{"id":144344,"date":"2018-01-07T22:32:33","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T03:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=144344"},"modified":"2018-01-07T22:32:33","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T03:32:33","slug":"coconut-milk-and-curry-paste-take-chicken-to-new-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/01\/07\/coconut-milk-and-curry-paste-take-chicken-to-new-heights\/","title":{"rendered":"Coconut milk and curry paste take chicken to new heights"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Pixabay<\/a>
A quick saute gives the chicken just the right amount of char, and the coconut sauce is made flavorful with fresh basil (Pixabay photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boneless skinless chicken breasts save the day for so many busy folks who want to get a lean, protein-filled, affordable dinner on the table in a hurry.<\/p>\n

I always have a package or two in my freezer – I buy them when they are on super-sale (which they are once every 4-6 weeks in my experience) and freeze them, a strategy even more helpful if you seek out the pricier organic or free-range versions.<\/p>\n

Even if I forget to pop the frozen chicken in the fridge to thaw the night before I need it, I can always do a quick-thaw in a big bowl of cold water, and still get dinner on the table quickly.<\/p>\n

This ubiquitous cut of meat is chock-full of lean protein – a 4-ounce serving is only 125 calories, and has about 26 grams of protein, plus a smattering of minerals and B vitamins, and only a gram or two of fat.<\/p>\n

The downside to the boneless skinless chicken breast is that the flavour is a little lacklustre. But what some call bland, I call a blank slate! And with so little fat in the meat, you have a little wiggle room to indulge a bit with other ingredients.<\/p>\n

In my Weeknight Thai Curry Chicken recipe, for instance, I use full-fat coconut milk – a mere half cup for six servings of chicken is enough to create a luxurious mouth-feel without adding more than a few grams of fat per serving.<\/p>\n

In this quick weeknight-friendly recipe, I use fragrant Thai curry paste as a rub right on thin chicken cutlets, infusing them with a ton of flavour, and I serve the sauce as an accompaniment, rather than having the chicken swim in it.<\/p>\n

A quick saute gives the chicken just the right amount of char (don’t overcook), and the coconut sauce is made flavourful with fresh basil, green onion, and garlic and quick – just a few pulses in a blender and a few minutes stovetop. Dinner in about 20 minutes will prove that weeknight cooking need never be boring.<\/p>\n

WEEKNIGHT THAI CHICKEN CURRY<\/p>\n

Servings: 6<\/p>\n

Start to finish: 20 minutes<\/p>\n

6 chicken breast cutlets, about 4 ounces each<\/p>\n

2 tablespoons red Thai curry paste<\/p>\n

1 teaspoon neutral oil<\/p>\n

Sauce:<\/p>\n

1\/2 cup coconut milk (canned)<\/p>\n

1\/2 cup chicken broth<\/p>\n

2\/3 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed (about 10 large or 20 small leaves)<\/p>\n

3 cloves garlic, chopped or passed through a garlic press<\/p>\n

3 green onions, chopped<\/p>\n

1\/2 teaspoon salt<\/p>\n

3 cups of cooked brown rice, for serving<\/p>\n

Lightly pound or press the chicken breasts so that they are no thicker than 3\/4 of an inch. Coat each cutlet with a teaspoon of the curry paste. Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat, brush the oil to coat the whole pan.<\/p>\n

Place the chicken cutlets in the pan, smooth side of the cutlet down. Turn the heat slightly down to medium, and cover the pan. Cook for 5 minutes, uncover, and flip the chicken using a spatula. (If the chicken is stuck to the pan, let it cook for another minute or two and then flip.)<\/p>\n

Let the chicken cook on the second side, uncovered, for another 5 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 160 F. Remove from heat and set on cooked brown rice on plate or platter to serve. Meanwhile, place all the sauce ingredients in a blender and pulse just enough to mix, leaving some of the basil in flecks. Pour the sauce into a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Spoon a few tablespoons of sauce over the chicken and rice.<\/p>\n

Chef’s Note: I used full fat coconut milk for unctuous texture since the quantity is relatively low, but you may substitute low-fat version.<\/p>\n

——<\/p>\n

Nutrition information per serving: 310 calories; 79 calories from fat; 9 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 86 mg cholesterol; 602 mg sodium; 26 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 30 g protein.<\/p>\n

——<\/p>\n

Food Network star Melissa d’Arabian is an expert on healthy eating on a budget. She is the author of the cookbook, \u201cSupermarket Healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boneless skinless chicken breasts save the day for so many busy folks who want to get a lean, protein-filled, affordable …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":144348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[42117,42118],"class_list":["post-144344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-food","tag-chicken-breast","tag-thai-chicken-curry","mauthors-melissa-darabian","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}