Thai Chicken Curry: Perfect Pantry Dinner

I hadn't ever made this dish for my husband yet. He is sort of a picky eater, and I wasn't sure he would like it. But not too long ago, I bought some Thai curry paste and coconut milk, and put them in the pantry. The other night, when trying to think of a way to cook the tilapia I had on hand, this came to mind. Lo and behold, Mark loved it! It's definitely going in the rotation.

Thai Chicken Curry takes about 20 minutes start to finish- just enough time to cook rice along with it- and it is so

flexible! You can use just about any veggies and meat that you have on-hand. Personally, I like the flavors with lighter meats, like chicken or fish. The steps are simple:

1. (If you are using raw meat or veggies that take a while to cook)- Brown the meat and/or veggies and set aside

2. Add your aromatics- onion, garlic, ginger, peppers, or whatever other aromatics you want and soften them in oil.

3. Add the curry paste and mix it with the aromatics and marvel at the smell in your kitchen

4. Add the coconut milk- simmer for a couple of minutes for all the flavors to meld.

5. Add your meat and/or veggies and simmer through until warmed or done.

Some tips:

• If you are using a light fish, like tilapia or something similar, don't brown beforehand- just addd it in at the end and simmer until it breaks up easily with a spatula.

• If you are using chicken, cut into small pieces, brown beforehand, and let them finish cooking in the sauce for a few minutes. If you are using leftover cooked chicken, just warm it at the end.

• I use one jar of green curry paste to one can of coconut milk. Thai Kitchen green curry paste- it's in the Asian section of my local Walmart. The green curry is mild- almost no heat at all. I haven't used the red one, but I'm assuming it's spicier.

• Serve over white rice.