Easy Thai Chicken & Rice

My mom and I attended the Taste of Home Cooking School last week, and this was a dish they made that I knew I had to try right away. I am always looking for a good tasting dish that is both healthy and easy, and while what defines "healthy" is different for everyone, it is EASY to whip up in no time and SO flavorful. It is a dish that I know Grandma would love and it will definitely be a staple at our house from now on!

1 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed
1 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
1 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 bag (16 ounce) frozen Asian-style veggies, thawed
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

1. Prepare rice.
2. In a small bowl, combine combine coconut milk, brown sugar, curry paste, lime juice and salt. In a nonstick pan over medium heat, combine chicken and vegetables. Add curry sauce and cook until heated through.
3. Garnish with chopped peanuts and additional lime, if desired.

- I used 3 cups uncooked rice and it was the perfect amount. Quinoa would be good too! I also used the remainder of the can of the coconut milk for some of the liquid in the rice to give it additional flavor.
- I cut up two raw chicken breasts into bite size pieces and sauteed it in olive oil until browned, then added the veggies and sauce. I had a 3 lb bag of frozen veggies and used half, so you can easily add more than it calls for and there was plenty of sauce. You could easily make this a vegetarian meal and use all veggies! Because my amounts were a bit larger than what the recipe called for, our meal easily served 6.
- The curry paste I had said it was spicy, so I was wary of using a full Tbsp and only used about 1/2. It wasn't spicy at all, so I will definitely add the full amount next time.

Ranch Potatoes

From the time I was very young, I remember Mom (Cleo) telling the story of how, when she and Daddy were first married, she fixed a nice well-balanced dinner with vegetables, etc. Daddy sat down to the table, took one look at the food and pushed back his chair. He got up and went and fixed himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Mom was, of course, crushed. Fortunately, he learned to not only eat vegetables, but to LOVE them! They both were good examples of vegetable eaters, and we all learned to love them, too. Under our family's current circumstances, that is a very good thing!

I have a book entitled Original Fast Foods and it has some good recipes that are definitely on the healthier side. Since my husband has been ill and we're making a lot of dietary changes to help with his wellness, I have gotten myself reacquainted with some of my healthier lifestyle publications. Right now he's only eating vegetables, some nuts (almonds and cashews) and seeds, fermented soy, and low sugar fruits (berries). It's been challenging to find interesting things that are tasty and diverse. Last night at the end of Family Home Evening, we each took one of the healthy cookbooks and found a couple of recipes that would work or could be adapted easily enough. We came across some pretty yummy sounding things!

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The recipe I made tonight, Ranch Potatoes, was something I fixed a number of weeks ago when he had already stopped eating meat but was still eating potatoes. We loved it, but now he cannot have potatoes other than sweet potatoes or yams. So I decided to try it again with that substitution. It was so colorful when I finished adding the greens that I just had to snap a photo. Does that not look like a pan just stuffed full of vitamins??? Wow!

We also made our own version of Vegan Ranch Dressing to put on it (trying to copy the stuff we adore from Ginger's Cafe in Springville). Oh, yum! The recipe says to cook up everything with the dressing poured in, but we just put the dressing on individually at the table.

This qualifies as comfort food for us now. It is delicious and nutritious and easy to make. It requires a lot of chopping, but that's okay. It's worth it!

Ranch Potatoes

2 lg. potatoes (Yukon Golds or yams), cubed into 1/2" chunks
1 lg. onion, diced
2 C. carrots, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced into small pieces (I used yellow squash this time)
1 sweet bell pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
4 C. greens (I've used baby spinach, kale, chard; you could also use bok choy, napa cabbage, etc.)
1 - 2 C. Almond Ranch or Vegan Ranch dressing

Add all ingredients to pan except for greens. Stir well in dressing and cook until tender. Add sliced leafy greens and cook 2 to 3 minutes more.
  
My notes:
I used some olive oil because I don't cook with non-stick cookware.
I like to let the potatoes, onions, and carrots cook a little first before adding the more tender vegetables.

Serve and enjoy!

Almond Ranch Dressing
2 C. almond milk*
3 T. ranch dressing seasoning
3 T. Ultra Gel

*Almond Milk
1 C. almonds (soak in water overnight, drain and rinse)
3 - 4 cups pure water
1 - 2 T. raw maple syrup (optional)

Place almonds in blender. Add water and blend for 3 to 4 minutes at high speed. Strain through muslin, nylon, linen, or cheesecloth. Add maple syrup if desired. Shake well before serving.

Vegan Ranch Dressing (our own adaptation of Ginger's and an online recipe)
1/2 C. soy sour cream
1/2 C. Vegenaise (we like the grapeseed kind)
1/4 C. soy, almond, or rice milk
1 1/2 t, apple cider vinegar
2 rounded t. fresh parsley, chopped
1 rounded T. chopped leeks
1 T. chopped chives
1 clove crushed garlic (or 1/2 t. garlic powder)
1/4 - 1/2 t. Real Salt
1/2 t. fresh ground pepper


Put all in a blender and blend until smooth. We liked a few bits of the herbs unblended. Yummy!