Thai Green Curry

Seems like with the busy lives we've been leading lately, we can't get enough vegetables in our diet. We're constantly craving them even though we eat a green salad with veg almost every night. The nice thing about a curry dish is that it is highly customizable to your own tastes in seasoning, spiciness and ingredient list. We also use this dish as our "clean up" meal to salvage any vegetables we've got leftover. The green curry paste is use is available at most supermarkets in the Asian foods section and contains the typical green chili, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, shallot and lime. The other nice thing is that it can also be a gluten-free or vegan dish very easily. We try to utilize seasonally-available vegetables from our farmer's market as much as possible. Right now it seems like almost everything is in season so the possibilities are seemingly endless.

If you prefer, once you heat the curry paste and coconut milk in your saucepan or wok, you can combine all of your remaining ingredients and simmer until cooked through. I like to saute the chicken first to brown it and then make my curry paste and add my vegetables. Experiment with different kinds of vegetables, we've also used Bok Choi, asparagus, purple cauliflower and also added cashews and peanuts for more crunch and flavor.

2 Tbsp green curry paste

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast - diced

1 14.5oz can coconut milk

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

2 cups broccoli florets

1 cup green beans (fresh or frozen)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

In a large saucepan or wok, simmer one can (14.5oz) of coconut milk with 2 Tbsp of of green curry paste over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the chicken breast and vegetables to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are fork-tender but still have some bite. Serve over rice (I prefer brown rice) with soy and top with fresh cilantro. Serves 4.