Ginger Chicken with Peaches and Red Onion

Every time I start talking with anyone, the conversation eventually leads to food. It’s not that I don’t want to talk about politics, religion, or natural disasters, it’s just that food is what I know.  It’s a universal subject and everyone loves to chime in when food is involved.  Talking about food is almost as comforting as eating it.  And in the wake of last week’s events in Japan and in my personal life, I needed to make something comforting and familiar.  I turned to a family favorite that my friend Jenni introduced to me years ago.  Since then I have added a little of myself to the recipe and it became our own.
I used what we had in our food storage–bottled peaches and canned chicken.  Canned chicken isn’t as terrible as it sounds, but fresh is much better in this recipe.  I haven’t tried it with tofu yet, but that’s on my list as I think it would work well with the flavors in the recipe.  When peaches are in season, we make this all the time because they are better than bottled or canned.  Use what you have on hand.

Ginger Chicken with Peaches and Red Onion
adapted from Everyday Food magazine

Ingredients:
1-2 tsp. flavorless oil such as canola
1-2 large red onions, thinly sliced lengthwise (I used one giant onion)
1 14 oz. can cooked chicken (or 2-3 fresh chicken breasts, sliced or cubed)
1 quart bottled peaches (fresh, frozen or canned, whatever you have on hand)
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbsp. to 1/4 cup (or so) soy sauce (I used GF tamari)
water
a little sugar or agave, to taste
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
large pinch of red pepper flakes
Hot, cooked rice (we like sticky rice)

Instructions:
Place a large skillet over medium high heat and add the oil.  When the oil shimmers, add the sliced onion.  Saute until onion starts to soften and take on a little color.  If using raw chicken, add it to the pan letting it cook and brown evenly, adjusting heat as necessary.  Next add the peaches, ginger, soy sauce and a little water to cover the bottom of the pan.  If using canned chicken, add it at this point.  Sweeten to taste with sugar or agave.  Add the ground coriander and red pepper flakes.  Continue cooking until the juices have thickened a bit, but there is still quite a bit of liquid left.  (This is going to be your sauce, so add more liquid if you need to so it doesn’t dry out.)  Taste and adjust any seasonings–add more soy sauce if it needs some salt, etc.

Serve over hot, cooked rice with a veggie on the side.  Makes enough for 4 people as a main course.

(Here’s the original recipe.  We like it with more soy sauce than the original recipe and use sliced chicken rather than whole chicken breasts.  We like it with double the amount of peaches too.)

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