For October’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired up with Nora from Natural Noshing. Nora is about the same age as me and has “a passion for nutrition and eating natural, real food — nothing too fussy, over-processed or complicated.” The fact that she avoids gluten and limits her sugar intake seemed a bit daunting at first (I am, after all, a carb-avore that loves sweets), but my worries went away when I started perusing her recipes.

Between Almond Joy / Mounds Pancakes, Chicken Vindaloo, Fire Roasted Chicken Enchiladas with Squash and Red Peppers, Kickin Cashew Chicken, Red Thai Tofu Curry, Pineapple Upside Down Cake for One, and Spicy Kabocha Soup, I’ve bookmarked quite a few recipes to try out later.

One of our comfort foods during while were were dating was Kung Pao Tofu from a local Chinese restaurant. Because of this, it wasn’t hard for my husband to decide on this dish as his SRC pick. Not only did he pick this dish, but he also made it for us one day while we were working from home together.

This recipe won’t solve your craving for Chinese take-out style because it is much lighter and less greasy. It tastes fresher, especially with the crunch of the red bell peppers. Since the dish is relatively easy and quick to make, next time I’d like to try boosting up the spice as well as swapping the chicken for tofu.

Kung Pao Chicken

By nicole Published: October 27, 2014

This recipe is from Natural Noshing, as part of Secret Recipe Club.

Ingredients

• ⅔ pound chicken breast or tofu
• ¼ cup peanuts roasted, unsalted
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 small red pepper sliced
• ½ cup mushrooms sliced
• ¼ cup water
• 2-3 green onions chopped
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1½ teaspoons ginger root minced/grated
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• quinoa cooked, for serving

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add protein, peanuts and red pepper flakes and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Add bell pepper and mushrooms and cook another 1 -2 minutes.
3. Add ¼ cup of water, green onions, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger. Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are crisp tender.
4. Stir in cornstarch or let sauce thicken, 1 minute. Serve over cooked rice or quinoa and enjoy!

• Cuisine: Chinese