Coconut Curry Chicken

Hooray for Rachael Ray! I recently bought the September 08 issue of her magazine and caught sight of a recipe that I had to try. I have a Curry Chicken recipe that is quite laborious due to a million steps, so I rarely make it. However, this magazine had a great recipe to satiate any craving for curry! Obviously you can make changes where you see fit. For instance, I would use brown rice next time ~ just didn't have any on hand! Due to my 1/2 of a zucchini left over from the Zucchini Cornbread Cakes, I cut that into chunks and added it to this dish. Looking back, I would also throw in a little minced garlic to round out the flavors.

From the genius mind of R-squared, as seen on page 24 of the 9/08 issue:

Coconut Curry Chicken
3 tbsp. olive oil
1-1/2 c. white rice
2 tsps. curry powder
1 can coconut milk (13.5 oz)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs), cut into strips
2 tsps. five-spice powder *
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

In a medium saucepan, bring 3-1/4 cups salted water to a boil. Add the rice, bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat, stir in the curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk and cook until reduced by half, about 7 minutes. Toss together the chicken, five-spice powder, salt and pepper. In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 tbsps. olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Increase the heat to high and stir-fry the chicken until just cooked through, about 6 minutes. Stir in the coconut curry sauce. Serve over the rice.


*I had never heard of or used five-spice powder. I scoured the spice racks at the store for about 4.59 minutes. After almost settling on Allspice (because that's got at least five spices, right?), I decided to ask a fellow shopper. She looked with me and then suggested I try Ethnic Foods aisle. Aha. Smart woman! 2 minutes later I was sitting pretty in the checkout line with my five-spice powder in hand!