Recipes I make on repeat

Thai-style Basil Chicken

Ground chicken has become a favorite new protein for me—it's easy and there’s zero waste. I’ve been making this Thai-style Basil Chicken from Serious Eats' "Eat for Eight Bucks" series. While inflation means the ingredients (ground chicken, fresh vegetables, lime, and Thai basil) cost closer to $17 now, it is absolutely worth it. Full disclosure: this is excluding the big thing of Costco basmati, Red Boat fish sauce and Sriracha that are already in my kitchen. It tastes great the day of and makes wonderful leftovers.

You can find the recipe here: https://www.seriouseats.com/eat-for-eight-bucks-gai-pad-krapow-thai-basil-chicken-recipe

Another winner is the Chana Masala recipe on NYTimes Cooking. It’s satisfying, inexpensive comfort food that uses accessible pantry spices (turmeric, cumin, coriander, and chile powder). I use canned tomatoes and skip the fresh chilis and cilantro. The key is slowly cooking the garlic, ginger, and onion before adding the spices and tomatoes. You can garnish with garam masala or leave it out. Up to you. Enjoy with microwave Basmati Rice or the Spinach Turmeric Potatoes from Vij’s.

If I may be so bold as to share a cooking tip … Something that I’ve learned along the way is that if you get impatient or distracted and your heat is too high and it looks like your alliums might burn, you can throw a splash of water into your pan while you move it off the burner. Stir while it is off heat and let the water evaporate off, then move it back onto the burner and get back to the Maillard reaction. I’ve salvaged a LOT of dinners this way.

Lazy Chana Masala, modified from nytimes

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Add oil to a Dutch oven on medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and shallot. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the shallot softens, 5 minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes, cumin, turmeric, coriander and chile powder. Continue stirring for 30 seconds so the spices don’t burn. Add the tomatoes and their juices and salt. Increase the heat to high and cook, stirring often, until the mixture is jammy, 5 to 7 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Stir in the chickpeas and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the mixture has thickened slightly, 5 to 7 minutes. With the back of a spoon, smash some of the chickpeas against the inside of the pot to thicken the mixture; continue smashing until it reaches the desired thickness.

  3. Step 3

    Sprinkle with garam masala and top with cilantro. Enjoy with microwave Basmati Rice or the Spinach Turmeric Potatoes from Vij’s

Ingredients

Yield: 4 servings 

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil 

  • 1 tablespoon microplaned garlic 

  • 1 tablespoon microplaned frozen ginger

  • couple shallots, peeled and finely chopped

  • red pepper flakes

  • couple grinds of black pepper grinder

  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin

  • ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander

  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri or other hot red chile powder 

  • 1 (15-ounce) can of good quality canned tomatoes

  • Maldon salt to taste

  • 2 (15-ounce) cans of chickpeas, drained

  • 2 cups unsalted chicken or vegetable stock, or water (I like it with better than boullion chicken)

  • ¾ teaspoon garam masala 

  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems

  • Basmati rice for life

Summer fruit is the greatest

Erica Orr