Today I gave the kids another mystery box.  This one had chicken breasts, ginger, green curry paste, coconut milk, garlic, onions, tomatoes, spinach, bok choy, avocado, angel hair pasta and whatever else they wanted to grab from our pantry.  (I am trying to get our family to cook and eat outside our comfort zone).  I told the kids they had to use the chicken and at least one ingredient they had never used. I also told them they had 5 minutes to do research on the computer or in our cook books to come up with ideas.  Both kid’s results were delicious, and very different.

The ingredients, including chicken, green curry paste, ginger, coconut milk, tomatoes, lemons, garlic, onion, bok choy (sorry it was still in fridge during photo)

Alex: For dinner I made Thai chicken with coconut milk along with added tomatoes and avocado – green curry sauce on top. I also cooked bok choy in vegetable oil and garlic as a side. I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and cooked them in oil.  Then I added the coconut milk, a little green curry sauce and lemon juice.  I chopped up the tomatoes and let them cook in the sauce for a while and at the very end I added the avocado.  I served it over angel hair pasta.  For the bok choy, the recipe I looked at said to use vegetable oil to cook it in so I did, and it was good, but next time I am going to use olive oil (NOTE: we made it the next night with olive oil and garlic and it was much better!)

Chicken in coconut milk

Cooking the Bok Choy

Final coconut curry dish

Final Bok Choy dish

Max:For Dinner I made Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Fresh Herbs and Ginger. I first seasoned both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and placed them skin side down in the pan.  I cooked them for approximately 5 minutes on each side,than transferred then to a plate.  I then added lemon juice to the skillet, and scraped up any browned bits that cling to the pan with a wooden spoon. I added the chicken broth and ginger, and brought the skillet to a boil. After turning off the heat, I added the basil and thyme to the pan and swirl the pan to combine, and spooned the herb sauce over it.
I used pasta as a base for my meal, and placed the chicken on top of it.

Chicken in the making

In the kitchen

Final Chicken with Ginger and Herbs Dish