Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Soup round two for me this week!  Other than being sick, I love making soup because it is easy and makes enough to last a few days.  I’m super busy with school right now so this is definitely needed!  I somewhat based it this on this recipe from The Nourishing Cook.  It turned out really well!

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup
1 can coconut milk
2 C chicken broth
3 C cooked chicken (I used most of a whole chicken I had cooked in the crockpot)
1 bag spinach
1 tsp red chili flakes
salt & pepper
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T coconut oil

Saute the onions and garlic in the coconut oil until onions are slightly translucent and mostly cooked.  Toss into a large pot with all other ingredients and let simmer on low for about an hour.  Enjoy!

Mango Curry Chicken

I have to apologize for the terrible pictures of this, but I was too hungry and didn’t realize quite how bad they were until it was too late!  Despite that, this recipe is too good not to share.  I love Indian because it is so easy.  Once you have all the spices it only takes a little bit to add a lot of flavor to dishes. I got the recipe from this site.

Warning: I was told by a friend that I smelled like Indian food a few hours after I made this so probably don’t hang out in the kitchen while it is cooking like I did!

Mango Curry Chicken

1 lb. chicken thighs
Olive oil
Sea Salt
Pepper
1 T. curry powder
1 slab butter
8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Mango-I used a half package of frozen mango from Trader Joe’s
A large glass of white wine-I used Two Buck Chuck Chardonnay from Trader Joe’s
Parsley

Coat the chicken lightly with olive oil, then season with salt, pepper, and curry.  Heat a little more olive oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat, then add the butter.  When the butter gets foamy, add the chicken.  Cook until it starts to pale, then add in garlic.  Turn down to low-medium (should be gently sizzling) and  cover with lid.  Cook for 20 minutes, then flip over and cook 20 more.

When the chicken is done, take it out of the pan and add in the wine, mango, and parsley.  I let it simmer for about 5 minutes because the mango was still a little frozen.

simmering mango wine sauce

When done, pour over chicken and serve!  I ate it with sweet potato fries, which I thought was a good combo!

the finished product

Spaghetti Squash Caprese Salad

Ever since going primal I have struggled with figuring out what to eat for lunch.  Right now I go home for lunch every day, so I don’t have to be organized, but starting in June I’m going to have to be packing lunches again.

My ideal lunch is something that I can make a big batch of at the beginning of the week and that doesn’t require heating up.  I can only eat so much chicken salad, so will be testing out new recipes for the next few months!

I was craving pasta salad, so I decided to make a healthy version with spaghetti squash instead.  I really liked how this turned out, I will most definitely be making it again!

Spaghetti Squash Caprese Salad
1 Large Spaghetti Squash
1 lb. Chicken Breasts
8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese
2 Plum Tomatoes
4 Cloves Garlic (or less if you don’t like garlic!)
1/4 C. Olive Oil
Fresh Chopped Basil
Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Boil chicken for an hour in water that has been seasoned with garlic powder.  You can cook it however you want, but boiling it is a pretty foolproof way to make sure it doesn’t dry out.

Microwave spaghetti squash about 3 minutes to make it easier to cut.  Split it in half and scoop out the seeds.  Rub olive oil inside each half and bake at 425 for 40 minutes, turning halfway through.

Chop the cheese, tomatoes, garlic, and basil.  When the squash and chicken are finished cooking, let them cool and add them to a bowl.  Add the olive oil and everything else you have chopped.  Toss everything together until well combined.

Drizzle balsamic vinegar over each serving.

This made a fairly large portion-hopefully enough to last for lunch for the week.  Possibly because I didn’t realize until I was checking out that the spaghetti squash was 4.5 pounds!