Coconut Chicken

I can literally drink the sauce out of the pan with this one (and have). Serve over rice. Got this recipe again from Real Simple Mag. This is the easiest and closest recipe that I've found that reminds me of the Panang Chicken Curry we used to get back home in San Diego. It's got a definite Thai flavor. The only exotic thing in this recipe is a "Thai Chili" and "Fish Sauce". Fish sauce should be pretty easy to find now at your local grocer and Thai Chili is pretty vague. I used a skinny red one that I saw at the commissary and went with it. This time I just used the crushed red pepper. The crushed red pepper is milder, so if you have a sensitive tongue don't use the Thai red pepper. If you can't find either chili or fish sauce, just omit them. I used about half of the salt that is asked for, since the first time it was a little salty for my taste. For those of you squemish about fishy taste, fish sauce, much like oyester sauce, does not taste fishy!

That being said, if you don't want land grazers or meat on your dish or in your tummy, I think you can easily replace the chicken with extra firm fried tofu or a nice white fish or shrimp even. Also, I always cook up all four chicken breasts since I love to have this for lunch the next day.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half lengthwise (or just a tablespoon of pre-minced-jarred garlic)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or 1 sliced small red Thai Chili
1 tsp. kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (14 ounce) can of regular or light coconut milk
Shredded zest and juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp. Thai fish sauce

Using a rolling pin or the flab end of a meat hammer, pound the chicken betwenn a sheet of syran wrap until they are uniform thickness. Heat the oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium high heat until the oil shimmers and the garlic browns. Add the chicken breasts and cook until golden, 3-5 minutes on each side. Add the salt, pepper, coconut milk, and lime zest and juice. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 3 minuts longer or unitl the chicken is fork-tender. Remove the chicken to a platter and keep warm. Increas heat to high and boil the sauce until thickened or syrupy. 3-5 minutes. Whisk in the fish sauce and pour the sauce over the chicken. Garnish with cilantro. Serves 4.

Nutritional Info (not including rice and used with light coconut milk) Calories: 252 Cholesterol: 78mg Calcium: 53mg Sodium: 992mg Fiber: 0g Iron: 1mg