring on different sauces. Stir fry isn't really a science. I usually don't follow a recipe and cook up whatever we have in the fridge.

Yes, the stir fry is the ultimate pre-vacation meal. You can clean out the fridge and use up any meats and vegetables. For this stir fry, had a bunch of sweet peppers and carrots, as well as a pack of chicken sitting in the fridge. With a business trip coming up on Thursday, I decided to use up the stuff in the house, rather than buy groceries this week. Also, since I tend to make a lot of stir frys, I had all the ingredients for my sauce already. My pantry is a well-stocked stir fry zone!

What is your go to "Use it up" recipe? With so many business and personal trips this year, I find that I've been tossing way more food than I would like. Resorting to eating out each night is not the best plan either, for the wallet or the waistline!

Two Years Ago: Milky Way Cake
Three Years Ago: Peanut Chicken with Asian Slaw
Four Years Ago: Banana Coconut Muffins
Five Years Ago: Indian Chicken Curry

Thai Chicken with Peanuts

Adapted from The Food of Thailand

1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup peanuts
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1/2 red pepper, cur into strips
1/2 carrot, cut diagonally
1 small onion, cut into 6 wedges
2 scallions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked white rice

Combine the fish sauce, oyster sauce, chicken stock and sugar in a small bowl.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 2 tablespoons oil and cook the peanuts until slightly browned and fragrant. Remove from the pan and let drain on paper towels.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to the pan. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add chicken and bring heat up to medium-high. Stir fry chicken until cooked through (this will be very fast, since the chicken is sliced thin). Add red pepper, carrot, onion and the sauce mixture to the pan. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Taste the dish and add salt and pepper as desired.

Add peanuts and scallions, toss to combine everything together. Serve chicken over rice.