Garam Masala Chicken Stew with Potatoes and Peas

I got a little wild and added kale and garbanzo beans to this Garam Masala Chicken Stew recipe.

Have you ever bought a bottle of spice for a certain recipe, then the bottle sits there forever in your pantry waiting for you to think of a way to use it again? I have a bottle of cardamon that I use about once a year in a recipe for a Ukrainian honey cake. I make it on my Mom's birthday, because she was full-blooded Ukrainian and its a nice way to remember her. Every now and then I come across another recipe that calls for cardamon, and I think, "I must try that", mainly to use some more cardamon. 

Well, my garam masala spice blend has been hanging around for quite some time, also. Its a mixture of spices from India that includes cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg, black and white peppercorns, bay leaves and caraway, and the blends will vary by region. I just know it works really well with chicken. I bought mine atNew Frontiers store, where they sell spices in bulk. I got enough to fill my spice jar for about $1.50.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garam_masala

When I spied this recipe on the Better Homes and Gardens recipe site, I knew I needed to make it for three reasons: 1) use up some garam masala; 2) I have frozen chicken breasts, and 3) we got some nice big red potatoes in our last box from SLO Veg. I almost had forgotten how good this spice blend is! I should use it more often, like when I am sautéing chicken breasts for a chicken salad or something. It's a nice change from the usual salt-pepper-garlic go-to blend I use every day.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/fragrant-garam-masala-chicken-stew-with-peas-and-potatoes/

I varied this slightly by using chicken breasts that I cubed and put into the crock pot with just a bit of olive oil. I also added a bag of pearl onions that had been in the freezer for a good six months. I let them cook in there on high for about an hour while I got ready for my day. Then I added the other ingredients and left to run errands. When I returned to the house about 3 hours later, the potatoes were nearly ready. We ate this stew for lunch, which was perfect because my husband had stayed home from work with a cold and this was perfect! The only thing is, I forgot to stir in the yogurt, but that's okay, because there are leftovers. I will try it with yogurt added today!

Garam Masala Chicken Stew with Peas and Potatoes

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized cubes

1-2 tsps garam masala spice blend

1 Tbs olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

5-6 large red potatoes, halved and sliced

10 oz. pkg frozen pearl onions

10 oz. pkg frozen green peas
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans
4 ribs kale, sliced into ribbons

15 oz. tomato sauce

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup plain yogurt

I swirled the olive oil in the bottom of my crock pot, then added the chicken and sprinkled on the garam masala. Next I added the garlic and ginger, salt and pepper. I gave it all a stir and let it cook for an hour on high heat until the chicken turned white. Then I added the potatoes, pearl onions, kale, garbanzo beans, tomato sauce and chicken broth and let it cook for 3 hours until the potatoes were tender. Ladle into serving bowls and top with a dollop of yogurt.

Chinese Orange Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I was out riding my bicycle around town and came across this mini-park with a Chinese motif. It was built to commemorate the Chinese heritage in San Luis Obispo. In the late 1800s, there used to be quite a large Chinese population that was brought in to help built the railroad over the Cuesta Grade. The park is a beautiful tribute to their cultural contributions.

Lion at entrance of Chinese Mini-Park in SLO

All that exercise made me crave some Asian food, for sure! But I have been in a bit of a rebellious mood lately--I've also been craving iceberg lettuce! I know, I know! It doesn't have any nutritional value, the greener stuff has all the vitamins, its what our Mom's used to feed us, etc, etc, but I just want some...for the crunch. You see, I am trying to cut down on breads, and that translates into no crunch. I made a wedge salad last night with a thinned-down ranch dressing and some bacon crumbles and hard-boiled egg wedges, and it was wonderful! My husband refused to eat the iceberg--I had to make his salad with the spring mix he loves so much. C'est la vie!

I was looking a recipes for orange chicken, because my friend just brought us a grocery bag full of oranges freshly plucked from his friends' tree. I might have to juice a bunch of them, but what I really want is some orange chicken! So I was perusing the orange chicken recipes, and found a few "skinny" ones, without breading. Pretty simple, just saute some chunked chicken breast and make a sauce with soy and orange juice (and garlic and ginger, of course!) Top it with sesame seeds and diced green onions and serve over rice. (Cue: vinyl record zipppppp) Wait! How about orange chicken wraps? with iceberg lettuce? or some of that ground turkey that I have some in the freezer? Oh what a good idea! 

Because I am on a new schedule and working weekends with my late nights being Friday and Saturday, I just finished doing a little calendar menu planning that goes something like this: 

   Sunday - Lee cooks something in the crock pot so he can do his chores at home all day and still feed me when I get home

   Monday - Fish, because our SLO Veg box gets delivered and its fresh

   Tuesday - Pasta of some kind, so many possibilities

   Wednesday - Potluck, whatever needs to be cooked up

   Thursday - Salad night (turkey wraps, perhaps?)

   Friday - Pizza pick up has become our Friday night thing

   Saturday - Deli chicken pick up unless there is a better offer, like 

                     someone else cooks

I like having a loose plan for menu ideas. It keeps me more organized and helps with using up the vegetables before they go bad, because I know just what night I can fit them into the meal plan. Also, we usually take our leftovers for lunch, but when we don't have any leftovers, we know what else we can whip up. Lee takes a big salad every day, using a salad bowl I picked up that has a top section with dividers that can be frozen to keep everything nice and chilled. He loads it up with tomatoes and garbanzos and peppers and olives, making a nice sort of Mediterranean salad that draws attention from all of his coworkers. Mechanics aren't usually that gourmet. His lunch also includes tuna salad. I prefer to have my tuna salad without all the lettuce part, maybe in a tortilla wrap or with crackers or veggie scoopers, like celery or peppers. I also like diced celery in mine, and he doesn't. 

Rice, lettuce, orange chicken in sauce, and crunchy Chow Mein noodles

Anyway, what the heck was I talking about? Chinese flavors. Orange chicken. Here is my version in a lettuce wrap:

Orange Chicken Lettuce Wraps

2 chicken breasts, cubed into bite-sized pieces

salt and pepper

2 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

one head iceberg lettuce, cut into 4 wedges

Sauce:

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup orange juice

3 Tbs cornstarch

1/4 cup honey

1/2 tsp white pepper

zest of one orange

pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

2 cups cooked rice or quinoa

Top with toasted sesame seeds, diced green onion and more orange zest, or those crunchy Chinese noodles

Directions:

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a glass mixing cup. Set aside.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Saute the chicken in olive oil and sesame oil until cooked through and lightly browned, 7-8 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken and bring it to a slight boil on medium heat. Cook until slightly thickened. Removed from heat and serve with a scoop of rice or quinoa in a lettuce wrapper.

Cheung Park from the inside

Back to Basics: Basil Lemon Chicken

Chicken, lemon juice, and basil leaves. Plus some seasoning blend. That's it...easy peasy. 

I was thinking we have been getting a little sloppy with our healthy eating lately, adding too much starch and cheese, so I am paring it down. Tonight I prepared the food very simply: roasted vegetables, baked yams, oven baked chicken. Nothing fancy, but super flavorful and satisfying.    

I cut the chicken breasts into three long strips and seasoned them all over with a pepper-garlic-salt blend. Then I seared them in a skillet and finished them in the oven for about 30 more minutes. I drizzled on some lemon juice and garnished the chicken with a few lemon slices for effect, then tossed in several basil leaves to add aroma. 

Meanwhile, I coated the yams in olive oil, seasoned it with the blend and let them bake for 45 minutes. During the last 20 minutes, I added a pan full of broccoli that had been drizziled with olive oil, seasoned with the blend with a little Italian seasonings added in for more flavor. When it was done, I sprinkled on some Parmesan cheese just before serving. Of course, I put some butter on the yam...it makes it so yummy! I believe in real butter, real sour cream, etc., not the non-fat stuff. You don't have to use a ton of it, and its real and healthier. 

The yams, broccoli and basil all came from our SLO Veg box, just not all recently. I had so much broccoli at one point that I froze a bag of it. So that was defrosted tonight and roasted. The basil is a "living" plant that is on my kitchen window sill in a mug of water. I could plant it outside, but right now it look really pretty in the window and it is thriving, so no hurry.