Braised Thai Coconut Chicken with Sweet Potatoes + updates

I haven’t blogged for ages (September). I’m sitting here like, what am I supposed to write? What am I supposed to say? It’s like I have forgotten everything all over again, like always. What I came here to do was tell you about a new recipe I made last night and so I will do that, but first I am going to that thing where I talk to you about a bunch of other random stuff first. Sound good?

I have just plunked a vase of fresh tulips on my counter—orange naturally—because I decided “out with the old (poinsettias) and in with the new, even though it is not Spring at all and tulips are definitely a spring flower. However, does there exist int he world any January flowers? I will tell you there are not, so really what choice did I have?

We got a dog. His name is Moose…Pamplemousse (say that like James Bond) but mostly I call him Moose Goosie. He is sleeping on the floor to my left right and it is a very good afternoon to sleep indeed because it is snowmageddon outside. We had no snow until Christmas and then now we are making up for it, it seems. I can’t tell you what a joy it’s been to stand outside in the blowing ice-wind and flurries for several minutes, several times a day, waiting on a puppy to poop. I have to do this because it is inevitable that when Jeremy gets home his first question will be “did the puppy have any accidents today?” and by “the puppy” he means “me.” Because the puppy only has accidents when I neglect to take him out in a timely manner ;)

My house is quiet for the first time in weeks now that the kids are back in school, this is the main reason I thought “hey, I should write a blog post.” If you don’t already know, Olivia requires a show on the tv almost 24/7 when she is home and we don’t have a den which means I have seen every movie, but most especially musicals, 24,678,018 times each. This is a true story. Speaking of that, I know this will be an unpopular opinion but the preference isn’t the point. The point is Olivia loves and watches musicals so often that Jeremy, who was previously uneducated in the arts, is now saying things like “I mean, Hamilton doesn’t have anything on Newsies.” Alan Menken wrote the score for Newsies and he’s a legend so Jeremy *does have a leg to stand on, after all. I agree, too. It’s not that Newsies is so great. It’s just that I don’t really get Hamilton. I have seen it 24,678, 018 times because of Olivia—a recording of the play is on our TV with Lin Manuel Miranda playing Hamilton—and I still don’t know how it ends. I couldn't tell you. I have to will myself to keep paying attention and I fail every time I certainly had not planned on ever telling you this however, because I don’t want you to hate me. People feel strongly about Hamilton, I know. So let’s pretend this story never happened.

Okay but the Braised Thai Coconut Chicken. Like I said, I made it last night and everyone loved it. We are eating “healthy” for January and while I tried to label it “Whole Foods January” I decided to scrap that once I remembered that if we were eating whole food, we couldn't have rice. And since I am not on a diet, but the point is to cut out junk and processed sugar while eating more fruit and veggies and good fats, I decided maybe we shouldn't label anything. But we’re not doing dairy or gluten and so really, we are eating whole foods + rice. And since I can have rice because its my life and my January and the race is not killing me and I do what I want, I decided this dish was just the ticket. Because I loathe boring food, even if it *is healthy, and this is definitely not boring. I make a mango chicken curry that is similar and you can find that recipe here on the blog too, except that recipe doesn’t call for coconut milk, so to me, they are two very different recipes.

Try it, you’ll like it.

Braised Thai Coconut Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

serves 6

Ingredients:

*2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon yellow curry powder

• kosher salt

• 3 tablespoons sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil

• 2 bell peppers, chopped ( I use red and yellow)

• 1 red onion, chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes, or more

• 2 cups cubed sweet potatoes

• 2 cans (14 ounce) full-fat coconut milk

• 1 tablespoons fish sauce

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

• steamed rice, for serving

• 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves, for topping

• 2 limes

Instructions

• 1. Toss the chicken with the turmeric, ginger, pepper, curry powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon oil. Let sit 5 minutes or up to overnight in the fridge.
  
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sear on both sides until browned, about 2 minutes. Pull the chicken out of the pan. It’s okay if if the chicken is not cooked through.
  
  3. To the pot, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, the peppers, onion, garlic, and chili flakes, cook 3 minutes, then toss in the sweet potatoes. Reduce the heat to low. Pour in the coconut milk, fish sauce and soy sauce. Slide the chicken and any juices on the plate into the milk. Season with more salt. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of water. Taste for salt before serving and add more if needed.
  
  4. Divide rice between bowls, then spoon the chicken and sauce over the rice. Top with basil, cilantro and lime juice. And then more lime juice because lime juice makes everything the best it can be.

Until next time, caio!