Thai Peanut Chicken... Pasta?

I was home alone this afternoon and I made a vow to myself to do minimal work over the weekend because I was getting burned out. I also made a vow not to back a whole lot more until Thanksgiving because I am getting chubby. So, I decided to make something new to take for lunch this week.

Sometimes the best and/or most creative dishes occur when I have no idea what it is I am going to make. I assessed my kitchen stores and found that I had an almost finished jar of peanut butter, one lonely onion, a spaghetti squash, one lime, half a bag of broccoli florets, and a Thai Peanut Bake pouch from a Taste of Thai. At first I dismissed the idea of putting the peanut butter theme and the squash together. As I brainstormed for ideas though, I thought of pad thai... in which I did not have any noodles for. Then I thought of the spaghetti squash, and I just went for it. After all, it's spaghetti, isn't it? ha!

It is actually pretty good together! I even made my husband try it. He hates spaghetti squash, but he did not mind this. He did think it could use some curry on it, but I am a little afraid to add it. I might add the curry in one small portion sometime this week. I left it out of the recipe below, but you can always add some on your own!

Ingredients
1 large spaghetti squashed
4 chicken breasts
1 Taste of Thai spicy peanut bake package (2 pouches)
2 cups broccoli florets, cooked
1 medium onion
Pam (a few sprays)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp peanut butter (I used creamy, but chunky could work too)
1 tsp Taste of Asia hot sauce (or any sweet and hot asian sauce)
1/2 lime

Method

Step one (Squash): Prepare the spaghetti squash by baking halves, open side down for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F. There are other ways to do this, like the microwave, too. Shred the squash once it is cooled into long spaghetti-like strands and place it in a large bowl.

Step two (Chicken): Roll the chicken breasts in the the spicy peanut bake topping. Top any leftover topping on the chicken. Bake the chicken for 20-22 minutes in a 350 degrees F oven. Once the chicken is finished baking, let it cool. Then slice it into bite size chunks. Add the chicken to the spaghetti squash bowl.

Step three (Onions and Broccoli): Dice the onion and saute it with some Pam and 1 tsp of cayenne pepper until the onion is translucent. Add the onion and cooked broccoli to the squash and chicken mixture. 

Step four (Sauce): In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter and the Taste of Asia hot sauce together. Add this to the larger bowl mixture. Then squeeze the lime juice into the bowl.  I relied on the water from the squash and the lime to thin out the peanut butter. You may need to add a little moisture on your own if the peanut butter is too thick.

Other ideas for serving would be to add more peanuts, curry powder as mentioned above, and Sriracha!