Peanut Butter Chicken

One of Sage's favorite dinners I make regularly is Peanut Butter Chicken, a dish that has what I suppose would be considered a Thai-like flavor. For no particular reason, it's been a while since I've made it and he wanted to know why. Last night his mom and sister joined us for dinner, so we wanted to make this for them, and they loved it.

I will admit, it's not the prettiest looking meal out there. The color of the sauce is a little odd but it is so yummy! I usually use three colors of bell peppers just to add extra color, although I didn't have a red in last night's.

My version of this is quite modified from the original I found a while back on allrecipes.com I use way more veggies, and one of the most important additions to mine is using tomatoes with green chiles instead of plain. It gives just the right amount of heat and compliments the other ingredients so well. Sage loves to top this with chopped peanuts or cashews when we have them. I hope you enjoy this house favorite much as we do!

2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups bell peppers, choppped (any color combination)
2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
seas salt and fresh ground pepper
1 (8 oz. pkg.) sliced mushrooms
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes with mild chiles, with juice
1 1/3 cup chicken broth
juice from 1/2 of a lime
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 - 3/4 cup peanut butter (I use chunky natural)
hot cooked white rice, for serving (I use Jasmine)

4-6 servings
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken, stirring frequently until chicken becomes white on all sides. Add onion, mushrooms, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook stirring constantly until onions are translucent.
2. Add tomatoes, broth, tomato paste and lime juice. Reduce heat and simmer uncooked until chicken is cooked through (about 10 minutes.) Stir in peanut butter beginning with 1/2 cup. Stir constantly until the sauce begins to thicken (this will take about 2 minutes.) Add additional peanut butter if too thin.
3. Serve with rice.