Red Curried Chicken

I do like the ease of a rotisserie chicken, in part because there are always leftovers! Here's a delicious way to use up some of that left over chicken. If you don't have rotisserie chicken, any cooked chicken will do. I used a mix of both dark and white meat, but use your favorite, or whatever you have available. 

Ingredients:

Sauce:
1tbs red curry paste
1tbs grated ginger
1 tsp fish sauce
7 oz light coconut milk
1tbs lemon juice
2 stalks lemongrass, cut into two inch lengths

1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic,  minced
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and sliced on the diagonal
1/2 cup chopped butternut squash
1 cup leftover (rotisserie) chicken, shredded
1/2 cup Thai basil, chopped

2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions: Heat the sesame oil in a non stick skillet until hot. Add the onion, garlic, pepper, carrot and squash and cook until the onion begins to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix the ingredients for the sauce while the vegetables are cooking. Pour the sauce over the vegetables and continue to cook until the carrot and squash are tender, about another 5 to 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and cook until warm. Add additional coconut milk if the sauce gets too thick. Remove the lemongrass stalks. Serve over rice, topping with Thai basil.

Serves 2, easily doubled

Stealthy Cooking Tip: I grow Thai basil and lemongrass in my herb garden, both because they are easy to grow and because they can be difficult to find and expensive in the grocery store. If you can't find lemongrass, it can easily be omitted, or you can use a little lemon peel. Thai basil has a distinctive flavor so do take the time to search it out and try it, at least once.. However, it can be substituted with an equal amount of regular basil.