My extremely long-time friend Jessica S. sent me this recipe that her and her husband recently made for dinner. They both enjoyed it enough to pass on so I was eager to try it. I found a Thai spinach recipe to go alongside it that incorporated some of the same ingredients, red chili, garlic, and fish sauce. I decided to keep it simple and healthy and skip the rice although I am sure it would be delicious as a stir-fry served atop rice noodles or rice.

©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

As I have mentioned before, whenever I make a dish like this where the cooking is fast and one ingredient is added right after another, I make sure to prep all that I can first before even heating a pan.

Sauteeing the chili, onion & garlic ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

The only addition I made to the recipe was to add some fresh cilantro sprinkled on top at the time of serving. I think it gave the recipe some bonus savory seasoning but it is of course optional. I really enjoyed this dish! Thank you to Jessica and Evan for passing it along! It felt healthy but still packed with flavor. And don’t worry if you are not into spiciness because the chili isn’t spicy. If you wanted to pump up the heat you could keep the chili seeds instead of removing them.

I highly recommend this dish for a busy weeknight when you want something other than your basic chicken and potatoes. Here’s my Thai Chicken:

Food & Wine Thai Chicken with Basil ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

Thai Chicken with Basil

From: Food & Wine’s Test Kitchen
Contributed by: Quick from Scratch Herbs & Spices
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
2/3 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2), cut into 1-by-2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam)
3/4 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon water
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/2 large onion, cut into thin slices
1 fresh red chili, seeds and ribs removed, cut into thin slices, or 1/4 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup lightly packed basil leaves

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken with the fish sauce, soy sauce, water, and sugar.

2. In a large nonstick frying pan or a wok, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the chills and garlic; cook, stirring, 30 seconds longer.

3. Remove the chicken from the marinade with a slotted spoon and add it to the hot pan. Cook until almost done, stirring, about 4 minutes. Add the marinade and cook 30 seconds longer. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the basil. Serve topped with the remaining basil.

SUGGESTED PAIRING: Look for a rich but dry white wine, such as a Pinot Gris from the Alsace region in France.