Spicy Peanut Chicken over Zoodles #CIC

A surprisingly simple peanut chicken dinner paired with zoodles rather than rice making it a light spring time dinner.

Welcome everybody to the June edition of the Crazy Ingredient Challenge!

It’s the 20th and time for the Crazy Ingredient Challenge recipes are revealed. So much inspiration from all the chefs! This month, a summer veggie was paired with nuts to create a delicious summer dinner. And it’s really easy1

I love this challenge. Each month, we have two polls and each poll has four ingredients to vote on. The winner of each poll becomes the crazy ingredients for the month. These were the winners for June: Zucchini and Peanuts.

My brain went immediately to a type of stir fry dish. Last month, the ingredients included carrots and I used zucchini also when I made a Vegetable White Cake. I could have done a variation on that, but this time I wanted to go savory rather than sweet.

I took my inspiration from an old, old recipe I had here; My Thai Chicken with Noodles. Only this time, I used the zucchini and made “Zoodles” which lightened up the recipe and made it extra delicious.

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Spicy Peanut Chicken over Zoodles

Print recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
4 Medium boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite sized pieces)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 Large shallot (minced)
1 Large clove garlic (chopped)
1/2 Large bell pepper (cut into strips)
2 Large zucchini (spiraled)
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
1/3 cup water (more if you like it thinner)
1/8 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts

Directions

Step 1
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Add chicken, shallot and garlic. Cook 5-8 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid.
Step 2
As the chicken is cooking, heat a smaller skillet over medium heat. Add the other tablespoon of olive oil. Add the red pepper and cook until slightly charred. Add the spiralized zucchini, cover and turn to low. Steam until zucchini are tender, about 5 minutes.
Step 3
While the zucchini is finishing up, combine the peanut butter, water, soy sauce, sesame oil and brown sugar to a bowl. Add in as much chili flakes as you wish. Add additional water if the sauce is too thick. Stir sauce into the chicken and heat through. Top with the chopped peanuts.
Step 4
Serve the zucchini then top with the chopped chicken. Enjoy!

To see past challenges and the ingenious recipes our Crazy Ingredient Chefs have come up with, follow my Pinterest board.

Follow Lori’s Culinary’s board Crazy Ingredient Challenge on Pinterest.

If you make this chicken dish, take a photo & share it to Instagram and tag me (@lorisculinarycreations) & use my hashtag #LorisCulinaryCreations. I want to see your creations!