Spicy Garlic Cashew Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 cup roasted cashew nuts
• 6 Tbsp roughly chopped cilantro, leaves and stems
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, stems and most seeds discarded, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbsp lime juice, plus lime wedges for garnish
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Directions

1. For the cashew paste, put the cashews and cilantro in a food processor or blender. Add the olive oil next, then the garlic; spoon in the soy sauce and brown sugar, add the jalapeño, and finish with lime juice plus 2 tablespoons of water.
2. Process or blend everything until it turns into a smooth paste, then season it with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Set aside a third of the marinade to serve with the cooked chicken. The remaining marinade is for the chicken itself. Season the chicken thighs on every side with salt and pepper, then spread the cashew paste over the pieces until they’re coated.
4. If you’d like to work ahead, chill the marinated chicken for several hours or overnight, then let it come to room temperature before it cooks.
5. For cooking, heat the broiler or set up a grill or grill pan for medium direct heat.
6. Cook the chicken under the broiler or on the grill, turning the pieces often, until the outside is golden and crisp and a thermometer placed in the thickest part of the thigh, without touching a bone, registers 165 degrees F. If checking with a knife instead, cut into the meat and look for juices that are clear, not pink.
7. Plan on about 25 to 35 minutes on a grill set to medium heat, or about 10-20 minutes beneath a broiler; the broiler timing depends on the chicken’s distance from the heat.
8. Some of the coating will loosen and drop off as you turn the chicken. That’s normal, so no need to fuss over it.
9. Serve the chicken with lime wedges, the reserved marinade, and cilantro.