Nutty Christmas Cashew Chicken

So, for the first 15 years or so that my silent partner worked at his software company, every Christmas every employee worldwide would receive a ginormous jar of cashews. It became a holiday tradition, and led to a lot of creative cashew cooking. Then, a few years back when the bottom fell out of the industry and it was revealed that sending cashews to all over the world was extremely expensive, especially in the wake of wide spread layoffs, the company announced that it would be the year without cashews. This led to the best line ever uttered in Mark's office. One of his male co-workers, very earnestly I might add, said (and I quote): "I'd gladly give up my nuts if meant saving somebody's job." The good news is, the cashew drought is over and everybody gets to keep their nuts and their jobs this year. Upon arrival of Mark's nuts last week I set about making stir fry cashew chicken with teriaki sauce. It was quite tasty, and while I have made my own sauce (involving sake and flames), bottled sauce works just as well.

While there no end to nutty references, my current favorite nutty buddy is Buddy Nutt, his wife Ukulizzy, and their catchy little song "It's Breakfast Time" recently featured on the PBS "Breakfast Special" hosted by Rick Sebak. The show focused on the best and most unique breakfasts in the U.S. and was the latest installment in his long line of quirky documentaries that have included  A Hot Dog Program, A Program about Unusual Buildings and Other Roadside Stuff, A Cemetary Special and A Flea Market Documentary. The roadside attraction special led us to take our summer vacation to Cave City, Kentucky a few summers back so we could sleep in a a wigwam at the Wigwam Motel (although, I think they technically are really teepees). Anyway, if you are looking for kitsch and off the beaten path places these docs do the trick and you could say we are nuts about them. Play the video and you will see what I mean.

The Recipe:

A whole lotta nuts, preferably free company cashews
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped
vegetable oil
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Any other veg that suits your fancy - go crazy
1 cup cooked white rice
1 cup homemade teriyaki sauce (see Professor Whitehead's Beef Teriyaki for details) or bottled such as LaChoy
Special Equipment: A Wok

Heat oil in the wok. Add chicken and stir fry until cooked through. Add peppers, carrots, etc and continue to stir over high heat until cooked, about 4 minutes. Add sauce and heat through. Stir in nuts and immediately remove fromm heat. Serve with rice.It's insanely good.