Grow. Swap. Share

Hey everyone! Today I am participating in Grow. Swap. Share. blog swap. I am really excited  to be paired up with Shatzi from Love And Laundry.  I'll be over on her blog today guest posting about my Cheesecake Burritos. I am so happy to have her here as my guest today! Be sure and stop by her blog. Her Stromboli looks amazing! Welcome, Shatzi!

Hi! I’m Shatzi and I blog over at Love and Laundry.  I’ve had a family blog for years, but there seemed to be no place for all of my many projects. So, I started Love and Laundry where I share everything from cooking, gardening, crafting, kid stuff and everywhere in between! I was really excited to sign up for the Grow, Swap, Share blog swap and I was even more excited that I got paired with Leslie. All of her recipes look so mouthwatering.  She reminds me of why I love cooking so much.
Today, I’m going to share with you one of my favorite recipes: Chicken Curry with Rice. 
When I was a college freshman, I knew nothing about cooking.   After eating mainly Ramen Noodles and Pasta Roni for months, I decided I needed to expand my cooking repertoire. Luckily, I had some pretty awesome roommates.  Two of them were US Citizens, but lived in Japan for high school.  They had so many fun things to teach us all.  One of my most favorite things was when one of them would make Curry for everyone.  Until that point, I had never even heard of Curry.  Now I know that a lot of people are scared to try it because curry can be spicy.  But, that’s not completely true.  Just like with every other spicy food, you can also make it mild.  And it is so delicious.  To me, curry is the perfect comfort food. Just like pot roast and mashed potatoes.  I also love it because it can stretch really far and feed a huge crowd with no problem. 
My method is super easy. Apart from chopping up vegetables, it is so simple to throw together. And this is the secret:


Golden Curry Sauce Mix. I have not come across a store that does not carry this in their Oriental Foods section. Even Wal-Mart has it.  This stuff is awesome!! It mixes with your meat and veggies to make a thick curry sauce.  It pulls this dinner together in no time! Plus, if you like food with a little bit of kick, it also comes in Medium and Hot.

Want to make a dish of your own? Here’s what you need:


The cool thing about this recipe is that you can completely customize it. Don’t like bell peppers? No problem. Leave them out. Huge carrot fan? Add some extra. There really is no set ratio. I usually just throw in what I have.
First, you need to get your base ready. For the meat,  I cut up about 3 chicken breasts into cubes (you can also sub for beef). Dice up the onion. Then, mix the chicken and onions together and fry them in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or whatever cooking oil you prefer). Fry them until they are good and cooked.



Meanwhile, chop up your other veggies.
When the chicken and onions are thoroughly cooked, add all of the other veggies plus 3 cups of water.


Cover that and let it boil for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make your rice.
After the chicken and veggies have been cooking for 15 minutes, remove the lid. There should still be quite a bit of water. DO NOT drain the water. It took me quite a few times of making this to be okay with leaving the water. I always felt like there was too much and the finished dish would turn out watery. The first few times I decreased the water, and I can tell you from experience, the water is good, so keep it in the pan.
Open the box of curry sauce mix and add the cubes to the chicken and veggies.


Slowly cook it over a low heat and stir the curry in. It really only takes a few minutes before the cubes melt and create a gravy out of the leftover water.


When it’s thick, just serve over a bed of rice. I love this because you can dress it up and serve it with a salad, or use it as a stand alone dinner. Either way, it’s delicious!