I like to keep a few quick meal ideas around for week nights when I don’t have a lot of time to cook and this stir-fry is one of them. Really this recipe is more of a guideline where you can use whatever meat and vegetables that you want. You can also play around with the flavours by using different sauces. This time I went with asparagus because I had a bunch of it in the fridge and some chicken that I had in the freezer. I like adding nuts to dishes like this and the cashews were definitely invited to the party. I would normally make this with the garlic as stated in the recipe but this time I actually used some ramps or wild leeks as I had them on hand as well. Stir-fry’s come together quickly so I like to have all of the ingredients chopped and at the ready. That means that the meat usually only gets to marinate for as long as it takes my to get everything else ready. The cooking takes very little time so this meal is usually on your plate in well under 30 minutes. Quick, simple and tasty; just the way I like it. I normally serve this on brown rice but you could easily replace swap in noodles, etc.
Asparagus and Cashew Chicken Stir-fry
ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast (cut into bite sized pieces)
- 1 teaspoon garlic (grated)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (grated)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shao Xing Chinese cooking wine (or cooking sherry)
- 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound asparagus (cleaned, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces)
- 2 green onions (sliced)
- 1 teaspoon garlic (grated)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (grated)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 handful cashews (toasted)
directions
- Marinate the chicken in the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, Shao Xing and corn starch at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the chicken and saute until just cooked, about 3 minutes and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the asparagus, the white parts of the green onions, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes and saute for 3 minutes.
- Mix the corn starch into the stock and add it to the asparagus along with the soy sauce.
- Add the chicken and simmer until the sauce thickens, a few minutes.
- Remove from heat ad mix in the sesame oil.
- Serve over brown rice and garnish with cashews and the green parts of the green onions.
wow…I have not had dinner yet and that looks seriously good! Lovely!
I think cashews are one of the most underused ingredients – good for you for using them! Peanuts can be great but the sweetness of cashews is perfect with asparagus.
That stir-fry looks like a perfect weeknight meal. I love adding nuts to stir-frys for the contrast in texture.
This is one great looking dish!
Yum, Kevin, Yum! I don’t always comment, but I read all your posts and drool and secretly wish you were my personal chef. Sigh!
Beautiful pic! I love using stir-fries as back up meals b/c you’re right – you can swap out any meat and veggie. It’s a good way to use up what’s in the fridge.
What a perfect weeknight meal! I love the idea of asparagus and cashews together in a stir-fry, it looks SO good!
You have my husband drooling and insisting that I tell you he would eat this for dinner in a heart beat!!!
I’m all about fast meals, so I’ll have to keep this recipe close by!
Kevin, I just discovered your blog while looking for a recipe for clafoutis. I hadn’t made it since last year and needed to refresh my memory on order of ingredients. You have a superb site so I bookmarked it. I’ve been cooking great food in small kitchens for many years! Funny how so many mediocre cooks have big kitchens and pro stoves they don’t use. LOL
A gorgeous stir-fry! Yummy!
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m still looking for ways to use asparagus while it’s still around, and this sounds perfect!
Looks great and I’m not even a big fan of stir-fry. You might bring me around though.
Looks great Kevin..I love these types of dishes..
I love making them too..
I love the idea of stir fry with asperagus.
This sounds like a delicious combination, and the cashews on top look great!
Mmmm yum! My kind of dinner.
You’re right, stir-frys are so quick and easy, they make the perfect stress-free week-night supper. this version looks delicious, very juicy 🙂
I love this! Im gonna make it this week!
That sounds and looks so good.
This is sooo good. i made asparagus & almond chicken stir fry which i will post soon. love the crunchiness of the asparagus.
This one’s DEFINITELY a winner!!
this looks great!!! comfort food.
Stopping by for the first time…your recipes look delicious! My family LOVES asparagus!
So many ingredients, so much flavor!
Wow, that looks perfect and light… full of flavor but not heavy at all!
wayyyy better than any take-out.
nicely done. I love crispy cashews in my stir fry dishes.
Very nice Kevin, I like it that you can add what you want and swithc things around. Love that picture!
That’s another healthy meal!
I love love love cashews in stirfrys! Yum!
simple and delicious dish! Thumbs up!
I mad this last night because I had some asparagus that needed using, and also some cilantro (which I figured wouldn’t hurt anything). It was great – I didn’t have much green onion, but the added cilantro and a squeeze of lime at the end added up to something stellar. (Also, I used chicken thigh meat because thighs were on sale, and cooked it just a bit longer.) Thanks for the inspiration!
Great recipe – can’t wait to give it a try! I’ve never stir-fried asparagus before, but I’ve seen other recipes that blanch the asparagus first before adding to the stir-fry. It looks like you added yours straight up – were you using thinner asparagus?
studyzone: I used medium to thicker asparagus. I find that asparagus sautees well in a bit of oil. You will know when it is ready when it changes to a darker shade of green.
This looks like a Chinese fried rice, you may find something very similar in Chinese restaurant.
We made this tonight minus the cashews and it was great! Thanks for sharing.
This was delicious! I substituted broccoli for the asparagus and it was heavenly. And very simple. I’d never used fresh ginger before, it was much sweeter and milder than I thought. Not nearly as harsh as dried ginger can be. Thanks for another delicious meal. Your recipes never disappoint!