It’s still cold out side. I guess it is winter after all and I’m clearly still in denial. Booooo. At least I get this Colorado sunshine, so I shouldn’t complain, but alas, I will. And I’ll crave warm chicken curry.
What do you do when you crave warm, hearty comfort food and you want to be healthy at the same time? You throw in lots of veggies, amp up the flavor, add a boost of protein, and voila. A comforting, satisfying dish that won’t weigh you down.
In this chicken curry recipe, the plant-based fat from the coconut milk, the protein in the chicken, and the fiber in the veggies will fill you up, leaving you feeling satisfied in no time. Plus, who says pumpkin season is over? I know it’s not fall anymore but I know you’ve still got that canned pumpkin lurking in your pantry, saying “use me! use me!”
If you know me at all you know I looooove me some Thai food. I craaave it. I try to make the Thai dishes at home that I can get to taste on par with takeout so I don’t go broke. Curry is one of them.
I tell you, when I get curry paste from the local, standard grocery store, I have to use twice as much (like the whole jar) to get any flavor at all. When I go to an Asian market and buy their curry paste brands? I use half the amount and it’s bursting with flavor. Buuut since I don’t want to encourage my stopping-at-three-grocery-stores-to-get-everything-on-my-list trend (confession: that really happens… too often…) I’ve surrendered to the brand of curry paste I find in practically every grocery store. Trying to keep it simple people. Simplify. So I use a whole jar in 1 recipe. And I usually end up adding a good amount of Sriracha. #makeitwork. Ok rant over.
Soooo, more about the recipe. If you’ve never made curry before, you have to check out my Thai Red Chicken Curry post which includes everything you need to know about any of the obscure ingredients in this recipe. You can find them all in a regular ‘ol standard grocery store!
No get to eatin’ some delish, healthy, comforting chicken curry.
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- 4 oz red curry paste
- 1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 13.5 oz cans coconut milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 stalk lemongrass, pounded with the back of a knife
- 6 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 inch cube ginger root, sliced
- 10 brussels sprouts, stems trimmed and halved
- 1 cup cauliflower florets
- 1 pound chicken breast, halved lengthwise then sliced thinly
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
- 0.75 oz package Thai basil, stems removed
- Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add curry paste, shallot, and a few splashes of coconut milk. Cook about 2 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the rest of the coconut milk, broth, pumpkin puree, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and ginger root. Bring to a simmer.
- Add brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add chicken and bell pepper, cook for 5 minutes or until chicken just cooked through.
- Stir in basil and serve as a soup or over rice. Enjoy!
Made this today and it was lovely – the seasonings were perfect.
I was able to use what I had on hand-so a few substitutions were neccesary- Thus I used
2 cups of cubed butternut squash and doubled the amount of brussels sprouts because I didn’t have any Cauliflower- Substituted lemon rind . added a little bit of fish sauce at the end.
Nice dish- thank you for the recipe. I will definitely make it again.
Thanks for the comment, Joan! I’m glad it turned out well. All the modifications you made sound good, especially adding the butternut squash. 👍🏼