Our Newest "Favorite" Meal

A few weeks ago, our basil was out of control...there was tons of it and it had grown as tall as my hip!  I started scouring the internet for ways to use it in main meals and suddenly remembered the Spicy Basil Chicken at Tuptim Thai in Topeka.  Frankly, I think it's one of the best dishes I have ever eaten and I crave it all the time...however, I'm not going to drive all the way to Topeka just to eat supper.

I immediately went to Allrecipes.com and they had so many versions of the Spicy Basil Chicken to pick from.  I chose the one that looked fairly simple but still had flavorful ingredients--I have to admit that I was leery of the fish oil at first, but trust me, that's the key to unlocking the recipe's yumminess!

We have now made it several times and there's hardly any leftovers!  It's now our go-to dish when we can't think of anything else to cook.  We've been having egg rolls on the side but one of these days I want to make my homemade crab rangoon instead--last time I made them I about burnt down Aggie Village but I would make sure alcohol isn't involved this time around!!

For those of you who might want to try it sometime, here's the recipe!

Spicy Thai Basil Chicken

Ingredients:

3/4 cup coconut milk (I was able to find lite coconut milk which was awesome for the fat content)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (I've only been able to find this at Dillon's thus far)

3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, sliced

2 tablespoons fresh ginger root, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2 inch strips

3 shiitake mushrooms, sliced

5 green onions, chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh basil leaves

* The last time I made it, I put the mushrooms/onion/basil in the food processor and it did an awesome job in no time at all

Directions:

1.In a bowl, mix the coconut milk, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, and red pepper flakes.

2.In a skillet or wok, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion, ginger, and garlic, and cook until lightly browned. Mix in chicken strips, and cook about 3 minutes, until browned. Stir in the coconut milk sauce. Continue cooking until sauce is reduced by about 1/3. Mix in mushrooms, green onions, and basil, and cook until heated through. Serve over cooked rice.