Chicken Stir-Fry with Coconut Peanut Sauce

This recipe may sound a bit crazy at first glance. Basically what happened is I started with the Tempeh Stir-Fry with Yogurt Peanut Sauce recipe in the Betty Crocker Cookbook and substituted about half of the ingredients with something else, as is my want. Like Thyme, I rarely follow a recipe. So here is what I came up with. The only problem with it was that it made inadequate leftovers. Better luck next time!

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used the kind you have to stir)

1/4 cup or so canned coconut milk (I had some leftover from my latest attempt at Maharage. Thymne, I seriously want you to post that recipe.)

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (I used tenderloins), marinaded and cut into thin strips.

teriyaki marinade to cover chicken, reserve 3 tbsp for sauce (I made the one that is in the same cookbook and actually followed that recipe. You should be proud.)

1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges

8 oz green beans (whatever was actually left in my bag of frozen whole green beans)

1 cup cooked spaghetti squash

crushed red pepper, to taste

Marinade the chicken for at least an hour in the refrigerator, but no more than 24 hours. Or, if you're like me and never think that far in advance, I learned a cool trick. Just put the frozen chicken and the marinade in a bag together in the microwave and defrost them together. Then you don't have to do extra marinading time.

Whisk together the 3 tbsp marinade, peanut butter, coconut milk, and honey and set aside. I actually forgot to set the marinade aside, so I did this at the last minute using stuff that had been on the chicken, but it was cooked later, so we're all salmonella free here.

Perforate a spaghetti squash thoroughly and microwave 10-20 minutes, depending on the size.

While you're waiting, you can continue cooking. Once it's done, open it up, scoop out the seeds, and fluff with a fork. (You'll notice I only used about 1 cup. That's because I didn't perforate thoroughly enough. The sad results you can see for yourself. 1 cup is about what I salvaged, but it ended up being the perfect amount. Next time I'll probably double or triple the recipe anyway so I can use the whole thing and have lots of leftovers.)

If using a wok, get it as hot as you can. Add oil followed immediately by the onions and green beans. Toss as you cook. Remove when mostly cooked. Allow the pan to reheat, which won't take long. Add 1 tbsp more oil and throw in the chicken (make sure the marinade is drained off). Stir it a bit as it cooks, leaving it alone long enough to get a little bit of browning. Once the chicken is cooked, throw the onions and green beans back in as well as the spaghetti squash, the peanut sauce, and the crushed red pepper. Stir in until everything is hot again. Serve and enjoy.

If you're not using a wok, just stir-fry/saute as normal in your saute pan and follow the same order.

Rosemary