Creamy Coconut Curry Chicken

This super cozy but not overly indulgent recipe comes together in about 30 minutes and will quickly become a staple! It isn't spicy unless you add in hot peppers or hot sauce (optional).

Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 2

You'll need

• 2 chicken breasts

• 1/4 of a yellow onion - thinly sliced

• 1/4 of a red bell pepper - thinly sliced

• 1 tablespoon red curry paste

• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger or ginger paste

• 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste (alternate option at end)

• 2-3 cups chicken broth (approx.)

• 1/2 cup coconut milk

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey

• 1 /2 cup chopped cilantro

• Optional: sliced serrano or jalapeno peppers for heat

For serving

• White rice or quinoa

• fresh limes

• fresh cilantro or mint

Instructions:

1. Cut your chicken into bite sized cubes. Heat a tablespoon of neutral tasting oil (avocado, vegetable) in a sauce pan or heavy bottomed soup pot. Add in the chicken and cook until the outsides are no longer pink.

2. Stir in the red curry paste, ginger, and lemongrass. Pour over enough chicken broth to just cover the chicken. Bring to a low simmer and let it sit until the liquid has been reduced by half.

3. Add in coconut milk, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and stir. Then add in the cilantro, and sliced onion/ bell pepper (+ optional jalapeno/ serrano) and stir. Simmer for about 5 minutes to let everything settle in.

4. Serve over rice or quinoa and enjoy! Garnish with a lime wedge and fresh cilantro.

Notes / tips:

• When cooking quinoa I like to lightly toast the grains with a teaspoon of oil and some seasoning (onion salt, soffrito, something that matches the dish) then use a mix of half water and half broth to give it more flavor.

• Where to find ingredients: if you have an Asian grocery in your area, check it out! Otherwise the Kroger / Whole Foods international sections typically have good options for curry paste and will carry fish sauce.

• Ginger paste: its perfectly fine to use grated fresh ginger, I think ginger paste is easy and doesn't sacrifice taste or quality

• Lemongrass: I have been able to find either lemongrass paste or "thai seasoning" paste in the fresh herbs section at Kroger. You could also buy fresh lemongrass and just cut a 3-4 inch stalk in half and let it simmer with the chicken, then remove the stalks before adding coconut milk.

• Fish sauce - don't smell it, just add it.

• This is naturally dairy free and gluten free. If you want to make it vegetarian - swap in tofu or more veggies for the chicken and use veggie broth rather than chicken broth. Also double check your curry paste ingredients (they sometimes include shrimp paste) and don't add fish sauce!