I had a 3-day weekend (like tons of others), and got a spectacular hair cut while going blonde for the first time in my life, AND managed to sell my beast of a Jeep so I had a downpayment for a new (new to me, not brand spankin' new) Infiniti yesterday. Woo-hoo!! In celebration of the happy things going on which have been much too few & far in between for me lately, I'm making one of my most favorite happy dinners of Coconut Curry Chicken & jasmine rice.
Do you have a happy/celebration food that you make sometimes just for nothing more important than, hey, it's Tuesday & I feel pretty damn good?!
Thanks for the responses, you're making my tummy growl at 7:40a.m.!
Manda~~you can absolutely cook Indian food, it's no more difficult than anything else, but more using different spices.
I could post the link of the recipe I used, but I made so many changes I'll just type it up. I'm going to warn you, this is not a quick dish & there is a lot of prep work involved, but if you've got someone who will help you (in my case, my husband chopped everything as I needed it while I actually cooked), it'll go much faster, or, at the very least, prep EVERYTHING first & then you can just add as you go.
Chop up:
2-3 medium potatoes, peeled
1 red bell pepper, seeded
1 small/medium head cauliflower
1 medium onion
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts (thighs will work, too, I just don't like messing with them because they're fatty)
In a huge pan, heat up 2-3 Tbsp oil (vegetable will work, but I use organic virgin coconut oil in this) over medium heat. Add 3 Tbsp red curry paste, 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom, 1 tsp. yellow curry powder & a squirt (or more) of sirracha or several shakes of red pepper flakes if you like it hot (I skipped that part last night because the kids were eating this with us & I tend to make things too spicy for them sometimes). Stir that into the oil with a heat-proof rubber spatula for about 4-5 minutes to really infuse the oil with the flavors. Add the onion & several cloves of minced garlic (I use a garlic press, so no chopping needed). Cook for at least another 5 minutes until onion is completely translucent. Put a ton of salt & pepper on the chicken & add that to the pan, turn the heat up a little bit & cook for 8-10 minutes until mostly cooked through. Add 1 14oz. can diced tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted if you can find them) & 1 14oz. can coconut milk & mix well. Add the potatoes, peppers & cauliflower. Cook over medium to medium high heat for about 40 minutes until the taters are cooked all the way through & the tomatoes are mostly cooked away & the sauce has thickened a bit. Taste & adjust seasoning. I found last night ours needed a good bit more salt, but see how it works on your palatte as everyone is different. I serve mine over jasmine rice because it compliments the flavors so nicely, but any rice would work.
I hope you guys love this as much as we all do!!
Cheese. If I could have cheese 24-7 without my heart or pants exploding, I would be happy.
Don't forget - it's Mardi Gras. Induldge.
My oldest daughter wants to bake a cake today because she has appointed it "Crayon Day." I have no idea what Crayon Day entails (although apparently crayons *might* rain down from the sky) but we are going to bake something in honor of the day...probably not a cake but maybe chocolate chip cookies.
I cook at least 2 meals a day, every day so when I'm celebrating such as you are, we order take out.
As a matter of fact I do! When I'm feeling in a great mood and I have the stuff on hand I make baked macaroni and cheese, cheesecake and poundcake. I'll admit I'm a bit of a pig when I feel I've got something worth celebrating. :D
My happy food right now, I would have to say is SOUL FOOD soo good if made right..Yummmm :)
Sounds yummy - care to share your recipe?
When it's just me, I sautee mushrooms, garlic, onions, black olives, green onions, in olive oil. Throw in some chopped homegrown tomatoes and cilantro after I turn the heat off. That by itself or over noodles says celebrate to me. I melt cheese on top if it's a really big day!
I also really love to go to Tons Mongolian Grill and get some Mongolian BBQ. That is a total party in my world.
Chicken fried steak with mashed potatos!
love your happy post! how do you like being blonde?
i share your curry chicken happy place. chicken grilled or sauteed and served over rice with some sort of sauce is always a happy meal for me.
so are brownies.
:)
i love dairy, but i'm slowly understanding that it doesn't love me, so i have to quit making jarlsberg with apples one of my best treats. i can't think of single solitary *good* replacement for cheese, so i'm just going to have to learn to do without. ::::::sniffle::::::
:) khairete
S.
