Why is the last day the hardest? It’s Saturday and I haven’t yet made it to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping, so while we do have all the ingredients for dinner tonight the fridge is pretty bare. At lunch time today I thought I was going to break down! There was no leftover chicken for salad and even the salad supplies are running pretty low. Jason had eggs for breakfast (surprise, surprise), but my bowl of bananas and berries with coconut yogurt was long gone. But when you are about to cross the finish line failure is not an option, so I went to the fridge and found we still had two Italian sausages and I browned those in a little olive oil while I made a salad with the last of the romaine and the mustard shallot vinaigrette from the other night. And you know what? It was good! And Jason was so happy because number one, lunch, and number two he did not have to run out and get us tacos! Because in all honesty, when the fridge is bare at lunch time that is usually what we do. And even though tacos from El Roy’s are an inexpensive lunch it still costs 45 minutes of our day to go and get them. He was much happier to finish up pruning our plum tree while I made lunch. It felt like one more win on our last full day of the Whole 30.
When I got ready to make dinner tonight I pulled out everything for the curry. I had been planning to use coconut oil to cook the chicken, but Jason and I have discovered that avocado oil is our new favorite neutral oil so I decided to use that. My sister Hilary is doing a ketogenic diet right now and she has found coconut oil can add a little coconut flavor to whatever you are cooking. Clearly that would not be an issue here, I’m putting a whole can of coconut milk into this dish. But if you are looking for a neutral oil that can take high heat try avocado oil. It is going to be a new pantry staple around here.
I was inspired to make a Thai curry after that delicious Thai Red Curry Chicken Soup we made a week or so ago. So I bought a jar of Thai green curry paste and used the stir fry skills I have picked up over the years to come up with this recipe. It would be great over coconut or steamed rice, but I did a LOT today and I was not up for making coconut rice. Next time I will probably take the time because there is a lot of yummy coconut curry sauce in this dish and some rice to soak up the flavor would be nice.
Sizzle the ginger in avocado oil 
Add the chicken 
And cook until chicken is not pink 
Add onions, bell pepper, and garlic 
Cook until onions start to soften
Add carrots and cauliflower 
Green curry paste and coconut milk and stir to combine
Chicken & Veggie Curry
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1" chunks
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper diced
- 2 cloves garlic pressed
- 2 carrots peeled and sliced
- 1/2 head cauliflower cut into florets
- 3 tbsp Thai green curry paste
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 1 zucchini sliced
- 1 yellow squash sliced
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tbsp Red Boat fish sauce
Instructions
- Heat avocado oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add ginger and sizzle for 30-60 seconds, then add chicken. Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
- Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic and stir to combine. Allow onion to soften slightly, about 2 minutes. Add carrot, cauliflower, and curry paste and stir well. Add coconut milk and stir until coconut cream has melted. Reduce heat to medium low and cover.
- Cook until carrots and and cauliflower are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add squash, lime juice, and fish sauce, stir well. Cook until veggies are soft and and chicken is cooked through, 3-5 minutes.
- Serve with lime wedges and garnish with green onion and cilantro if desired.
Well, that is a wrap for the true Whole 30 for us! Tomorrow morning Jason will be eating oatmeal for breakfast and I’ll be having a glass of wine while I watch the evening news. But I do have plenty more Whole 30 recipes coming your way! Reintroduction will take me an entire month, and even after it is over it is my intention to keep the majority of my diet low carb and clean this coming year. See you in February for the new Laylah’s Lovin Oven with lots more healthy dinner ideas as well as a mix of indulgences. Ford and Jason are ready for me to start baking again, so I promise to include some Valentine’s Day treats for you all soon!