Katie's Spinach Chickpea Curry

(With a few Jessica adjustments) 

This recipe came from Katie while they were living in Fairfax, VA. I add shredded chicken and thicken the sauce just a bit, and everyone in our family LOVES it. This recipe feeds our family of six two meals. I actually double this sometimes in my BIG blue pot and freeze half for later. You could easily cut the recipe in half for a smaller crowd. 

This is a great vegan recipe without the chicken. 

 Ingredients: 

4 TBSP Olive oil 

2 Onions diced 

4 cloves garlic minced 

3 TBSP fresh grated ginger (2 tsp dry) 

3 TBSP curry powder 

3 TBSP flour (for thickening but easily omitted for gluten free) 

3 cans diced tomatoes (14.5oz cans) 

2 cans coconut milk (14.5 oz cans) 

1-2 tsp kosher salt 

1 TBSP sugar 

2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed (14.5 oz cans) 

4-5 cups shredded chicken 

8-10 cups fresh spinach 

optional chili flakes 

Instructions: 

Cut four chicken breasts in half lengthwise, immerse in pot of water w/ dash of salt (and chicken stock granules if you like). Bring to a boil with lid on and simmer for 15-20 min. Remove from water when thorougjly cooked, cool on a plate then shred with forks, hands, or in a Bosch for 20-30 seconds. 

Chop onion, sauté in olive oil and pinch of salt on med/high heat until translucent 

Add minced garlic and fresh ginger, cook another two minutes turn heat down a bit 

Add curry powder and flour, stir and cook another two minutes 

Add diced tomato with liquid and coconut milk, stir well to incorporate 

Add the salt and sugar (taste and adjust), turn down heat and simmer 10 minutes 

Add chickpeas (drained and rinsed) and shredded chicken 

Add spinach and cook until heated through and spinach is wilted

 Notes: Serve over Basmati or Jasmine rice

Broccoli Chicken Casserole

Broccoli Chicken Casserole

2 pkg frozen broccoli (but of course, fresh is better

2 ½ C diced cooked chicken

2 cans cream of chicken soup

Cook 2 pkg frozen broccoli according to directions.  Drain and cool.  Put in bottom of 9x11 glass baking dish.  Place over broccoli about 2 ½ C diced cooked chicken.  Sauce: 2 cans cream of chicken soup, ¾ C mayo, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2/3 tsp curry powder, cooked carrots.  Pour sauce over chicken.  Sprinkle top with ½ C grated cheddar cheese.  Mix ½ C bread crumbs with 1 Tbsp melted butter and sprinkle over mixture.  Bake 30 min at 350.

Country Captain

One 2-3 pound frying chicken
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 Tblspns butter
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup finely diced onion
1/3 cup finely diced green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 Tbspn curry powder
1/2 tspn crumbled dried thyme
One 16 oz can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
3 Tbspn dried currants
Blanched toasted almonds

Cut chicken into small pieces.  Wash and pat dry, coat
with a mixture of the flour, slat, and pepper.  Heat
the butter and oil in a large skillet; brown the
chicken on all sides.  Remove chicken and add the
onion, green pepper, garlic, curry powder, and thyme
to skillet.  Stir over low heat to loosen the browned
particles.  Add the stewed tomatoes.  Return the
chicken to the skillet, skin side up.  Cover and cook
slowly until tender, 20-30 minutes.  Stir the currants
into the sauce.  Serve accompanied by almonds.
Serve over egg noodles or pasta.

Notes - 
When I made it the other night I used two boneless
skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks and then
cooked them as suggested.  I might use three or for
breasts next time.
As per your Mother's wise advice regarding sauce, be
it any kind, make three times as much as it says.  The
recipe is meant to present the chicken as the main
feature of the meal with a bit of sauce over it.  When
Susie made it she thought the "serve leftover sauce
with noodles" advice sounded better, so that's how I
make it too.

Enjoy.


p.s. from Jessica
These instructions are from Susie via email sent to me 23 February 2008, with further notes I added in an email to Maren on 10 March 2008.  That's just two days after little Jonah turned five years old.  He is approaching nine this coming March.  Time rules us all.
The first time I had this dish I was lost in the divine deliciousness of it.  The ingredients are simple and few, but the flavor is unique and powerful.  I have made this several times when we have company and plan to serve this to the lucky missionaries tonight.  
Love and miss you all.

Marybeth's Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 cups chicken broth
10 oz. frozen green peas
4 cups cubed cooked chicken

Dumplings:
2 cups Bisquick
2 tsp. dried basil
2/3 cup milk

In a large saucepan, saute onion, celery and garlic in butter until tender. Add flour, sugar, salt, basil, and pepper; cook a couple of minutes to cook the flour. Add broth. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat. Add peas and cook a few min, stirring constantly. Stir in chicken. Pour into a greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. For dumplings, combine Bisquick and basil in bowl. Stir in milk with a fork until moistened. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto casserole (12 dumplings). Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cover and bake 10 minutes more or until dumplings are done. Serves 6 to 8.

My notes: I think I quadruple all the wet ingredients and that might make just a little too much, which I put in an 8 x 8 pan. If you follow the recipe as written, you'll have a lot of biscuit and not much of the soupy stuff. Experiment to see how you like it, but I would at least triple the wet stuff. If I were closely guarding the family exchecquer, I might experiment with more broth and make it more soup-like and serve it in soup bowls. But if you want it how I have done it, quadruple the wet stuff.

Wait a minute. . . don't I add cooked carrots to the wet stuff? I think I do. And you will want to cut back on those peas. Quadruple everything BUT the peas. And add carrots. Then see if you think it can handle some more peas.

Cheddar Chicken

I got this recipe from my friend Lori's recipe blog, and even though I don't eat chicken, everyone I've ever made this for loves it. Tender, juicy, and flavorful (or so they tell me, since I don't think I've tasted it). And it's a piece of CAKE.

Credit: Lori Frost {adapted from a recipe by Jane Walsh}

Ingredients:

20 buttery crackers {ie Club}, crushed to make about 3/4 cup
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I usually do 8-10 chicken tenderloins instead of breasts; Kevin liked it better because you get more bites with the crispy cheesiness that way)
4 T butter, melted

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the crackers, cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper.
2. Dip chicken breasts in the melted butter, then in the cracker mixture. Coat well. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet.
3. Top with all the remaining cracker mixture and drizzle with the remaining butter. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is golden and cooked through.

Kathy's Country Casserole

2 cups small shell pasta, cooked and drained
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, cooked and drained
2 cps shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup french-fried onions
2 cups shredded chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. black pepper (use a bit less)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine everything in a large bown, reserving half the cheese and half of the onions for topping later.

Spoon into 9 x 13 greased pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Top with the remaining french fried onions and cheese and bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 more minutes.

Katie and Jess wanted this recipe so I posted it here. I'd give it a B -- not wonderful but easy and something you could take to someone when they need a dinner.

Chicken Breast Supreme

12 half boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4 c flour

2.5 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1/4 c butter

2 tsp cornstarch

1.5 c half and half

1/4 c sherry

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 c swiss cheese grated

.5 c parsley, chopped

Mix flour, salt, and paprika in a bowl. Coat chicken in flour mixture. (Mom finds that it actually requires much more of the flour mixture than the recipe calls for.) Brown chicken in butter (again, usually requiring more butter than called for). Add a 1/4 c water and sherry and simmer 30 minutes covered. (Mom never uses the water: just enough sherry - again, more than called for - to keep the bottom of the pan moist so the chicken doesn't dry out or get overly brown.) Remove chicken from pan and arrange in 9x13 freezer and oven dish. Mix cornstarch in 1/4 c cream, stir into drippings. Cook over low heat, stirring. Gradually stir in remaining cream, zest (which mom has never used but it would be extra lemony if you did), and lemon juice. Cook until thick. Pour over chicken and freeze. Defrost. Bake, covered, 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, bake a few minutes more to melt cheese. Garnish with parsley (Mom has never used the parsley but thinks it's a good idea to make the dish more attractive).

Serves 12

Obviously you can leave out the freezing part if you want to eat it immediately, but it's good to know that this makes a great freezer dish. When making it you could make two pans, one for dinner that night and one to freeze for a future date. Yum. I'm making it tonight and my tummy is rumbling just thinking about it.