Chicken Curry: Quick, Easy and Delicious

Last week I met up with fellow Master Gardener Becky Montgomery in the kitchen at Myers Park. We were heating up our leftovers for lunch at the Collin County Master Gardener CE Day. Her dish smelled so good that I begged the recipe. She said she makes this once a week and uses whatever veggies she has in the fridge (but said Trader Joe's Coconut Milk was the secret ingredient).

Here's the recipe using the veggies I had in my fridge/pantry:

- 1/2 onion, 1 shallot, 2 celery stalks, 1 jalapeno, 1 banana pepper, 1/2 poblno pepper, 1 small zucchini, 1 small yellow squash, 2 roma tomatoes and 4 cloves garlic.

- Cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

- Cube a chicken breast. Season with salt and pepper and lighty dredge in flour. Saute in olive oil until nicely browned and then remove to a bowl to keep warm.

- Add a little more olive oil to the pan if needed and then begin sauteing the vegetables. Start with the onion, shallot, celery, jalapeno, and peppers and saute one minute. Add the zucchini and squash and saute another minute.

- Season with a little salt and pepper, a sprinkling of smoked chipotle pepper and 1/2-1 teaspoon of curry powder.

- Add the tomatoes and garlic and saute one minute.

- Stir in one can of coconut milk. I used "light". Becky said that she had to thin the sauce with chicken broth, so maybe she used regular.

- Simmer five minutes. Add the chicken and simmer another two minutes to heat through. - Stir in one large handful of chopped basil and simmer one minute until wilted.

- Serve over rice, quinoa or pearled cous cous. Garnish with additional basil and pass the hot sauce.

This makes a generous serving for two with leftovers.

Thanks for the recipe Becky!