First Time for Everything

Tonight marks a night of firsts for our family:

• First basketball practice for the kid
• First time the baby tore an entire page out of a lovely picture book
• First time I made - and the boys tried unwittingly - Indian food

To be honest, I can't remember the last time I had true Indian food, so while I know I've eaten it at some point in my almost four decades (!) on this planet, it's not a regular occurrence. And while we're on the subject of "honesty" - I don't really think this recipe is comparable to the type of food one might find in an Indian restaurant. However, because the boys are probably not going to be willing to venture that way anytime soon, I won't have any point of reference on that one.

What I do have a point of reference on is the first time a sitar (popular Indian stringed instrument) was featured on a Beatles song. Song is John, but the sitar playing is all George. Yes people, this is something I know off the top of my head. My Beatles knowledge just runs that deep.

Another confession: When I'm selecting my weekly recipes, I usually don't read the instructions (especially now that I have a blender) except for maybe a quick skim. So, I kind of thought this was a super-fast recipe to whip together quickly on another busy night. Especially because it's listed in the "five-ingredient meals" section of the cookbook. Forty-five minutes later, lesson learned peeps. (To be fair, the recipe does say "45 minutes hands-on time. Doh.)

Indian Chicken & Rice
Source: Clean Eating Classic Comfort Foods (2011)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. tomato paste
• 2 c. chicken broth (used no-salt added)
• 1/2 c. evaporated low-fat milk (used fat free)
• 1 lb chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp minced ginger (used 1/2 - don't love ginger)
• 1/2 tbsp garam masala (used a homemade mixture provided by CE)
• 1/4 tsp salt (skip)
• 1/2 tsp pepper (skip)

Directions:

• In a big saucepan, heat 1 tbsp oil on med-high. Add onion and ginger and cook until onion is lightly browned. Add in garam masala and remove from heat.
• Put onion mixture in a blender; add tomato paste and broth and blend until smooth (20 seconds). Return mixture to saucepan and add milk. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 mins, stirring often. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and set aside. Rinse and dry saucepan.
• Toss chicken with salt and pepper (skip). Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in saucepan on medium and add chicken. Cook through. Add tomato sauce and cook until chicken is no longer pink (approx 4 mins).
• Serve over rice.

Yield: 4 servings (1 c. chicken-sauce mix and 1/2 c. brown rice)
Per serving: 395 cals; total fat: 11g (2g sat, 6.5g mono, 1.5g poly) 40g carbs; 5g fiber; 36g protein; 319mg sodium; 71mg choles

Reviews:
Besides taking longer than anticipated to cook (completely my bad), it was pretty simple to put together - not a lot of chopping or preparing, which I like. It wasn't particularly spicy, but the sauce had a nice flavor. Both boys gave it a big thumbs up. The recipe did make a ton of sauce, so I used a slotted spoon to serve the chicken to avoid over sauciness (a pet peeve of the hubs).

Ranking:
Three Forks

Arty