Spicy Basil Chicken Stir-fry with Sauteed Snow Peas and Peppers

With the amount of Asian cooking I do on a regular basis, it's usually a pretty safe bet that I could look up a stir-fry recipe and have everything I need. Granted, stir-fries are some of the simpler dishes to make, you could basically throw a bunch of meat and vegetables in a skillet, add some soy sauce and call it a day. But this recipe was one of the first I've seen that included chili paste and the end result was slightly spicy, but very flavorful. I paired this with brown rice and a simple sauteed snow pea and pepper side.

Spicy Basil Chicken Stir-fry with Sauteed Snow Peas and Peppers (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 TB fish sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp lower-sodium soy sauce
• 1 1/4 tsp chile paste
• 1 tsp water
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup sliced basil leaves
• 1 cup sliced red pepper
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 cups trimmed snow peas
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots and garlic to pan; cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add chicken to pan; cook 13 minutes or until chicken is done.

Once you've cut the red peppers and snow peas, place in skillet with 1 tsp of sesame oil, cooking for 4-5 minutes, or until crisp. Once done, toss in remainder of sesame oil and salt and pepper, to taste.

Combine fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, chile paste, water, cornstarch and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add fish sauce mixture to pan, and cook for 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring to coat chicken. Remove from heat. Stir in basil.

I served with brown rice mixed with 2 TB of lime juice and 1 TB of sesame seeds. This added a nice bit of bite to the rice.