The rest of you, don’t worry!  It’s good, I tell you — really good!  It makes great use of several sale ingredients, and doesn’t taste a thing like a Lean Cuisine.  Think of it this way:  with the calories you’ll save on dinner, you can justify having a bowl of ice cream while you watch the Olympics or American Idol later on tonight.  I’m just sayin’.  Some of us like incentive plans.

Don’t ask me how the idea of coconut curry got lodged in my head…but I’m pretty sure it happened sometime between 8:45 and 10:00 this morning.  Nevermind that during that time I was perched atop a bike, sweating my face off at the gym.  Thoughts of food know no bounds for this twisted blogger; bizarre cravings pop up at the oddest moments, even whilst spinning.  It’s an illness.  I’m working on it.

Enjoy!

COCONUT CURRY WITH CHICKEN & BASIL

Serves: 4

Weight Watchers Simply Delicious Cookbook, (copyright 2002), p. 96.

• 2 t. canola oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 large), 1” dice
• ½ t. salt
• 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 t. minced fresh ginger
• 1 T. packed brown sugar
• 2 t. Thai red curry paste
• ½ t. ground cumin
• ½ lb. fresh asparagus (on sale), cut diagonally into 1” pieces
• 1 c. coconut milk (Thai Kitchen brand is on sale; find it in the Asian aisle on the bottom shelf) **see note**
• 1 T. fish sauce
• ¼ c. fresh basil (on sale), chopped, plus additional sprigs for garnish

• Hot cooked rice for serving (I love the Texmati that’s on sale this week)

Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet, then add the chicken and sprinkle with the salt (it may be necessary to do this in batches; do not crowd your chicken!).  Saute until browned on all sides, then transfer to a plate.

Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in the same skillet over low heat, then add the onion, garlic, and ginger.  Saute until fragrant and the onions are softened, about five minutes.  Stir in the brown sugar, red curry paste, and cumin; cook one minute, stirring constantly.  Add the coconut milk, the fish sauce, and the chicken; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer (covered) for five minutes.  Add the asparagus and stir to combine.  Replace the cover and continue to simmer for an additional three minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and asparagus is crisp-tender.  Stir in the basil.  Serve chicken curry over rice; garnish with additional basil sprigs if desired.

**NOTE:  the recipe calls for only a ½ cup of coconut milk.  I couldn’t resist…I added a whole cup.  Obviously my version is well over 8 points, for anyone who’s counting!

Well??  Did yah?

You can tell where this is going, right?

I…did such a thing.   And I’m not proud of it.  But I can ‘splain!

My friend Sarah gave away this amazing granola last month for Christmas.  And I didn’t share a lick of it with anyone.  Nope, sure didn’t.  I took my pretty little bag and hoarded it and rationed it and finally ran out of it two weeks ago, at which point I began stalking Sarah by emailing, texting, and voicemailing her until she finally made me a copy of the recipe so that I would get off her back.

I’m certain she had no idea I could be so persistent.

I’m happy to say that I now have a very large quantity of this fantastic granola, and the only trouble is that I can’t stop eating it.  It’s crunchy, not overly sweet, and so versatile.  This morning I used it to top cottage cheese, while the rest of the DamFam had it spooned over yogurt.  I’ve mixed it into Kashi oatmeal and eaten it by the handful directly out of the bag.  It’s a winner.  I pinky swear!

I’ll give you the original recipe here, but I made a few changes for my own batch.  First of all, I halved it.  I also left out the pecans and sunflower seeds, ‘cause my punks don’t like ‘em.  For the dried fruit I used dried cranberries and banana chips only.  Feel free to play around with the recipe; it’s as forgiving as it is outstanding!

Whether you share or not is entirely up to you.  I’ll never judge!

SARAH’S MAPLE GRANOLA

Yield:  16 cups  (this is a lot; again, I halved mine)

• 7 c. old-fashioned rolled oats (McCann’s boxed are on sale)
• 1 c. flaked coconut
• 1 c. wheat germ (find this in the cereal aisle near the oatmeal)
• 1 c. almonds, sliced
• 1 c. pecans, chopped
• 1 c. sunflower seeds, raw or toasted
• ½ t. salt
• 1 c. pure maple syrup (yes, pure – none of that pancake stuff, sorry!)
• ¾ c. vegetable oil
• 1 c. golden raisins
• 1 c. dried cranberries
• 1 c. chopped dried apricots

Preheat the oven to 250.  Combine the oats, coconut, wheat germ, nuts, seeds and salt in a very large bowl.  Mix well.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, oil, and vanilla.  Pour the syrup mixture over the dry mixture, stirring and tossing till everything is very well combined.

Make the cleanup easy on yourself by lining 2 large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.  Spread the granola over the baking sheets.  Bake for 2 hours, stirring mixture after an hour or so.  Remove the pans from the oven and let cool completely.  Transfer the granola to a large bowl and mix in the dried fruit.  Store granola in an airtight container at room temperature.