First of all, I’ve got to say, “YAY for wonderfully sweet husbands!” Because, by some miracle, Dan was able to help me fix my blog so that the whole lot of you, fifteen in all who have accidentally come to visited my website can, if so inclined, FINALLY subscribe to my blog! He did this out of his desire to procrastinate the kindness of his heart even though he was studying for his finance final.

Okay, on to the REAL content.

I’m not much of a cook. I’d like to think it’s because I haven’t put much effort into it. I keep telling myself that one of these days I WILL bring myself to cook all our meals for a month. Part of the difficulty is I have a completely illogical fear of sharp things, so it makes the whole slicing and dicing thing quite the adventure. It also extends the time it takes to prepare a meal to two or three times longer than ANY recipe should take. Not to mention, I’m such the perfectionist that cooking just stresses me out. Really stresses me out. When I started cooking, I’d do my share of yelling at the food and then go off and cry when trying to make dinner. Thank goodness, I have a patient husband who knows how to “maintain” (in the words of Chandler Bing) a very high-strung person cook. I want everything to be perfect, to look perfect, to taste perfect. For those who say, “Oh yes, I love cooking. It relaxes me.” I have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. It’s physically impossible for me to imagine.

Despite my fear of knives and my absolute sloth-like cooking pace, I do manage to cook every once in awhile. I’m thoroughly delighted and thankful for Real Simple because their recipes ACTUALLY are simple and so very pretty. (A special gratitude to my mother-in-law, too, for giving me my yearly subscription to this magazine every Christmas.) I’m MUCH too easily enticed by their beautiful recipe layouts. In fact, I’m a little embarrassed that I hardly touch my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that I registered for when I got married. It’s because the wonderful little cookbook notebook I’ve put together chock full of Real Simple recipes I’ve cut out of my subscriptions and archived in plastic page protectors, has pages and pages of GORGEOUS pictures.

Now that I’ve added every caveat known to man about cooking, I wanted to include this particular recipe that I’ve used time again and again. Anytime we’re invited to a potluck, are called to cook for company THIS is THE recipe I make. So if you live in the middle of nowhere and know me, chances are you’ve eaten Real Simple’s Chicken Curry with a few substitutions. Actually it’s REALLY only one little substitution. I know, I know you hate seeing the italicized with a few substitutions because I know I do. Anytime I’d go to all recipes and check out the five star dishes, I HAVE TO look through the reviews. Every single time a reviewer wrote, “Oh, this is sooo good,” it would always immediately follow with BUT I added this or I changed that or instead of this I’d use that, I left out blah, blah, blah. The thing is, every reviewer would change SOMETHING. So what am I supposed to think? “HOW AM I GOING TO MAKE THIS FOOD THE BEST IT CAN POSSIBLY TASTE IF EVERY SINGLE PERSON CHANGES THE ORIGINAL RECIPE TO SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT?”

HOWEVER, with my substitutions the Chicken Curry tastes AMAZING, if I do say so myself. I should add that when I make this recipe with the heavy cream it calls for it tastes (to me anyway), exactly like butter chicken from the Wonderful-Indian -Restaurant-I-Went-To-While-I-Lived-in-Seattle-That-I-Can’t-Possibly-Remember. (If there are any Indians who make this dish and think I should be dragged out to the street and shot because it tastes NOTHING like authentic butter chicken, please forgive me.) Every time Dan or I made it, people loved it. They asked for the recipe. OR they were being really, really, REALLY polite.

Chicken Curry from Real Simple
with my substitutions italicized AND a few of my strike-throughs *blushes*

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons curry powder * 3.5 oz. Golden Curry Sauce Mix (mild, medium hot, or hot)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooked white rice
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn or ~1/8 c.? dry basil (I approximate)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) almonds, roughly chopped because I don’t like almonds

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Cut it into 1-inch pieces and place in a bowl. Sprinkle it with the curry and cinnamon, toss, and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and zucchini and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Add the broth, cream, salt, and pepper (and curry). (Breaking the curry in the “along the perforation” will make it easier to stir it in. Make sure to stir in well.) Bring to a gentle simmer. Return the onion and zucchini to the skillet and heat until the chicken is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.

Divide the rice among individual bowls, top with the curry, and sprinkle with the basil and almonds.

Tip: You can vary the ingredients depending on what you have on hand. Consider substituting coconut milk for the cream (makes it less creamy, more watery, but still tastes GREAT and it’s less fattening), eggplant for the zucchini, cilantro for the basil, or cashews for the almonds.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

FAT 46g (sat 22g); SUGAR 3g; CALORIES (WITHOUT RICE) 591; PROTEIN 34g; CHOLESTEROL 188mg; SODIUM 860mg; FIBER 4g; CARBOHYDRATE 14g

Real Simple, JULY 2006

ENJOY!