Curry Chicken with Mango Salad

Do you ever come up with a dish based on someone else’s title?

I saw this on EatingWell.com: Curried Chicken with Mango Salad

It sounded really good, really filling, really healthy. And we had chicken, mangos and couscous…why not?

But that’s as far as I got with the recipe from Eating Well. I noticed that the chicken was glazed in a mango chutney and closed the computer. It was time to get creative, even if it isn’t the most authentic curried chicken on the planet. The results? One of Matt’s favorite meals that I’ve made. Surprisingly good. Hope you can use this beautiful, sweet mango fruit in your next dinner!

Curry Chicken with Mango Salad
4 servings  *12 oz. Tofu can be substituted for chicken

1 TB olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 t. + 1/8 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
Dash of salt and pepper
1 cup orange or pineapple juice
1 mango, sliced into bite-sized pieces + 1 mango (for salad)
2 large chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise (total of 1 pound)
1/3 cup honey mustard
2 TB curry powder
1/2 cup rice crisp cereal, breadcrumbs or panko crumbs
2 TB chopped mint

Step One: Make the chutney

  • Preheat oven to 375. In a saute pan on medium-high, heat the oil and then add the onion and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Let heat for 1 minute, or until flakes are toasted.
  • Then, add the red bell pepper and salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes. Then add juice and mango slices, and reduce to medium heat, letting cook for 10 minutes.

Step Two: Make the chicken

Chicken + Tofu
  • In the meantime, mix the honey mustard, 1/8 t. red pepper flakes and curry powder in a small bowl. In a second small bowl, pour the breadcrumbs (or other coating). Dipping the chicken in the mustard mix, roll it in the breadcrumbs and place on a lined baking sheet (use foil with cooking spray or parchment paper). 
  • Bake at 375 for 18—20 minutes, or until crisp on the outside and cooked in the middle. (I turned a piece of chicken over and cut into it slightly to see no pink.)

Step Three: Make the couscous

  • Boil 1 1/2 cups of water in a pot. Once the water is boiling, immediately remove the pot from the stove and add 1 cup of couscous and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork, and add a dash of salt and pepper.

Step Four: Add couscous or rice to a plate and place the chicken on top. Drizzle with mango chutney and serve sliced mango “ball” on the side (see photo below). Sprinkle raw mango with chopped mint. Eat. Be merry.

Mango Salad “Ball”: 
1) Slice one side of the mango.
2) Holding the slice in your palm, slice vertical and horizontal lines into the mango, without cutting through the skin (and cutting your hand!).
3) After cutting, turn the mango inside out…voila!


Happy eating!
Laurel

~Laurel~

Resources for Eating

Do you ever wonder about certain foods, like which one is better over another?


I try to eat how I like to shop–how can I get the most bang for my buck?

=value, satisfaction=


This definitely applies to beautiful shoes, summer dresses, and food. Always food. How can I get the most nutrients, feel the most full, and enjoy the most tastiness? (sorry, terrible grammar) The following are some guidelines that have helped me attempt to understand this crazy stuff we call food. If you have any other resources, I Would LOVE to have them! So please sent them to me, & I’ll add to the list.

Free Resources for (Food) Life:

  • USDA’s Food Commodity Fact Sheets: one-page sheets on all sorts of food, in alpha order. Very helpful when you’re about to go grocery shopping (ex: eating only 1 cup of kale has the same nutrients as one pound of carrots, etc.)
  • Lists of Superfoods (essentially Whole foods) from Food Matters, Dr. Perricone (Oprah), SuperFoodsRX, & WHFoods (my personal favorite).
  • Nutrition Facts: Self Magazine is my main source because you can plug in your recipes and custom foods to find out the nutrition value.
  • Whole Food Meal Plans: Google this. Livestrong has a great resource to get you started, and lots of companies would like to charge you to create custom weekly meal plans for you (which is great), but I’d just dig around on the Internetsss and find what you like, then cook it! (i.e., FOOD BLOGS 🙂 )
  • Mostly, don’t sweat trying to eat 8 cups of greens a day. Eat what you can, eat what is tasty and gives you powerful energy (not that sluggish feeling after eating 8 donuts), and take pride in your body and your health. It’s a lifelong journey to great health, so take it one meal or snack at a time. THIS SHOULD BE FUN. We can all remember that.
  • (I don’t get compensated for mentioning any of these sites…there are many others that are great, but I have just shown you the ones that I use most regularly and have found tend to be really helpful.)

Happy eating!
Laurel

~Laurel~

Valentine…

“St. Valentine” overseeing construction of his basilica

St. Valentine…was his message a myth or a mantra? Can we ever show ultimate love?

Either way, I do love this holiday.

From elementary school crushes and paper valentines with Barbie or Transformers…

Middle school awkward dances and hand-delivered roses and balloons…

To grown-up feelings and intuition that forces us to make our move…

Some people HATE the commercialized, Hallmark-ified, Hershey’s-drowning day. *YES!* It’s a day that America has poured chocolate syrup on, wrapped in a gigantic red ‘new Lexus’ bow, but you know what? It’s still a great idea! I only wish spending a day around the theme of love is each and every day. (Maybe that will be an issue on the next voters’ ballot…)

 Romantic business aside, I love this day for all types of loving friendships and relationships. My heart goes out to the lonely on this day, and I hope they know that I am thinking of them and hope God brings them comfort, especially on this day. We can all find things to be thankful for and people/puppies that we love.

Now on to our evening…

$3! Shhh, it’s a hostess’ secret.
So cute…new haircut and de-bearding!

Matt and I celebrated the end of the day with a little sushi and some good old-fashioned time together.

We had plans to MAKE sushi, but a long day at work meant we ordered a tray of FRESH spicy tuna, shrimp, crab and salmon sushi! $15! I couldn’t believe it.

 For a bit of sweet, Matt picked up some chocolate covered strawberries, and we still had some cake pops to devour.

Sometimes the best things we can do is just sit and relax, enjoying time together and not really “doing” anything! I thank God (and Pat, my mother-in-law) for such an amazing man to be my life partner and best friend. Happy Valentine’s to all! (each and every day!!)

~Laurel~

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