Healthy Cashew Chicken in the Oven

I haven't written any entries for my projects or recipes since springtime, and with so many recipes and projects completed, that's a real shame!  So today I'm sitting down to write up a few of my recent successes.  

This recipe is based on one from Hungry Girl.  Mine actually made a bigger recipe and because it uses frozen, steam-in-bag sugar snap peas (instead of fresh snow peas) it can be made any time of year, as well as for a bit less money.  

I liked this recipe: healthy, made enough for leftovers, made my house smell awesome, and relatively fast to make (aside from all the chopping).  However, I do think the leftovers were improved with a bit of extra soy sauce and a few extra cashews on top.  You could probably also swap out peanuts, if cashews were unavailable or too pricey at the moment.        

Ingredients:

• 1 package of fresh mushrooms, quartered (Note: my mushrooms were huge, so I cut them in 1/8ths, instead.  Thanks, Sam's Club!) 
• 1 chopped onion (Yellow or white)
• 1 package of raw boneless, skinless breast, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used a 14 oz. package of chicken tenders, because that is literally all that was in the store.  I had a choice of 3 packages, but all the other chicken in the entire store had sold.  Moral of this story: don't grocery shop at 5:45 on a Sunday afternoon!)
• 1 package frozen sugar snap snow peas
• 2 tbsp. reduced-sodium/lite soy sauce, divided
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. each salt and black pepper
• 1 oz. (about 1/4 cup) unsalted roasted cashews, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (or water.  I forgot to get the broth from the store and water honestly worked OK)
• 1 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. chopped garlic
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Place a large piece of foil on a baking sheet and fold up the edges of the foil.  Spray with nonstick spray.
3. Place mushrooms, onion, and chicken in a large bowl. Add 1 tbsp. soy sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. 
4. Put mixture on prepped baking sheet and spread out evenly.
   
5. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Flip/rearrange chicken, onion, and mushrooms and sprinkle with cashews and scallions. 
7. Bake until chicken is cooked through and veggies have softened and lightly browned, about 5 to 7 more minutes.
   
8. Meanwhile...Make the sauce: 
1. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine remaining 1 Tbsp. soy sauce with broth/water, vinegar, cornstarch, garlic, and ginger. 
2. Mix well. 
3. Microwave sauce for 1 minute. 
4. Stir, and microwave for 45 seconds, or until mixture is hot and has thickened.
   
9. And...Heat the frozen veggies in the microwave according to the package directions. 
10. Mix all the chicken and veggies together
11. Serve with sauce, over rice.  

 Makes 3 servings of chicken and veggies with sauce