"Coconut and Lime" Chicken Veggie Curry

This post is inspired by a contest I saw on the Food Maven blog. Maven has created a contest in tribute to the three year anniversary of her blog "Coconut and Lime", where she posts a variety of yummy and diverse original recipes. Here is the link to her post., http://foodmaven.blogspot.com/2007/05/reminder.html. I recently discovered her insightful and fun blogs since becoming a fledgling Baltimore blogger myself.

What is the challenge? To post a recipe featuring the namesake ingredients coconut and lime. Since Johnnycakes and I are both fans of coconut and lime, we thought it would be fun to play along. We were a little stumped about what to prepare and traded some lofty ideas back and forth including coconut and lime bread pudding, rice pudding, french toast and even shrimp. Eventually our practical side won out when we needed to plan meals for the week and put dinner on the table.

Here is our creation:


"Coconut and Lime" Chicken Veggie Curry





Ingredients


1 lime
zest of 1/2 a lime
1 5.5 oz can of coconut milk
1/2 cup of water
1.25 lb. of skinless chicken breast, cooked (marinated in 2 TBSP. lime juice, 2 TBSP. chopped cilantro, salt and pepper)
2 TBSP. sesame oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, julienned
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 TBSP garlic chili paste (less if you can't take the heat!)
1 TBSP. curry powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped cashews (optional)



Instructions

Dice marinated chicken breast into bite size cubes. Heat medium pan with 1 TBSP. sesame oil. Cook over medium heat until cooked thoroughly. Set aside.



Heat deep pan with 1 TBSP. sesame oil. Add chopped celery, carrots, onions, red pepper and peas to heated pan. Cook until softened. Add 1 TBSP. garlic chili paste and stir for one minute. Add coconut milk, water, lime juice from 1/2 a lime and lime zest. Finally, add curry powder, ground cumin, fresh cilantro and chopped cashews. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add cooked chicken breast and simmer for five additional minutes.



Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with brown rice.






The result? A spicy, zesty chicken curry dish with lots of fresh vegetables and flavor. Plus, it meets the Couple of Cooks criteria that meals should be healthy, convenient and economical.

Thanks Maven for posting the contest. It was lots of fun to participate in. Now I can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch!