Thai Chicken Red Curry Recipe

I am in love with Thai food.  Red curry flavor to be exact.  I have a favorite Thai restaurant that I like to visit here in St. Louis, but I'm sure it isn't a very healthy dish.  Since I'm doing Weight Watchers, I decided I needed to figure out how to make a lighter version of my all time favorite red curry dish.

I substituted light coconut milk in the recipe as well as brown rice instead of white rice.  In the restaurant, they serve this with a huge scoop of rice, but it is the red curry sauce I'm in love with anyway, so I cut the rice portion way back to save some points.

Thai Chicken Red Curry

prep time:  5 minutes ~ cook time:  20 minutes

makes:  4 servings ~ WW PP: 7 points

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp red curry paste
1 (15 oz) can light coconut milk
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup bamboo shoots, drained
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1/3 cup fat free chicken stock
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 white or yellow onion, diced
1 tsp hot chili oil (may substitute olive oil if desired)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced thinly
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup instant brown rice
1 cup water

Directions:

1.  Place red curry paste and coconut milk into a medium saucepan and mix well.

2.  Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.

3.  Add basil, bamboo shoots, fish sauce, brown sugar, and chicken stock.

4.  Simmer an additional 10 - 15 minutes.

5.  On medium high heat, saute chopped peppers and diced onion in a skillet or wok that has been lightly coated with chili oil.  Do not over cook as these should still be slightly crisp.

6.  Remove peppers and onions from pan and add chicken breast pieces sprinkled with black pepper.  

7.  Saute until chicken is cooked through.

8.  Add peppers and onions back to the skillet.

9.  Pour curried coconut mixture over the chicken, onions and pepper mixture.

10.  Cook instant brown rice in water per package directions.

11.  Serve 1/4 cup cooked brown rice along with 1/4 of the Thai chicken red curry mixture in a bowl.

Adjust the amount of red curry paste you add to this recipe based on how hot you like your food.  I would consider this dish to be a on the low end of the medium hotness scale made as outlined above.  You may add less if you prefer a mild flavor, or may wish to add more to make this hot.  I like mine extra hot, but I prefer to make it according to the recipe, and add some red pepper paste to my serving to warm it up a bit.  Sriracha sauce would taste nice with this as well.

This dish is also excellent with sliced beef or shrimp as a substitute for the chicken.