Easy Paleo Coconut Curry Chicken

For those of us who eat cleanly, without touching the packaged/preserved/chemical-ladened foods, we completely agree on one thing - your tastes change. Your taste buds become keenly sensitive (in a good way) to tastes and, what you once would never eat, suddenly becomes quite tasty. Spices and herbs are immediately recognized when you are eating a clean meal (a meal devoid of additives and preservatives) and you are eager to try new things.
I was never a huge fan of curry, but once I began to clean up my palate by preparing and eating REAL food, my tastes changed and I enjoy an authentic, home-prepared curry mix (forget the "curry powder" you buy!). I do use purchased curry powder when I am making quick dishes that need a sprinkling of flavor, but when making a curry dish, this recipe is incredible!

For this recipe, you can use cubed or ground beef, lamb or chicken (I used chicken here).

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp of:
sea salt
ground coriander
ground cumin
ground cloves
ground cardamom
freshly grated black pepper
1/4 tsp of:
chili powder (omit if you do not want heat)
turmeric
ground ginger

1lb protein: choose your meat!

1 lg red onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 c coconut milk (I used the whole can! Make sure it's the authentic coconut milk, not the watered down American version)
3 tblsp fresh basil leaves, torn


Combine spices in a small bowl and set aside.

Saute desired meat until it's nicely browned and cooked through. If sauteeing with heat above med. (I used med-high heat), use coconut oil if think you need some in the pan. Using a cast iron skillet is awesome!

Remove meat from pan and place in bowl. Add onion and garlic to pan and sautee until onions are translucent, being careful not to burn the garlic! When my onions are translucent, I like to throw in about a tablespoon of water to deglaze the pan and the onions are almost caramalized if you do this two times. Mmmmmm.

Add meat back into the pan and add the spices. Stir fry until fragrant - about 1-2 minutes.

Add coconut milk and basil leaves and simmer until the meat is heated and sauce thickens a bit.



I served this over cooked spaghetti squash that I placed in my micro cooker, then shredded with a fork to look just like spaghetti pasta. You can also serve this over steamed green beans, chopped and sauteed spinach, finely chopped cauliflower (or cauliflower "rice").

This dish was bursting with flavor!