Curried Thai Chicken
by
COMMENTS:
This is quick and tasty: No need to hit McDonald’s at all, and you might even have a few leftovers for lunch the next day — if you get lucky! I got the original recipe from Foodware, sadly a now-defunct recipe manager from either Canadian Living or Chatelaine, I forget which. This version is modified here and there for LifeAfterCorn purposes.
Always check every label for potentially harmful ingredients, even on familiar products.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cans premium coconut milk (You can always add your own water instead of paying for it to come in a “light” can with 1/4 coconut milk and mostly water!)
1 – 3 tsp curry powder or red Thai curry paste (there are a couple out there that are corn-free)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or a mix of both (the original recipe meant to use the chicken in full pieces, but I prefer to cut it all into bite-size chunks)
1 small head of cauliflower
1-2 large red pepper or 2 small zucchini or both; or asparagus and snowpeas; or whatever other mild-mannered veggies you happen to like in whatever combo tickles your fancy. (My BF is sensitive to red pepper, so I go in other directions and it still tastes great! Carrots, however, need to be pre-cooked.)
Rice (Jasmine is particularly nice with this, and short-grain is great too… Just, please, don’t do that awful Minute Rice stuff… ugh… I use two cups of rice with three cups of water for three people for dinner. I find an even ratio of rice:water, which my rice cooker suggests, leaves the rice crunchy, which I’m not so keen on. YMMV!)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Start rice (Use rice cooker, if you have one. If you don’t, and like rice, they actually are a small kitchen appliance worth investing in. Mine is by Oster, about $60, seems big but really it’s not… and I like it the very best of the ones I’ve used to date.)
2. Using a large, wide saucepan, like a 6 qt dutch oven, pour coconut milk in and add curry powder/red paste, whichever you decide to use. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to blend.
3. When sauce comes to a boil, add chicken. Cover and reduce to medium-low and simmer for about ten minutes.
4. The recipe says to remove chicken to a platter, but I just add the veggies and keep it all going together. It’s up to you. (I do hold off on adding the zucchini and/or snowpeas for about five or ten minutes, though, so they don’t get mushy.)
5. Cover and continue to simmer (you might have to boost the bubble back up a bit) about fifteen minutes.
6. If you want to get fancy, remove the chicken and veggies to another dish and turn the heat up to medium-high and stir the sauce frequently as it boils for about ten minutes until it thickens up. Add chicken and veggies back in, reheat for a minute or two. (Personally, I prefer just to use the sauce “as is” as it spreads further that way and it thickens as it goes anyway, especially once it gets all over the rice.)
7. Serve over rice. Can garnish with coriander and/or basil, if you like.
I LOVE these leftovers, so I don’t hesitate to make extra!
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