Thai Green Curry Chicken

This Thai Green Curry Chicken is such an easy, quick, weeknight meal that really takes the boring out of the same old chicken. Another major time saver for this recipe is minute rice or precooked rice that you can just throw into the microwave for a minute and a half and be done with. I have a rice cooker and I’ve tried to make rice a million times, I’m just not good at it, so I take all the help that I can get from the store when I want to have rice with dinner. Also, Costco usually has this precooked rice in a large package of six bowls in the pantry area, or a quinoa and rice mix in the freezer section. Both are delicious and major time savers. Another option is to serve this curry with brown rice Pad Thai noodles, which are widely available in grocers’ international foods section.
Thai Kitchen makes a very good green curry paste, and all of their curry pastes (red, green, and roasted red…) are on sale this week at Whole Foods. Their green curry paste is gluten free, but it isn’t very spicy so I add a couple of chilies to my curry to spice it up. Side note about chilies: the skinnier and pointier the chili, the spicier. So, if you like spicy, go ahead and pick the pointy chilies.
You’ll notice that I only use one chicken breast in this recipe, my reason behind that is to decrease the cost while still keeping it balanced and healthful, but this recipe is very versatile; you can use more meat and less veggies or even substitute shrimp for the chicken. If you substitute in shrimp, just add it when you add the green curry paste to your coconut milk so that it doesn’t overcook.

Thai Green Curry Chicken:

1 Chicken Breast, cut into bite sized pieces
2 Serrano chilies, minced, seeded if you’re sensitive to spicy food or Optional
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
1 inch of Fresh Ginger, minced
2 cups of Veggies (I used: Frozen peas and green beans, fresh bell pepper, and fresh broccoli, but you can use whatever you like…), cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbsp Thai Green Curry Paste, I use Thai Kitchen brand (it’s GF!)
1 13.5 oz. can of regular (not light) Coconut Milk (shake well before opening!)
1 sprig of basil (Thai basil if available), torn into pieces by hand
1 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce, I use Thai Kitchen brand (it’s GF!)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté meat until almost cooked through (adding salt and pepper to taste, remembering that fish sauce is salty!); then add in chilies, garlic, ginger, and veggies to meat. Cook together for approximately 3-5 minutes over medium heat; you’re only trying to cook the veggies to remove their “rawness”; you still want them crunchy and fresh tasting in your curry. Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Stir in curry paste and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add fish sauce and torn basil just before serving.

Serve over jasmine rice in a bowl and you’re set!