Curried Chicken and Vegetables

Curried Chicken with Vegetables and Peanuts

I came home from a wonderful weekend in Fayetteville, AR visiting friends. I was hungry and knew that I was going to cook something for dinner. I had the hubs pick up some chicken, asparagus, and cauliflower. I had coconut milk, curry paste, and fish sauce at home. This is another reason to keep a stocked cabinet! I whipped this together in under an hour. There are short cuts that can be made, which I will point out as I go. The hubs ate his with rice. I ate mine as is. This made a ton, which is wonderful for a family. We have three tupperwares of leftovers for the week. Yippee! Here is what I did.

Curried Chicken and Vegetables (Makes 5 servings)

1 pound of boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 can full fat coconut milk
1/2 head of cauliflower
1 yellow pepper
1 small Zucchini
1/2 bunch of asparagus
1.5 TBLS of Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste
2 TBLS of Thai Kitchen Fish Sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
Coconut Oil or EVOO for sauteing vegetables
Salt and Pepper to taste

*Caveat: I sauteed the vegetables individually starting with the cauliflower then the peppers and then the zucchini. I did not saute the asparagus, but threw it into the pot at the last minute. This is totally unnecessary and will save you time if you omit this step.

1) Cut up vegetables into bite sized pieces
2) Using 2-3 TBLS of fat (whatever you like), saute your vegetables. Season them with salt and pepper
3) After 3-4 minutes, remove the vegetables
4) Season chicken on both sides. Begin to brown
5) Remove chicken and set it aside. It only needs to be browned. It will cook in the curry.
6) Once chicken is removed, deglaze with 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Scrape up browned bits
7) Add curry paste to the chicken stock
8) Add coconut milk. Stir
9) While the coconut milk is bubbling, cut chicken into bite sized pieces
10) Add chicken to coconut milk mixture. Cover the pot and let gently simmer for 10 minutes
11) Add vegetables into the mix. Let cook 5 more minutes. Add Fish sauce to the mixture. Stir
12) Serve into bowls and garnish with chopped peanuts

*This sauce was so good. I commented that I wanted something to sop it up like rice or bread. You can make this vegetarian very easily. Simply use vegetable stock instead of chicken and add one can of drained garbanzo beans.

Enjoy!