Are you asking yourself what the heck is Bon Bon Chicken? Don’t worry I asked myself the exact same thing the first time I had heard of it. I was still working in the hair salon, and one of the ladies there had mentioned it. I was like wtf…… What’s in it? I was told spicy peanut sauce, chicken, cucumbers….. over rice. Ok how much better did it get? I got it loved it, brought it home a different night for dinner { I was lucky…er unlucky enough to work right next to the chinese food restaurant that had this on the menu} …. and it was hit! So up until I turned paleo it was a monthly staple “treat dinner” In our house { you know those treat meals that you have when things are either going “awesome” or “horrible” and the only thing that’ll fix it is food? Yeah those are terrible…..}
So anyhoo back to my story.. there’s just something comforting about chicken and peanut sauce… over rice. So it’s been a big crave of mine recently…. and I had a thought! Re-make it paleo style.. and oh Did i ever… I want more of it now… But I’m holding back because we all know what too many nuts will do to a girl trying to loose weight and keep her Omegas balanced out nice and pretty…
So This recipe / concept is going to sound weird… it’s going to look weird when you make it…. you’re going to think I’ve just fallen off the deep end finally… Just trust me here. If you love almond butter / almonds.. you like chicken… and spicy.. try it out. You’re going to have to play around with the sauce to get it to your spicy level and how thin/ thick it is..
But man-O-man was it good… Ok enough of my ramblings!
Ingredients:
• 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast { I made it for two people, so I’d do a breast / person and adjust everything else accordingly! }
• Cucumber
• 2 Gigantic tablespoons Smooth Almond Butter { I used a kitchen spoon… and they were HUGE!}
• Between 1/2 – 1 Cup of Chicken Stock
• 1/2 an Onion {yellow}
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Paprika
• Salt + Pepper
• 1/2 a head’s worth of Cauliflower Rice
• Ghee {and/or coconut oil}
How to:
• Slice up your onion into thin-ish strips and toss it in a pan with some ghee and caramelize them {remember low & slow guys!}
• While your onions are happy in ghee, cut your chicken into strips… whatever size you like.. I did kinda thin ones because that’s how it was made at the Chinese Food Place.
• Toss your chicken in a skillet that has some ghee in it, let your chicken start to brown.
• While your ghee is browning start to peel & Chop your cucumber… Cut them into really thin match sticks { I cut it half first, then did the match-stick thing}. I didn’t use the inside seeds of the cucumber, it’s a bit to soft for this dish, so it was sliced out. If you like that portion of the cucumber by all means add it in! Set aside your cucumbers.
• Probably about now {or maybe earlier}, you’ll want to flip your chicken over… and let it go to town on the other side {remember to stir your onions a bit!}
• Start rocking and rolling on your Cauliflower rice { Cut into florets, toss in food processor, give it a whirl so it looks like rice, dump in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, microwave for 3.5-5 Minutes {depending on how much you use}. Take out of microwave, add ghee, salt & pepper to taste!}
• When your chicken is done, add two heaping {at least} tablespoons of almond butter. Start to mix it as best you can. Slowly start to add some chicken stock in. I had filled up a mug about 1/2 way and would pour in some, stir, pour in some stir, until you get the sauce to be loose-ish. This part is total preference, if you like a “saucey” sauce then add a ton of stock, if you like pretty thick, don’t add so much in….. When the sauce is where you want it, add in a dash of paprika, pinch of salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes to taste… I used ohh I want to say 3-4 teaspoons of it.
• Your onions should be done, so add those into the sauce + chicken. If this starts to mess with how loose / firm the sauce is adjust it with more stalk or almond butter.
• Then turn off the heat. Let it sit a minute while you divide up the cauliflower rice.
• At the last possible minute … as in right before you put it on your cauliflower rice, add in your cucumbers and give it a quick toss. {You want the cold – warm, crunchy – soft texture balance}.
•Put it on your Cauliflower rice, and you’re done!
I’m salivating as I type this… man I’ve got it bad..
I didn’t realize until I made this how addictive almond butter could be… I cannot and will not stock it in my house.. I’ll eat it all the freaking time with carrots!
Oh and you can make your own almond butter if you want, but as you know I hate hate hate dishes, so it was worth my extra $5.00 to buy a container of it to avoid cleaning out the blender!
Let me know if you try it…. or have questions on it and its yummy qualities!
Ok… off to try my hand at paleo-like “Sushi”…. I’ll keep you posted !
Holy deliciousness!! Seriously, so good…thank you for sharing!