Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner(s)

We know we’ve been a bit behind on the posts lately, blame it on the chaos around Christmas and the regular ebb and flow of life. But I haven’t forgotten you, I’ve been snapping pictures and logging them for just this moment when I could get back, so stay tuned for some frequent posts my friends!

This one is fresh though, just finished the final recipe yesterday and I must say I’m proud! I thought ‘What if I blogged two recipes around the evolution of one whole chicken?’ Now stay with me here… what I mean is, I bought a whole chicken, made a dinner with it, and from the remains, made another different dinner. Not revolutionary, I know, but quite fun.

One $9 whole chicken = more than 7 meals!

Thai Coconut Curried Soup

The weather is getting cooler and calls for soup! This one is super easy, and very satisfying – creamy and flavourful with a little bit of heat. Enjoy!

• 2 14 ounce cans premium coconut milk
• 2 Tablespoons of Thai curry paste  – I used red
• 1 cube of Knor chicken stock
• 3-4 cups of water
• 2 chicken breasts, chopped into cubes
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 can of bamboo shoots
• 1 red pepper thinly sliced (takes a little time but it’s worth it!
• 2 green onions finely chopped (reserve some of the greener parts for garnish)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 Tsp of ginger
• half of a 250g pkg of brown rice vermicelli noodles
• chopped cilantro to taste

Pour all of the contents of the two cans of coconut milk into a large pot on med-high heat with the curry paste. I found two tablespoons provided enough flavour with just a little heat (think of it scaled down from a full on thai curry) feel free to add more or less if desired. Dissolve the chicken stock cube in the water and add to the curried coconut milk (I started with 3 but added the 4th at the end when the noodles had soaked up a lot of the liquid). Once the liquid has reached a simmer, add the raw chicken until cooked, then add the carrot, pepper, green onions, and bamboo shoots, fish sauce, lime juice and ginger. Let simmer until peppers reach desired done-ness (5 mins give or take). Lastly add the noodles (break them in half with your hands, it makes it easier to eat and stir later) and turn off the heat. The noodles should be ready quite quickly, but feel free to let it all sit until you’re ready to eat. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle green onion and cilantro on top.

~Laura

If you feel like adding a few more unique ingredients you can try this recipe from Chef Michael Smith, which I used as inspiration for this one