This is quite the busy day or two. Today, my dad, who lives in Thailand, is coming to visit for 2+ weeks. In fact, TJ is out picking him up from the airport right now. We still had some cleaning to do around the house but I wanted to make sure that we had something healthy and delicious to eat for dinner tonight once he arrived. Not only that, last night, baby O gave us quite a fever scare. Long story short: two days ago, baby O had a fever. Her first time sick! It was quite a high fever of 103.6. Called the docs and because she was acting fine, they just told me to keep a close eye on her. Next day, her temp was 99.1. I figured she was just fine. Later in the day (last night), we took her temperature just before her bedtime and we found it to be 104.9. Eep! First-time mom jitters! Instead of calling the docs (after-hours, so we couldn’t reach them anyways), we just rushed to pediatric urgent care. We gave her a fever reducer and the good doc checked her out. She looks fine. Apparently, it’s just an unusually high fever for a cold virus.
After last night, and because my dad is coming in today, we wanted to make sure we had something quick and easy to cook. Out comes the crockpot. Wait…wait…don’t leave this page! I know, images of 1970s cooking are running through your head and you are imagining tons of sodium-laden condensed soups used. Don’t fear! No condensed soups here! I promise! This recipe really is healthy, easy (5 ingredients or less!), and, most importantly, delicious! Have you ever had those wonderful Japanese curry rice dishes? They’re delicious! We make those often, as well, but when you need something to throw into a crockpot, this recipe is a great quick fix! Now, let’s get started!
What You’ll Need:
2-2.5 pounds of chicken thighs*
1 16-oz jar of salsa
1 16-oz tub of fat-free or low-fat sour cream
2 generous tablespoons of curry powder
A generous heap of minced garlic
What You’ll Do:
Ready for this easy recipe? Spray your crockpot with a cooking oil. Ok – so, I don’t really like to use those cooking sprays, so instead we just use coconut oil (the one from Trader Joe’s is fabulous and cheap) and spread a thin layer with a clean paper towel or brush the crockpot (or pan for other recipes) with the coconut oil. Throw in your chicken.
In a mixing bowl, mix together the sour cream, salsa, curry powder, and garlic.
Once it’s mixed together, throw it into the crockpot over the chicken.
That’s it! Really! Now, just cook that in your crockpot from 4-8 hours. I know, that’s a huge range. If you’re cooking fresh or refrigerated chicken and you want to cook this on high, it will likely be done in 4 hours. Frozen chicken on high will take an extra hour or so. Low heat? Well, then, add some hours to it. Just test the chicken!
*Now here’s my caveat to the chicken (remember I starred it above?). Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs…that will also reduce the cooking time slightly. But if you want something a bit more decadent, leave the skin on and the bones in. Is it any surprise to you that I like my chicken with skin on, bone in? Either way, I promise you the chicken is tender and delicious!
Tonight, we served the curry chicken over rice (brown rice to eat a bit healthier – going to Hawaii in a few weeks!) and some steamed broccoli and cauliflower. The broccoli and cauliflower was just steamed and not all that fascinating, I know. But with a delicious curry sauce like that, you probably won’t need to do much to your sides!
**VARIATIONS**
As I said earlier, skin on, bone in, skin off, boneless – whatever! You decide! Also, if you have some fresh veggies handy, throw in some chunks of carrots and slices of onions. Absolutely delicious!
Baby O loves curry of all sorts (this Thai mama is proud!) so she can definitely partake in this meal, though she didn’t tonight since she is still recovering from her fever. Oh, don’t worry, she will get to enjoy some later in the week, though! I’ll make sure to save her of these melt-in-your-mouth, tastes oh-so-good leftovers.
~ M ~
My husband’s mother was born in Thailand because her parents were medical missionaries! 🙂
I have never had curry anythign before – I need to take the plunge!
Hey, feel free to come by the blog party today (or any day this weekend) and share a link to one of your recent posts with us! http://atlantamomofthree.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/friday-blog-party-and-giveaway-winners-august-30th/
Thanks for the link!
Valerie – I assure you, curry isn’t too crazy! It is quite delicious. There are many, many types of curries, too. So, if you have found one you don’t like, try the next! Some assume that all curries taste the same and that couodnt be further from the truth!