Lion and Magic Boy

Tonight we had my belated birthday dinner, the one we did not have last night because I was temporarily paralyzed or maybe stuck to the PC monitor that stares at me now. Plus we did not have the dinner last night because we lacked an essential ingredient to make the kind of curry that the children like and will willingly consume: coconut milk.

Acquiring coconut milk in a place like Whole Foods is easy. You go to the asian foods section, which is large and covers easily half the length of an aisle, and there are several choices: organic, lite, regular, and various brands. However, Whole Foods was too far away and lacked the cheap grocery-store cat food that does not require ass-corkage in the cat who threw up twice yesterday in commemoration of my birthday because we were out of said food and apparently he does not like the expensive organic cat food. Whatever. I should be happy to pay $4.00 instead of $9.00 for a bag of cat food, but why is it that I am not making him expensive raw food that will prolong his life and make him a happy, gleaming, sleek little cat?

Never mind. Rhetorical question. We were talking about coconut milk. The asian foods section in the localish grocery store, the one that I can stand to go in and not the really funky one that made all of us long for a nice hot shower afterward the one time we were brave enough and desperate enough to go in and actually buy things that we were considering eating, is about 8 inches wide and crosses many borders: Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and generically “asian”. Accordingly, although I did see some promising jars of Indian yummy goodness, there was no coconut milk to be had.

I combed the store, Eric’s protests and disinterest at what was in the cart becoming audibly evident. No such luck in Fruits, Vegetables, or Drink Mixers (although they did have coconut cream, which should not be confused with coconut milk, although it did make me long for a nice Pina Colada). Finally, bright idea! I will ask someone. I approached the diffident and likely bored women held hostage at the customer service counter.

“Yes?” one inquired.

“Coconut milk?” I asked brightly, trying not to look deranged. “It comes in a ca-”

“Aisle 15″ they answered, together. Astonished at the ease of which they knew the location of the obviously exotic food item I had combed the store unsuccessfully looking for, I turned and looked. Aisle 15 was the aisle I had already spent 11 minutes in looking at every jar and can in the asian foods section.

One left her post and I followed her dutifully. She reached up to the top shelf, just to the left of the asian foods section, over in Hispanic. Oh. Of course.

[Note: although it worked okay in a pinch, I don't recommend Goya brand coconut milk]

So. On the the food.

Coconut Curry

1 pkg. chicken breasts, about a pound
1 can coconut milk
1/2 onion, sliced
1 tb. red curry paste*
most of a sweet red pepper, or all, sliced in strips
cilantro (fresh)
brown rice, cooked. (Today I used Lundberg’s Golden Rose rice, which was wonderful. Also works well with Basmati rice.)

*I use a mild red curry paste. Use more or less to taste.

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Saute in olive oil until browned on one side; turn. Add onions and peppers. Saute until peppers are almost tender, 2-3 minutes. Add the curry paste and stir to coat everything. Add the can of coconut milk and stir. Let simmer, covered, about 10 minutes.

Serve with the rice. Seriously, could this be any easier?

Oops, I forgot the cilantro. I did while cooking tonight, too. Chop some and add it just before serving.

We had this with a salad of organic mixed baby greens (Nathaniel: “There’s something wrong with me. I don’t like all the kinds of salad.”), carrots, grape tomatoes, and garbanzo beans (Serena: “Is it okay if I eat around the garbanzo beans?”). I made a dressing as follows:

Put 1/2 teasp., less actually, Dijon mustard in a bowl. Splash in a little vinegar; add oil. Salt and herbs to taste. Mix. Makes a couple of tablespoons, maybe, or more than enough for 3 salads.

Cooking should be easy, fun, and taste good, being full of fresh, seasonal ingredients. Yum.

What’s on your plate tonight?

[tags] coconut milk, red curry, food, yummy[/tags]