What a delicious dish! Daughter, Megan, recommended this recipe since I love Thai dishes. I doubled the chicken part of the recipe and made a single of the coconut rice and still had a lot of leftover rice. In the future, I would make double the chicken and halve the rice recipe. Since I doubled the recipe, I used 1 cup of fresh sprinach and one cup of chopped bok choy. The leftovers were equally delicious. For the leftover meal, I served with balsamic roasted brussel sprouts and it paired well.

The coconut rice was a great idea. I never thought of adding coconut milk to the rice cooker but it adds another level of delicious to this dish.

Ginger Peanut Chicken with Coconut Rice

INGREDIENTS:

• Ginger Peanut Chicken
  • 1 1/4 pounds chicken thighs, fat trimmed, cut into small bite-sized pieces
  • 1-inch piece of ginger, grated
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced (white parts and green parts separated)
  • zest and juice of 1-2 limes
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
  • 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 cup spinach, bok choy, etc.
• Coconut Rice
  • 2 cups white or jasmine rice
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • a pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Marinate Chicken: In a stainless steel bowl, mix the chicken with the ginger, green onions (white parts), lime zest, brown sugar, salt, and oil. Marinate for 20 minutes-2 hours.
2. Rice: Add the rice ingredients to an Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, followed by a natural pressure release for 10-15 minutes (it won’t be quite done yet after 3 minutes – it needs the rest time to finish cooking). Release the steam, fluff with a fork, and attempt not to eat the whole thing! (Don’t have an Instant Pot...use these instructions:
   • To cook the coconut rice on the stove or in a rice cooker: Cooking the rice in a rice cooker or just on the stove top should work well. To make it on the stove, you can add 2 cups of rice, 1.5 cups of water, and a 14-ounce can of coconut milk to a large pot and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, you can reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook the rice for about 15-20 minutes. (Fork-Lore: I live at high altitude and had to add more water during the process so the rice didn’t stick or burn).
3. Cook Chicken: Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast iron work well) to medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken to the pan, working in 1-2 batches depending on the size of your pan. Leave the chicken sitting undisturbed for several minutes to get a nice caramelization on the chicken.
4. Adding Extras: When all the chicken is cooked, turn the heat down slightly and add the peanuts and garlic to the pan. Sauté for 3-5 minutes to get the peanuts roasty and the garlic nice and fragrant.
5. Finish by adding in the cilantro, green onion, and spinach. Squeeze lime juice into the pan and season with more salt and pepper as needed.
6. Serve over coconut rice! SO simple but so good.

Recipe from PinchofYum