Brazilian Spiced Chicken in Coconut Milk

Change can be a beautiful thing. But, it can also be a pain in the ass.

And whenever I choose (or have) to deal with change in my life: it’s usually both.

See, I just moved into my first real apartment.

Right now, my life is unpacking boxes while listening to Hall & Oates.

It’s lamps with no lampshades and a freezer with no ice cube trays and an unmounted TV and a half-put-together Ikea coffee table.

And it’s kind of amazing.

And last night, I made my one of my first real meals in my first real apartment. 

Now, cooking in a new apartment may sound great, but that’s actually where the pain in the ass part of change comes in.

See, when you’re moving into a new place, sometimes you realize you accidently have absolutely nothing whatsoever that you need to make a meal. No, really. Literally nothing. 

Sometimes you open your drawer to find, well, basically this:

And sometimes you get so excited by the shiny spice-rack thingies at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, that you don’t actually bother to pay attention to the fact that they only have random ass spices like Ground Fennel and, you know, Marjoram. Which... really?

And sometimes the only measuring spoon you have looks like it time-traveled from the 1970s.

And sometimes you realize you don’t have any measuring cups. Like at all.

But that’s okay, because then you maybe get to feel a little like MacGyver when you craftily use Japanese teacups to measure your rice instead.

Then sometimes you go to open a can of coconut milk and realize you don’t have a can opener. And that’s slightly less okay because you are, in fact, NOT actually Macgyver. 

So then you have stop what you’re doing and to go to the grocery store. And swear under your breath the whole drive there. Okay, maybe that last part wasn’t technically necessary...

But I guess change wouldn’t be so beautiful if it wasn’t such a ridiculous pain in the ass some of the time.

And it definitely wouldn’t be as delicious. 

Brazilian Spiced  Chicken in Coconut Milk

(adapted from the recipe found here)
Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 large jalapeno pepper (or 2 small), seeded and chopped

½ teaspoon ground ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes

1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk

1 handful fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the cumin, cayenne, turmeric, and coriander. 

Season chicken with salt and pepper and rub with half of the spice mixture, set the other half aside. 

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken in the skillet. Cook 10 minutes on each side until cooked through and juices run clear. Remove from heat. Once cool, chop into bite-size pieces and set aside.

Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet. Saute the onion for a few minutes then add the jalapeno, garlic, and a ginger and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes, or until fragrant and beginning to brown. Mix in the canned tomatoes and coconut milk, add the other half of the spice mixture and chicken back into the skillet. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Let simmer on medium-low for about 10 more minutes. Serve over rice. Garnish with parsley.