Coconut Chicken and Broccoli

This Thai-ish recipe managed to introduce new flavors to my kitchen. These are flavors I typically only get with takeout, but it turns out it’s quite simple to enjoy them anytime. The key is keeping ginger in the house all the time. Lately I’ve found myself using ginger all. the. time. Why was it never a big part of my cooking routine before? Having it at the ready has opened the door to so many amazing recipes the last few months.

I followed this recipe but omitted the lemongrass (didn’t have any) and used ground ginger instead of fresh (as always, still worked). First make a mixture of 1 can coconut milk, 1.2 c. chicken stock (I just used a scoop of Better than bouillon), the juice of 1 lime, 1 tbsp corn starch, 1 tbsp ginger, and 2 tbsp honey. Mix it all up nice and good and set aside. Now that you’re ready to rock, sauté 3-4 chicken breasts (cut into chunks) in some olive oil with salt and pepper. When it’s cooked through, transfer to a plate and use the same pan to cook the white parts of 2 scallions and 3 cloves of garlic (minced) in a bit of olive oil. After 1-2 minutes (you don’t want the garlic to burn), add sauce to the pan, whisk it up, and bring it to a simmer. Now add in broccoli florets (I used two heads) and some heat (chili flakes are great) and let that cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the broc is where you like it, add the chicken back to the pan and get everything warmed through. Sprinkle with the green parts of the scallions when you’re ready to serve. I had mine over cauliflower rice for a super healthy meal. I really enjoyed the flavor of the cauliflower rice, but since it’s not an actual starch it doesn’t soak up the sauce quite as well. For that, you’ll need regular rice or – as I learned yesterday when I ate the leftovers for lunch – noodles. I used udon because I had a pack lying around, but rice noodles would be great here.

Like ginger, coconut milk is an ingredient I’m embracing of late. It’s popped up in several recipes I’ve saved and each of those dishes has turned out well. It’s time to start keeping a can or two of this stocked in the pantry like I normally do with cream of mushroom soup.