ArcaMax

I held a potluck dinner party recently. It was my first potluck in decades.

Years ago, I got turned off by potlucks. The last ones I attended didn’t work very well. No one did anything to organize what people brought so when you went through the line, got your food and sat down to eat, nothing coordinated. The food didn’t taste as good as it could because so many things were competing for your taste buds’ attention. It made me sad. People worked so hard on their dishes.

The other thing that happened was there was no balance. One time there’d be way too many desserts, only one or two sides and maybe even no entrée. Or there’d be three vegetable trays with dip that clearly all came from the same deli counter. So much food got wasted that way.

This year I decided I was going to need some help in putting on a dinner party, so here's what I did...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Thai Basil Chicken

Thai basil chicken is known to be quite spicy. I made mine medium-spicy and then handed the jar of pepper flakes (like the ones you use on pizza) to my husband, so he could make his as spicy as he wanted. I thought basil in Thai food would taste odd. It doesn’t. It’s really good. I found a recipe from Food & Wine that is similar. I just put my own twists on it to make it Zolafied.

Servings: Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 package of organic chicken tenders cut into 1” pieces. Cut off any white parts and discard.
2 Tbl of Asian fish sauce (nam pla). Don’t worry… this does not taste ‘fishy’
2 Tbl of Bragg’s Aminos or coconut aminos
¼ cup of water
1 tsp of granulated sugar substitute (I used Swerve Brown which you can order online, it’s like brown sugar)
1/2 small red chile (optional for those who like spicy food)
A dusting of hot pepper flakes or up to ¼ tsp. You can always add more so start off with a dusting and see how hot you want to make it.
2 Tbl of coconut oil or olive oil
3 minced cloves of garlic (jar garlic will work)
1 cup of fresh basil leaves cut into ¼-inch shreds plus more leaves for garnish

Instructions:

In a medium bowl you are going to put your chicken in to marinate it. You don’t have to leave it there long; just while you to cook the onions. In the bowl put the chicken, fish sauce, aminos, water, and sugar substitute. Stir this up to get it all mixed and then let it sit.

Take out a medium saute pan (or if you own a wok you can use that). Put in the oil and the onions. Saute on medium low about four minutes. Stir in the garlic, chili and the chili flakes and cook a minute longer. You want to stop cooking them just before they begin to brown.

Use a slotted spoon to take out the chicken and add it to the pan. DO NOT toss out the marinade. Cook the chicken until no pink remains in the middle. About five to six minutes. Check a fat piece by cutting it in half so you can be sure the pink is gone. Add the marinade and cook about two minutes longer to make sure it boils a bit. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil.

Garnish with a few more for color on top if you choose.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola