Chicken [or Tempeh] and Broccoli Curry with Coconut Rice

I recently celebrated my 29th birthday! Mark jokingly said "I guess this will be the first of many 29th birthdays".  Ha! I think I'll be okay with proceeding into my 30s, but let's not rush anything!

For my birthday dinner I decided I wanted this yummy broccoli tempeh curry that I had made before but for some reason never posted to the blog. I KNOW I bought the tempeh at the store, but when it came time for us to cook this meal we couldn't find it anywhere! And I mean anywhere. We both searched the refrigerator, then the freezer, then all the cupboards, then the shopping bags, then even my car... nowhere to be found. So we decided it never made it home from the grocery store. Luckily I had some chicken in the freezer so I decided to just substitute the tempeh with chicken. Still tasted great! So moral of the story is this recipe works well with chicken or with tempeh!

This meal consists of coconut rice topped with chicken and broccoli tossed in a delicious (and pretty healthy) homemade tomato/coconut curry sauce. The sauce is relatively quick to make and I found that overall there was less chopping of ingredients than in some recipes. Had we not spent 15 minutes looking for the tempeh, it would have been ready quickly! Just start cooking your rice first and everything else will be done when the rice is done.

I have a rice cooker and just threw the broccoli in the top of the rice cooker to steam while I cooked the chicken. I forgot to set a timer so I overcooked the broccoli a bit. It still tasted great, but it's better when the broccoli holds its shape better.

I really like the flavors of this dish. If you make it, I definitely encourage you to make the rice as well! I used black rice (I found it in bulk at Costco and we are loving it), but brown rice works too.

Chicken [or Tempeh] and Broccoli Curry with Coconut Rice

serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:

Coconut Rice

• 1 cup black rice (or long grain brown rice)
• 1 cup canned lite coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Chicken [or Tempeh] and Broccoli Curry

• 2-3 bunches broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 8 ounces tempeh, cubed OR 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (depending on if your tomatoes are unsalted)
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (don't drain)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup (or more as desired) lite coconut milk (use the same can that you used for the rice)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Start by cooking the rice.  Combine all the rice ingredients in a small saucepan (or rice cooker). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25-35 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let rice sit, covered, at least 10 minutes until ready to serve.
2. Meanwhile, steam or saute broccoli until tender (don't overcook!). Run under cold water to stop the cooking and set aside.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add tempeh or chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through and lightly browned. Remove from pan to a plate and set aside.
4. Add remaining olive oil and butter to the skillet and turn heat to low. Once butter is melted, add onions and cook until soft and slightly brown, about 5 minutes.
5. Add cumin, curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne. Stir to combine.
6. Add in salt, tomatoes, and water. Stir to combine and cook for about 2 minutes.
7. Transfer onion/tomato mixer to blender. Add 1/4 cup lite coconut milk to blender as well. Blend until thoroughly pureed. Add more coconut milk until desired taste/consistency is reached.
8. Return pureed curry sauce to skillet. Add chicken/tempeh and stir to combine. Cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes until chicken/tempeh is hot. 
9. Add broccoli and stir to combine. Cook until broccoli is warmed through. 
10. Remove from heat and serve over coconut rice.

recipe slightly adapted from edible perspective