Rotisserie Chicken —> Chicken Curry with Vegetables

I've never bought a rotisserie chicken! 😯

I was hungry while shopping recently and kept smelling something WONDERFUL! I followed my nose right to it. I'd been looking at skinless-boneless chicken breasts that looked great, but really expensive. THIS was only $4.99!!! I was sure the sign was wrong and it would ring up at $4.99 / pound since that's about what those breasts cost and they were uncooked. At that point, I was prepared to pay it though, the scent was heavenly! Got it home and found it was a 5-Pound Chicken - for $4.99!

We had part of the chicken on Sunday, when I had my granddaughter and her family over after church. It was excellent, and there's still SO much left! Today I decided to turn some of this into curry. The bones, skin and cooking juices, that were inside the container it was sold in, will become bone broth and a simple Chicken Soup.

Slice or chop, then sauté the first group of vegetables, for 10 minutes. Add the next group and continue to simmer and stir over low-medium heat until the carrots start to soften, another 10-15 minutes. Keep covered between stirs.

2T coconut oil
2 sliced carrots
6oz. sliced celery
8oz. mixed mushrooms
~ (shown in a 1# container, but I only used half)

6 green onions

1 med. purple onion

4 colorful mini peppers

Add the curry, fruit and nuts, and chicken. Bring back to a simmer. Heat and stir 5 minutes, then add the coconut milk, stir, cover and turn off the heat.

18oz. red Thai curry sauce

1c craisins or dried fruit bits

1c honey roasted peanuts

8oz. chicken cut in 1" pieces

13.5oz. coconut milk

Ladle in a bowl, as is for sort of a curry stew. Or serve over rice or pasta. . .Lin

Zucchini and Vegetable Curry

I love zucchini! I recently bought some in its prime. . .3-1/2# of it! I made zucchini fritters a while ago and my family loved them, so that will definitely happen again. For now, I decided to cook some to have over black beans. It was a good idea!

20oz. green and yellow zucchini

8oz. mushrooms - any kind you like

1-2oz. sun dried tomatoes

1/2 lg. purple onion

2-3oz. EVOO

Sauté everything 10-15 minutes, covered, then add:

14.5oz. stewed tomatoes and juice - cut up, whatever seasonings you like. Today I sprinkled on Rosemary Seasoning, and some Vindaloo for a little curry kick. . .Lin

Curried Vegetable Soup

2 med. carrots

6 celery stalks

1 sm. onion

3T EVOO

1/2 - 1t black pepper

Chop, sauté and stir the carrot, celery and onion in the olive oil over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.

Fill a measuring container with 6c of fresh cold water. Sizzle the vegetables until they're beginning to brown then add 1-2c water. 

Next add the ingredients on the white cutting board. . .

The diced / chopped:

~red bell pepper
~big baking potato
~white parts of 1 bunch of green onion
~1-3T curry powder
~1T± Better Than Bouillon - chicken
This is very mild curry powder, so I used 3 tablespoons. Stir and continue to simmer, adding a cup or so of the water, as needed to simmer-steam everything.

Continue to simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for another 15 minutes before adding:
~finely chopped tops of the green onions
~5-10oz. of chopped frozen or fresh spinach
~ I used half of the frozen 10oz. block of spinach shown.
When all the ingredients have simmered together another 10 minutes, use a potato masher to break everything down a little, then stir in the cream soup and bring the pot back to a low-bubble simmer. 

Remove from the heat and stir in:

2t sugar

2T white Balsamic fig vinegar

6oz. of sour cream

- or - full fat Greek Yogurt

more black pepper if needed

Serve in a hollowed out bread bowl or with breadsticks, seedy crackers, biscuits, or French bread. . .Lin

A Southwest-Curried-Up Chowder Revision

When I'm making food, especially for others, I never want to run out with hungry people wanting more. Years ago, back in my late '20's, in charge of coordinating our church's potluck dinners. I delegated for a while, until I realized not everyone had the same food philosophy as mine. A woman I asked to do the main course seriously underplanned. I was horrified. When I approached her, she said, 'They won't starve, there are other things they can eat.' Well, this was the only hot dish and we had enough to serve about half of the people 😟 From then on, she was in charge of finding volunteers to help with kitchen clean-up, after our dinners. When leading people, it's important to observe note their weaknesses and build on their strengths.

There is a downside to this however. Often I'll make way too much of something. Then, so it doesn't go to waste, I often combine it with my dogs' dry food. They love this 'downside!' This chowder has garlic and onion, so that can't happen. Yesterday I had surprise visitors for lunch so I added a can of diced tomatoes to give it a little color and change the flavor up a bit. I didn't realize how much it needed more seasoning however. It was really bland. This morning, I still have a couple quarts left. . .Hmmm, what to do?

I've mentioned before, how by changing the texture and or the flavor palette a bit, can turn anything into something totally new and different. That's what I'm doing this morning. I wanted to add heat, nuttiness, warm spice, smokiness, lemon and coconut. This is the chowder I posted 5 recipes below. In addition to yesterday's tomatoes, this morning I added: 

1T curry powder

1T ground cumin

1/2T Arizona chipotle blend

1t Penzeys Trinidad

1-2t pumpkin pie spice

...salt-lemon-garlic-cloves+ginger

1T frozen, finely-chopped lemongrass

2/3c natural, organic peanut butter 

1 can coconut milk

1 baked, peeled, sweet potato

Stir, then cover and simmer on low until everything is quietly bubbling, for just a few minutes. Hit it with your immersion blender, let simmer on low again for 5 minutes. Check flavors and add whatever is needed: brown sugar? more pepper? ginger? salt? etc.

Since the soup base of this new creation is a couple days old, be sure it comes to a good simmer each time you serve it. It will only keep a few more days. For breakfast today, I had a bowl with a sprinkle of smokey paprika, dots of sour cream sauce, a little dry dill and some macadamia nuts 😁 

Be Creative, try something new when you're bored with a recipe. You eat every day - so - dust off that kitchen - COOK - Have fun with it! . 😁 . .Lin

Goat Meat and Vegetable Curry Stew

2-1/2# smoked goat chops

fresh ground black pepper

3 bay leaves

Put the chops, bay leaves and pepper in a 5 quart pot, and cover with cold fresh water. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook for 2 hours. Scoop out the meat and let it cool an hour. Chill the cooking liquid. When the meat is still just barely warm, separate it from the bone, outer fat and gristle. 

When well chilled, scrape the fat off the cooking liquid (bone broth) and strain several times through a colander, strainer and finally a piece of thin cloth. You'll use some of this to create the sauce for this stew, the rest can be refrigerated or frozen and used in a future soup.

I ended up with more meat than I expected, 18oz, which I put in a narrow, deep container. Then I added 2-3T white balsamic vinegar, 1/3c EVOO, fresh ground pepper, and several good shakes of Roasted Garlic and Herb Seasoning. Stir gently to coat all the meat, cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight, stirring or shaking gently, once or twice during that time.

Put the well marinated meat into a 4 quart heavy-bottomed pot. Sauté just enough to evaporate any remaining liquid and get the meat browned a bit, using a little of the cooking liquid to keep it from sticking. Then transfer it to another clean container. 

Sauce:

1/2 purple onion

3 lg. cloves garlic

1½" cube fresh ginger

1t alderwood smoked salt

1-2T beef soup base

1-2T smoky cumin

1/2T ground cinnamon

1-2T medium curry powder

14oz. diced tomatoes

Combine the sauce ingredients in a blender jar. Pulse, adding 2c of the well strained bone broth, blending it all until chunky-smooth. 

1 purple onion

2 red mini peppers

3 carrots

3 celery stalks

14oz. diced tomatoes

10 little potatoes*

2T EVOO

Peel the onion, scrub the vegetables, quarter the potatoes and cut the carrots and celery in chunky pieces. Add them to the pot with the EVOO. Sauté and stir a few minutes, until the vegetables are snapping and releasing their scents. Pour in the sauce and simmer 30-45 minutes. Check the flavors and make any adjustments.

Add 1 teaspoon of brown sugar to cut the acidity, if you feel that's needed. Stir in the meat, cover and simmer another 10 minutes. Again, check the flavor and add anything you feel it needs. Serve hot and steamy in nice soup bowls. . .Lin

*Potato Options. . .

...Chop and boil the potatoes separately. Mash them, then serve the stew over mounds of mashed potatoes.

...Pour the stew into a loaf pan, top with mashed potatoes and bake until bubbly, like Shepherd's Pie.

...Eliminate the potatoes completely, if you want, and serve this over cooked linguini pasta, or rice.

Chicken and Shrimp Curry

It's been a long time since I made curry.  This started as chicken only, then I remembered I had some good looking, big Argentinian shrimp.  I cut each one in thirds and added them, with the tomatoes, when there was about 10 minutes of simmer time left.

12oz chicken breast or thighs

5 big cloves of garlic - sliced

1/2 med.-lg. onion - 1/4 and sliced

2T olive oil

salt, pepper and curry powder

garlic and onion

3/4c chopped celery

2 seeded, sliced mini red peppers

3-4c fresh cold water

2 apples

2 sweet potatoes

1 sm.-med. head of purple cabbage

6-8oz. shrimp

12-15oz. canned tomatoes

1 can coconut milk - shake well before opening

Cut the fat off the chicken then slice it long and thin, or cut it in 1" pieces.  Sauté this with a little salt and about 1/2t black pepper, and curry powder.  This particular one has great flavor, but it's very mild.  By the end I had used 2T or more and it still wasn't spicy.  After it's had a chance to sizzle a bit, add about 1/4 of the garlic and onion.  

Sauté a couple minutes over med.-high heat, stirring while it begins to brown.  Add the rest of the garlic, pepper, celery, onion and a little of the water, if needed.  Cover and let that simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, core and chop the apples, peel and cut the sweet potatoes and cabbage into chunks.  Add those with more water.

After this has simmered, covered for about 20 minutes, the shrimp and peeled (chopped) tomatoes can go into the pot now.  Once this comes to a very slow bubble, time it for about 5 minutes covered, but stir a time or two.  Last add the coconut milk, combine everything and simmer for another few minutes before serving.  You can ladle this over rice if you want, or just serve as is, in soup bowls.  The 'gravy' thickens a bit, so it's not watery like soup, but not quite as heavy as a stew.  It's not pretty. . .just yummy curry! . .Lin

A 'Grate' Cilantro-Curry Egg Salad

In a medium bowl, GRATE the eggs and combine with these ingredients:

3 hardboiled - steamed eggs*

*If - like me, you've had trouble peeling hardboiled eggs you made a couple days ago and chilled - gently crack them, then gently squeeze them while in a pan of cool water.  Leave them a couple minutes.  The shells will come off so nicely!  In soaking, the water gets between the egg and the membrane, making peeling e.a.s.y. !

1-2t coriander (cilantro) chutney

~ this stuff is spicy--start small

2-3T grated sweet or dill pickle

some finely chopped bell pepper

3 celery ribs - minced-diced

1t med-hot curry powder

1t mild seasoned pepper

3T finely minced chives

mayonnaise**

Gently mix well then chill a half hour or so, to bring out all the flavors. Today I used only mayonnaise, but I've used mayo-sour cream, at about a 50-50 ratio.  **IF I had thought of it, I would have done a mayo-plain Greek yogurt combination today.  Yogurt and curry are a great duo, especially with a drizzle of fresh lime juice!  Today  I used the amount shown, then drizzled in about 1T of pickle juice.  Worked well and tasted spicy and savory 😋

Serve in a pita, roll in a tortilla - add crumbled bacon for a breakfast burrito, make into a soft white bread sandwich -or- my current favorite, spread it on seedy-nutty-grainy Norwegian Crispbread. . .

This was SO good for lunch today!!  Lin

Almond Curry Chicken Salad

⅓c raisins

3-4 green onions

⅓c sliced almonds

5oz. chopped chicken

⅓c mayonnaise

½c sour cream

1t sugar

1t curry powder

½t black pepper

½t pumpkin pie spice

Put the raisins in a small-medium bowl and add 3T hot water.  I just heated up my lemon tea, so I used that.  Let them rehydrate while you slice the onions.  Add all the ingredients to the bowl, mix well.  This can be plated over romaine leaves as a salad, or made into a sandwich or a wrap.  This makes 3 nice size servings. . .Lin

Orange Curry Vegetable Soup

1 med. butternut squash

1 med.-lg. sweet onion

1 med. sweet potato
1 med. red potato
1 purple shallot
5 cloves garlic
3 stalks celery

1 lg. carrot
a little vegetable stock


1t smokey salt
1t turbinado sugar
2T ground cumin
1T curry powder
1T pumpkin pie spice

Chop and combine all the above in a 4 quart pot. Simmer-saute' on low for several minutes until everything's sizzling.  Stir in the seasonings-spices and  begin  slowly adding 4-6c water, a little at a time. Cover and bring to a boil when all the water is added. Reduce heat to a low-bubbling simmer and cook until the celery is beginning to soften. Remove from heat, uncover and let cool 15 minutes.

Blend with your immersion blender, adding 13.5oz canned coconut milk now if you'd like. This time I omitted it since I was cooking for people who prefer it without coconut* This turned out well, and saved a lot of calories, but adding coconut milk compliments the vegetable and curry flavors nicely.

(just before serving, add a dollop of seasoned sour cream if you want. To make this, I add ranch powder, dill and black pepper to sour cream. I've also done this with smokey sea salt, lemon pepper, and dill. -- Eliminate for a non-dairy, vegan soup.). Sprinkle each bowl with a garnish of sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds and dried date pieces. Mmmm, Curry Soup!! . . . Lin

Orange and Green Chicken Curry

2T coconut oil

1# beans cut in 1" pieces
1# lean chicken thigh meat
half of one onion - minced

4 lg. garlic cloves - minced

3 med. carrots - chop in chunks

2 stalks celery - chop in chunks

Combine the above in a heavy-bottomed 5 quart pot, over medium heat.  Stir when the coconut oil melts and everything starts to sizzle.  Saute' and continue to stir frequently.  After 10 minutes or so, add 3 cups of water and the rest of the vegetables.  Potatoes, onions, peppers, and cabbage, all cut into ½-1" pieces.  Take 1-2 big handfuls of kale, strip the leaves from any stems.  Discard the stems and chop the leaves, adding them to the soup pot, along with some chopped celery greens.

Add 1T AROY-D green curry paste, a little more water if needed.  Cover and simmer over low-medium heat, 30-45 minutes.  Stir in the coconut milk and a little brown sugar or ¾-1c of golden raisins.  I believe a good curry needs to be a little spicy, hearty and savory.  But what really makes it z~i~n~g, is to balance that with a corresponding sweet element.  In place of raisins, you could use figs, prunes, or dried papaya chunks.

Let this mixture come to a simmer again, then shut off the heat, keep covered. and on the burner 30-60 minutes.  Stir, taste and make any flavor corrections needed.  The curry flavor wasn't strong enough, so I added 1T of a powdered Asian curry powder I really love.  Remember to Be Creative, Adventurous, and Cook Happy. . .😊. . . Lin

Lamb and Vegetable Curry

1# well trimmed lamb

1T coconut oil

2 big carrots - chopped

1-1½c chopped celery

1 lg. white onion

2 lg. garlic cloves - sliced

1 sm.-med. piece of ginger

1T coconut oil

1 15oz. can diced tomatoes

¼c chunky peanut butter

1 lg. sweet potato

1T curry powder*

1T sugar

8oz. coconut milk

Saute' the lamb until nicely browned.  Water and coconut oil should be absorbed-evaporated at this point.  In a 3 quart pot, saute' the next group of ingredients until their scents are released.  Add a little water, cover and simmer 10-15 minutes.  Put the next group of ingredients in the pot, add the meat, cover and simmer 45 minutes.  Check for flavor and poke the carrots to see if they're done the way you like.  Pour the coconut milk in, stir and bring back to a low bubble.  Serve now, or chill and serve later to bring out all the flavors.  Mmmm Curry!!

*Indian curry is a deep love, and an endless fascination for me.  In times past, and possibly carried through to the present, families in India created their own blend of spices, pleasing to their family.  It became their very own signature blend.  The recipes were passed down from generation to generation and often guarded, with exact ingredients and their proportions a secret!

I first dabbled in curry after the wonderful discovery of cans of AROY-D Curry in an Asian market.  They make red, yellow and green curry sauce to be simmered, combined with meat and vegetables.  The red is heavenly!  I can no longer find this online and I'm not close to any ethnic markets where it's usually sold.  I do have the AROY-D brand of curry paste, sold in tubs.  I have the red, green and yellow-massaman.  There are also wonderful little glass jars of Thai curry paste, found in the Asian section of the ethnic aisle.  Start cautiously with these, the pastes tend to be very spicy.  I also have many containers of curry powders I've found in the ethnic aisles of grocery and specialty spice stores.  The one I used here is one of my favorites.  It's mild-medium and has wonderful flavors.  I just counted - I currently have 17 different curry products, pastes and powders, in my kitchen!

Curry! 🥘 Try it!  Be Bold - Be Creative. . .Happy Cooking! . . . Lin

Coconut Curry Carrot-Sweet Potato Soup

4 sm.-med. sweet potatoes

1 med. purple onion

⅔ med. red pepper

5 cloves of garlic

3 med. carrots

2T coconut oil

1t salt

1t pepper

1t AROY-D curry paste

1t pumpkin pie spice
1" piece fresh ginger

1c coconut milk

Scrub the sweet potatoes and remove any bad spots.  Cut these, the onion, pepper and carrots into 1" chunks.  Slice the garlic cloves.  Put all this in a medium size bowl.  Melt the coconut oil and pour over the vegetables.  Salt and pepper, toss, then put on a parchment paper lined jelly roll pan.  Bake at 400° for about 45 minutes, or longer until the vegetables are browned and soft.  Toss, move around, to re-coat everything with the oil and seasoning after about 20 minutes.

Put the vegetables into a heavy bottomed 3 quart pot.  Add a cup or two of water or vegetable broth, the finely chopped ginger, curry paste and spice.  Mash or blend with immersion blender, to the consistency you want.  Bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes.  Stir in the coconut milk and serve, garnished with a little sour cream, dill and some chopped nuts. . .Lin

Butter Chicken With Vegetables

1# boneless chicken tenderloins

5 lg. cloves garlic - minced

½ green pepper - chopped

6oz. mushrooms - sliced

1 sm. onion - chopped

1-2T butter

1 15oz. jar Pataks Butter Chicken Simmer Sauce

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and saute' with the vegetables and butter, adding a little water or white wine to keep it from sticking.  Let this simmer, stirring often, for 15 minutes.  Add the curry sauce and a little more wine or water.  Stir, cover and simmer another 20 minutes.  Serve over rice.  Mmmm! . . . Lin

Coconut-Ginger-Peanut Lamb Curry

2# boneless lamb leg

2T coconut oil

5 cloves garlic - chopped

1 med. onion - chopped

white wine or water

3 carrots - sliced

½ med. zucchini - chunked

4-5 celery ribs - sliced

1-2T beef soup base

1-2c water

2 lg. potatoes - cubed

2T curry paste

1"x1½" cube of fresh ginger

½-1c crunchy peanut butter

½-1c big golden raisins

6-8oz. coconut milk

Cut the lamb into 1" cubes, cutting off all the fat.  Saute' in coconut oil with the garlic and about ⅓ of the onion, finely chopped.  If there's a lot of liquid in the pot after 10 minutes or so, use a turkey baster to suction that out, straining it and setting it aside for now.  Sizzle and brown the meat, deglazing the pot with a little white wine or water.

When nicely browned, add the first group of vegetables, soup base and water.  Simmer about 15 minutes, then add potatoes, the cooking liquid from before, and everything else but the coconut milk.  Cover and continue to simmer another 20-30 minutes.  When all the vegetables are cooked as you like them, add coconut milk, stir and serve as is, or over rice.  This will be really good now, but even better after chilling and reheating in a day or so.  😋 . . . Lin