Curry Heals the Soul

Recently I found a recipe that involved sweet potatoes in a curry. I love sweet potatoes. The recipe was a turn off at first because it was quite time consuming and tedious. I decided to throw it aside and do it my way!

Basic ingredients you will need:
2 tsp curry
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper and ground red pepper
ginger
dried crushed bay leaf OR fresh if you have it
canned tomatoes, pound or so of fresh chicken breast, onion, garlic chicken broth, 2 small/medium sweet potatoes, frozen peas and a can of chickpeas

In a small bowl mix all of the above spices, including a healthy dash of salt and pepper and a light dash of ground red pepper. Also finely chop 2-3 cloves of garlic and add to the bowl, and if you have fresh ginger chop a bit of that as well - maybe a teaspoon or a little better - or use about a 1/2 tsp of ground ginger.

Cut the chicken breast into small chunks and place into your favorite soup pot that has heated up with some olive oil in the bottom. Start to brown the chicken. Chop half of a large onion vertically, so it is in long strips, and add to the chicken. Once the onion starts to become tender stir in the bowl of spices. Add in about 2 cups of chicken broth and 1 small can of diced tomatoes (with juice), the 2 sweet potatoes peeled and cubed, and also the chickpeas (drained). Let it all simmer for a good hour - with the pot either uncovered or only slightly covered. This will help the liquid reduce some and become thicker. Stir occasionally and enjoy the lovely aromas. Just before serving add appx 1 cup of frozen peas and heat them through. If you used a fresh bay leaf - discard - and serve over your favorite rice. I favor jasmine.

Yum!

K.I.S.S. Chicken

Keep it Simple Stupid!

I've developed an obsession with stuffing chicken breasts lately. I never did it before because it always seemed so complicated, but its actually not!

My latest Cooking Light had a recipe using a garlic and herb spreadable cheese by the name Boursin. I actually found Boursin at Kroger, and a small container was $7.99! I took the kind next to it (totally forgetting the name right now) which still cost at least $5 and it may have been more. I wasn't sure what this spread would be like, so I didn't go with my instinct to substitute a cream cheese spread, but will next time. I actually think a flavored cream cheese spread will add more to the dish. At any rate, it was good!

Toast 1/4 cup slivered almonds in a skillet until they start to brown. Cool slightly and chop coarsely. Mix 1/3 cup of the garlic and herb cheese spread, all but a spoonful of the almonds, and a handful of fresh parsely chopped up finely. Stuff into 4 chicken breasts which you have slit open. Heat butter (I used canola oil) in a large non-stick skillet and cook about 6 minutes on each side until nicely browned and cooked through. Let chicken rest for a few minutes and garnish with the reserved spoonful of almonds and some more parsely.

Next time, in addition to using a cream cheese spead, I would like to use a different herb. Maybe chives or rosemary.