Ladies and gentlemen… for the very first time… I’m about to post a semi-homemade dish on here (*gasp*).  No offense to that Sandra Lee lady…  but it kind of goes against my principles to call something a “recipe” when it all comes from boxes and/or bottles.  Yeah, call me a food snob, I’m okay with it. I’ve learned to own it.

But I love this dish and could easily eat it every week… and I get the same response from everyone I’ve made it for (or maybe I should just say, “prepared” it for?) .   And for that reason alone, it I feels highly unfair to keep it from you all. So, at the risk of compromising my “from scratch” integrity – here goes:

Ingredients
(serves 4)
1 pound uncooked chicken tenderloins (either purchase them already cut, or defy Sandra Lee and cut your own)
1 cup cut okra (fresh is best but you can use frozen if you must – but pay attention to prep notes when using fresh)
1 cup whole green beans – fresh
1 cup sliced orange or red bell pepper – fresh
2 tablespoons Patak’s Hot Curry Paste (pictured – use mild if you are not a fan of spicy food).
2 cups coconut milk (Trader Joe’s has a light milk that’s excellent!)
2 cups water
2 cups white rice – uncooked
3 bottles Thai Yellow Curry Sauce from Trader Joe’s (Patak makes good one as well, if there’s no TJ’s nearby)

Preparation
I start with the rice… it can take awhile if not using instant:
For every 1 cup of rice use 1 cup of water and 1 cup of Light Coconut Milk
Bring water and milk to a low boil, then add rice and stir once to mix. Bring rice to a full boil for about 5 minutes, then remove from heat and cover. Let sit for 15-20 minutes until rice is tender. Fluff with a fork. It should be loose and not clumpy like sticky rice.

UPDATE: I made this recipe before I owned an Instant Pot. If you own a pressure cooker like an Instant Pot, I suggest using it instead. With the IP use half a cup of water and half a cup of coconut milk to one cup of rice and cook on high for three minutes with a natural release which should take seven or eight minutes.

Onto the curry chicken:

• Cut okra into 3/4 inch dials. If using fresh okra you should toast them in a dry pan for a few minutes before adding to the sauce. They tend to get gummy and mushy otherwise. Toasting them firms the skin and helps them hold up better.
• Slice bell pepper julienne -style into 2-3 inch long strips.
• Trim your whole green beans (unless you paid the extra cash and bought them trimmed)
• If you bought whole boneless chicken breasts, cut them into tenderloin strips.

Empty two of the bottles of curry sauce into a soup pot. Add the veggies and put on a low heat.

In a large saute pan, empty half the remaining bottle and turn to a medium heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the red curry paste. Add half of your chicken and saute, turning each piece until thoroughly cooked. Go ahead and cut your largest tenderloin open to check if it’s done. Be careful not to overcook or your meat will dry out. Once each piece is done (6-8 minutes depending on size of tenderloin), use tongs and place chicken in soup pot with veggies.  The sauce in your saute pan will have reduced, so add remaining sauce in bottle as well as the remaining tablespoon of curry paste and continue cooking the rest of your chicken. Once all chicken is done and in your soup pot, pour the leftover sauce and bits from your saute pan into the mixture. That adds some amazing yumminess.

Leave your soup pot on a low heat until a slow bubble starts and your veggies are tender (but not mushy).

Your rice should be done by now. For a more refined presentation (as pictured above), take a ramekin or an old butter cup (or something of similar size & shape) and firmly pack it with rice. Flip it upside down on your plate. It should leave a clean solid dome of rice. Drizzle curry sauce over the rice and neatly place a couple of chicken tenderloins and some veggies on top.

For a more rustic presentation, use shallow bowls and scoop a cup of rice with a cup of curry, chicken and veggies on top. It tastes just as good this way!

The Perfect Bite
Of course you want a perfect bite of rice, veggie and chicken together all on your fork. But also make sure you have enough sauce so that you can mix it with whatever leftover rice you have. The curry and rice alone is delicious!

The Perfect Pairing
If you’d like an appetizer for the entree trying pairing it with my Curry Hummus and Naan Bread.Or you can just make the Naan and use it to scoop up the curry goodness. For a beverage, try pairing this with Gnarly Head Zinfandel Old Vine 2007. Lots of plum and berry flavors with a hearty finish. The subtle sweetness will balance well with the savory chicken & veggies, but the strong peppery finish will hold its own against the power of the curry. In my opinion, this wine is best with served with food… its flavors don’t come alive well on their own.

Did You Know?
Okra is native to the Old World tropics (West Africa) and has become established in the wild in some New World tropical areas. It is believed that okra first reached the New World during the days of slave trafficking. The species apparently originated in the Ethiopian Highlands, though the manner of distribution from there is undocumented. Read more here.