Butternut squash curry (paleo)
Ok so gather your cast of characters.
Protein- i used 1.5 lbs of chicken chopped. But you can use whatever you want!! Or no meat at all if you want to be vegan :)
Veggies- I used a head of broccoli (stem included) and asparagus cut into bite sized pieces. I also used 1 diced shallot. Once again you can use whatever veggies you want. Zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper...whatever you have (in my opinion...some people like to stay authentic but I use whatever is in my veggie drawer!!). And you will need half a butternut squash cut up into medium sized chunks. These will be boiled and purred for the sauce, so the size really doesn't matter.
Spices- curry powder,cardamom, garlic powder and salt.
You also need coconut milk and coconut oil. I have no idea what category that fits into. Get the full fat kind. It's the best :)
Ok, so fill a pot with water and add butternut squash and let that boil till they are fork tender. While that is boiling sautée your shallots in some coconut oil along with a pinch of your spices ( apparently this is a method that allows your spices I bloom, I learned that from Michael symon on the chew). Add chicken and stir fry that for about 5 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pan and add the broccoli and a pinch of salt. Micheal symon says adding salt with every ingredient brings out the sweetness in the veggies. Cook that for a bit and then add the asparagus. You want to wait till you are closer to being done to add the asparagus because you don't want it to overcook. There is nothing worse then mushy asparagus...except world hunger. Add the asparagus and stir fry it for a couple minutes. Then add the chicken back. At this point I think I actually turned the stove off because I didn't want the asparagus to overcook.
Now your butternut squash should be done by now so drain it and transfer to a food processer. Add a can of coconut milk, a spoonful of curry powder, a pinch of cardamom, a shake of garlic powder, and some salt. Do you like my measurements? This really is to taste and I think would be hard to ruin it. Also, if I wasn't cooking for my husband I would add some fresh (or powder) ginger. But alas he doesn't prefer gingery tasting things so I performed the selfless act of leaving it out. And if you have a similar living situation as me you will have a 15 month old who will demand that you feed her some of the solid coconut milk. Ok, so purée all that goodness and then give it a tast and add whatever you want. Once you have the flavors down add it to your chicken and veggies and bring to up to heat for a few minutes.
This is such an amazingly delicious and creamy sauce. If you want to be super indulgent you can serve it over some white rice, or like we did, you can have it with some cabbage "noodles". I just thinly sliced cabbage and sautéed them in some coconut oil. I will be honest though and say they did not resemble noodles like the internet promised. They just tasted like cabbage and that was fine with me :)
As long as we se being honest here, this was a little annoying to make because it requires a good 20 minutes of me standing at the stove which my angelic 15 month hold hates. She spent the entire time asking politely (ha!) to stir the pot, or it have a snack, or she was just pulling every wash cloth out if the drawers or just sitting at my heels crying...sigh...cooking with toddlers is not fun. I cant wait till she is big enough to stand on a stool and help but until then I will continue to make pretty basic meals that don't require tons of time and effort. This also produced more dishes then I prefer...but it was so good I didn't mind waking up at 6 before my baby was up to wash the dishes.
Let me know if you try it!!
Comments
Post a Comment