Coconut Basil Chicken

2017 Update: Due to a problem with Photobucket, see here, there will be a lot of recipes without photos. I will be slowly redoing the recipe pages, as best I can, but many other posts will be impossible to replace. I’m doing this in my own time, while continuing to update the blog with new recipes and posts. If you’d like to donate, any amount appreciated, you can do so here. The site will always be free, the recipes will never be locked behind a paywall, but this is a lot of additional work. I’m not demanding or begging, just putting it there so if you feel like repaying my hard work you have that option. I don’t make any money from the site, all that I do here is to help others, I couldn’t charge for that.

Red Rubin, Blue Spice and Lemon basil.
 

It’s hot and I’m starting to miss the days of rain based gardening. Joking of course, but a little light rain wouldn’t go amiss. Poor Jack is starting to melt slightly. I’m still pondering about the grow your own herb garden guide, problem being I keep forgetting to write anything down and consequently I forget it all. We’ll see how things go, no promises, but if I do it I’d like it done well. That all assumes anyone would be interested, there are no doubt an abundance of guides already available out there. I’d like to share a little something, nothing extraordinary, just a slice of life with multiple allergies and intolerances, not that I’m complaining, well I would if you’d let me. I was fortunate to win a voucher for Aldi and they happen to have a gluten free list on their website. Foods that happen to be gluten free but aren’t marked as such. There are barcodes and it’s kept up-to-date, really useful. You can imagine my choices were limited, I opted for nuts and sesame seeds. That should keep me in cheap nut and seed butters for a while. So I have to make the trip there by bus. Thus the “fun” starts. I can’t eat or drink, with the exception to some soft drinks and soda, so I have to plan ahead. How much time would I be spending up there? What should I eat before hand and how much of a drink should I bring? (I dehydrate easily) You can see how this goes. It’s a great deal of work and keep in mind this is just a bus trip to do some shopping. A holiday would be so far out of the question I couldn’t even think of it. It’s  a sad bit of truth, but it’s my life. I didn’t choose to be like this and thus I can only live as much as I can within my limitations. I admit I almost went on the defensive in this ramble, attacking the questioners, but why bother? Believe  it or not. The good will accept and understand as best they can., the others will, well, bite me. Okay, recipe time.

It’s so green! A nice green, not sno…erm…*Flees*

Now what can you do with basil? Why make pesto! Which I also did.I used Brazil nut for a change. They’re really delicious roasted. I had to use nine grams of parsley to bulk it up, but that’s why it’s handy to have a lot of parsley growing. It doesn’t seem to flower when left there. Then again, all pesto and nothing new makes Jack a dull boy, no comments about my already apparent dullness, snarky reader. So I looked up a lot of recipes and found this a straightforward recipe, that uses a lot of basil. I cut this down to a quarter and it still used a wealth of basil. (I keep calling it pesto like my nephew, he loves my pesto and asked me to grow “pesto” for him) The rest is fairly basic and it does seem like it might jar, it is eclectic,  but the end result worked really well. You can really taste every element while they also work in harmony with one another. It’s a little on the light side, I had no vegetables at hand that I could add in. The original uses carrot, but I’d have liked sweet potato. Maybe next time. One warning: Don’t use too much oil, I had to to fry the chicken, but when you add a lot to coconut milk it remains separate and is unpleasant. Also: Don’t boil it, the coconut milk may split and, again, unpleasant. I just used a blender to mix it all up, I rinsed it out with a dash of water, waste not want not profligate reader, and tossed that in too. So, if you can get, or do have this much basil to hand, or foot, I won’t judge, then maybe you’ll give this a try. I enjoyed it and if I end up with way too much basil, no such thing, then I may come back. I’m still searching for new recipes to use these herbs, still in the garden, too often these days, but the sun is unforgiving and plants need their nurture. I almost lost my sunflowers, thankfully they’re okay. So you’ll see me when you see me. I’ve also been notified that I’ve reached 100 followers and 1337 (Really? How old are we, WordPress?) likes. Um, wow, thank you everyone. This really means the world to me. I’m just one person doing my own thing, that it resonates with others on this scale is tremendous. Please stick with me, we’ve got a long way to go still. Until later, take care.

The coconut milk makes it surprisingly creamy.

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts, Cubed
160ml Coconut Milk
25g Fresh Basil
1/2 Tbsp Fresh Ginger, Grated
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Lime

Spice Blend

1/4 Tsp Turmeric
1/4 Tsp Cumin
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 Tsp Sea Salt
1/8 Tsp Cinnamon

Method

1. In a bowl mix together Spices and Juice from half the Lime. Add Chicken and stir until completely coated. Place in fridge and marinade for an hour.

3. Blitz together Basil, Coconut Milk, Garlic and Ginger and the rest of the Lime Juice.

4. Heat 1 Tbsp Olive Oil in a non-stick pan on a medium heat. Add Chicken and cook until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

5. Add Sauce and let warm up (Don’t boil!). Stir everything together. It should take around 10 minutes to thicken and reduce. Adjust cooking time to preference.