I’m currently having a love affair with Thai food.  It’s one of my favourite cuisines out there.  It’s not only incredibly tasty but also very, very healthy.  It is one of the few cuisines that takes most of its flavour influences from pastes made from all natural ingredients; usually spices and herbs mixed with shallots, garlic, and ginger.  Couple that with a coconut base and you have food that is as good for you as it is tasty, a perfect mix in my book! 

Thai One On Tonight: Perfect Pad Thai

I’ve had the great fortune to spend some time in Thailand studying cooking and ingredients and have been experimenting in my kitchen ever since.  Most of these ingredients can be found in any supermarket these days.  I use chicken breast here, which makes this quick to get on the table and pair it with a mango salsa, which adds a sweet kick and a bit of heat.  This is one of my favourite go-to recipes; quick, easy and healthy which puts it in my recipe book of ‘keepers’.  Try it out, your family will inhale it!

Thai Style Chicken Breast with Zesty Mango Salad

Ingredients

For chicken
4 chicken breasts
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp crushed coriander seed
2 cloves garlic
1 large piece ginger
2 tbsp minced lemongrass
1 lime
1 tbsp fish sauce
salt to taste

For mango salad
1 mango, slightly soft but not yet ripe
1/2 Bermuda onion
1/2 bell red pepper
2 tbsp cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 lime
1 tbsp cane sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

For chicken

Butterfly the chicken breast.  This will help you to cook your chicken breast quickly and evenly while keeping it moist.

Season with salt, pepper, and about 1/3 of the coriander, turmeric and curry powder.

Mince the garlic, ginger and lemon grass and set aside.  I find a rasper works best to mince the ginger while a garlic press is my choice for the garlic.  For the lemongrass, I usually look for containers of minced lemongrass in the frozen section of my local Thai or Asian supermarkets and keep it on hand in the freezer.  It usually has a lot more flavour than buying the stalks.

Toast the rest of the spices in a hot frying pan. 

Add the coconut milk and mix with the spices.

Add the garlic, lemongrass, ginger, lime and fish sauce.

Add the chicken breast and reduce the heat to medium.  Cook on one side for about 5 minutes and then turn and cook for another 7 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve immediately.  Sauce should thicken up, pour over the chicken and serve with the mango salad.

For mango salad

Chop mango into approximately 1 square centimeter pieces.

Dice pepper and onion.

Mince cilantro and garlic. Combine.

Mix dressing: salt and pepper, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, cane sugar and cayenne pepper.

Pour over salad and let sit for about 5-10 minutes until flavours combine.

Here are a few of my other favourite recipes for you to try:

Pan Seared Crispy Pasta with Sweet Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Spinach, Sweet Potato and Walnut Salad