Chicken Broccoli Peanut Pasta

Daniel and I love anything peanut butter. One of our favorite pasta dishes that I make has peanut butter as the main ingredient...yum. I found this recipe on a blog recently and gave it a try. This dish was easy and equally delicious, not to mention fairly healthy (especially after our great work out!). The amount of peanut butter was perfect - just enough to make it the slightest bit rich, without overwhelming the other flavors. Next time I would increase the amount of crushed red pepper and add Sriracha to this - which if you like heat, I definitely suggest it for this dish.

Chicken Broccoli Peanut Pasta

1 tsp olive oil
6 small or 3 large chicken breast
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1tsp ground ginger
4oz whole grain pasta, such as Ronzoni Healthy Harvest
10oz package frozen chopped broccoli
pinch of crushed red pepper (I used 4 pinches!)
1 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp natural creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy)
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp agave nectar or honey
A pinch of cornstarch (or flour, if you do not have cornstarch on hand)
fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions. When there are about minutes remaining, add the frozen broccoli. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, blend together chicken broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, and agave until smooth.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cut the chicken breast into bite-size chunks and season with salt & pepper. Add the chicken to the pan and brown on all sides; remove from pan. Add scallions and garlic, cook one minute more. Add ginger and red pepper; cook for about 30 seconds more. Add the sauce and the chicken to the skillet with the onions, garlic, ginger and pepper. Add cornstarch (or flour), simmer over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, until thickened. Toss with drained pasta and broccoli and heat through. Serve with fresh chopped cilantro.