Crunchy Salty Sweet

Over the past few weeks, behind the scenes, I’ve been working on redesigning my site. Nina, one of my best friends (and super talented visual designer), hooked me up with a design that looks fresh, clean and modern – which is exactly what I was looking for! Luckily, she accepted my payment in the form of treats, but I don’t know if there’s enough peanut butter and chocolate in the world to thank her for taking my design out of the early 90s! 😛 If any of you need design work for a website or anything else, hit her up!

I also wanted to share a really simple and flavorful take on Indian butter chicken with you guys. This is made 100% in the crock pot and literally has like three steps. Put chicken and onion in the slow cooker, mix up the sauce, pour the sauce over the chicken. That’s it!! In a matter of about 6 hours you’ll have a (mostly) healthy meal pretty much ready to go.

No need to worry if you don’t have all of the spices…I know some of them aren’t exactly pantry ‘staples’ for a lot of people. I’d say definitely try to get the red curry powder, since that provides the base flavor, as well as the garam masala and cayenne. The turmeric and curry paste aren’t totally necessary, but do round out the flavors really nicely!

Add the onion into the crock pot. Add the diced chicken on top of the onion.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add in the garlic and ginger. Then whisk in the yogurt, coconut milk, half and half, and all the spices.

Pour the mixture over the chicken and top with a few pats of butter (it is butter chicken after all).

Set the crock pot to low and cook for 6-8 hours. No need to stir, but you can if it satisfies you in the way it also satisfies me!

I sprinkled this with some parsley, and ate it over brown rice with some fluffy pita bread. It would be super delicious with naan bread, or even just as-is with a veggie side if you’re watching the ole carbs.

Enjoy!!

Note – if you accidentally made this too spicy (guilty…) you can tame the heat with some additional greek yogurt or sour cream dolloped on top. If that still doesn’t work, add in some granulated sugar which will offset some of the heat.

---

Adapted from: Half Baked Harvest

Makes: about 5 servings

Prep: 10 minutes, Cook: 6-8 hours, inactive

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, diced in bite size chunks
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
• 13.5 oz lite coconut milk
• 1/2 cup 2% greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 2 tablespoons garam masala
• 2 teaspoons red curry powder
• 2 teaspoons red curry paste
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon cayenne (I used a heaping teaspoon and it was SPICY! I’d use a scant teaspoon next time)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• parsley (or the devils’ herb, cilantro), for serving
• brown rice, for serving
• naan, for serving

Add the onion into the crock pot and place the diced chicken on top of the onion.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add in the garlic and ginger. Then whisk in the coconut milk, yogurt, half and half, and all the spices.

Pour the mixture over the chicken and top with a few pats of butter (it is butter chicken after all).

Set the crock pot to low and cook for 6-8 hours.

I sprinkled this with some parsley, and ate it over brown rice with some fluffy pita bread. It would be super delicious with naan bread, or even just plain!

Enjoy!

Note – if you accidentally made this too spicy (guilty…) you can tame the heat with some additional greek yogurt or sour cream dolloped on top. If that still doesn’t work, add in some granulated sugar which will offset some of the heat.