Broccoli & Cashew Stir Fry

This recipe is one of my new favorites. I was introduced to it by a friend who was just raving, and was excited to try it because it's really not hard (and I love anything stir-fry related). The recipe comes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog - and I'm excited to look around some more, because it looks like she's got some great stuff on there!

I want to start by saying what my friend who introduced this to me said to me: You can add meat to this recipe (shrimp, chicken, etc.), but I have just found that it's not as good... Also, it was a suggestion of my friend that the cashews were added - and they're SO good in this! I will say that if you're watching calories, the cashews up the ante a little bit, but they're fantastic if you're not too worried.

So, without further ado...

 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable, canola or coconut oil
3-4 cups bite-size broccoli florets
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
Sauce
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
4 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon Thai sweet chili sauce (see note)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch

**Serve on brown rice

Instructions:

1. In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat until hot and rippling. If using meat, add it now and stir-fry until cooked through. Remove the meat to a plate.
2. Add the broccoli to the hot skillet (you may need to add another teaspoon or so of oil if the skillet is completely dry) and cook, stirring often, until the broccoli has turned bright green and is lightly browned, 7-9 minutes. It won't cook much more after this so it should be crisp-tender. I like a bit of bite to the broccoli but if you want it more tender, add on a few minutes cooking time.
3. Stir in the garlic and cook over medium to medium-high heat, stirring, for a minute or so.
4. Whisk together all the sauce ingredients and pour over the broccoli. Add the meat if you cooked it in step 1. Stir the ingredients together until well coated with the sauce and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper to taste if needed.
5. Serve immediately over hot, cooked rice.

This is the meal with chicken from when I made it a few days ago - like I said, good, but not as good as without...

The things that I found to be good tips from my friend:
*no meat actually gives it more flavor
*cashews - yum!
*when cooking the brown rice, using part chicken broth instead of all water makes for a tastier batch of rice - not a must, but definitely a good idea!