One Pot Wonders: Healthy Butter Chicken | Lean Coconut Curry | Lean Red Thai Curry

Hey Squadies!The Winter is upon us. And while that means cold weather, snow (for many of us) and short days, that does not mean our bodies stop burning! If you have already embarked on your Lean Journey with our 6 Week Challenge or 90 Day Lean Plan -- Good for you! This is one of the BEST times to get the body moving and start making healthy choices and healthy commitments! Even in these colder months (and sometimes even more so), it is SO important to fuel our bodies with healthy, tasty and nutritious foods to ensure that we are getting the MOST out of each workout and each day!These 3 recipes below will keep you satisfied, nourished and wanting more! All 3 of these recipes are One Pot Wonders where you can put the ingredients in the post or Slow Cooker and BOOM you have a tasty recipe ready to go in UNDER AN HOUR. Make sure you SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW ALONG ON YOUTUBE!!

1. Thai Coconut Curry

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DeNq8_vMvA[/embedyt]

Although comfort food can be super delicious, it isn’t always the healthiest choice. Today’s lean-cipe is filed under the lean approved, healthy AND delicious list and tastes as good as comfort food – bonus! This dish is warm, hearty and perfect for a winter night! Better yet, this Thai chicken coconut curry is ready in just 20 minutes! The flavours from the veggies and spices add both a sweet and savoury touch. You can easily make this dish vegan or vegetarian by substituting the chicken for a plant-based protein such as chickpeas or tofu. You could also substitute the chicken with extra veggies, add more carrots and spinach, or you can add in some veggies of your choice like bell peppers or cauliflower.Thirdly, this Thai chicken coconut curry is naturally low-carb and gluten-free! The chicken breast is packed with protein and is one of the leanest meats you can get. Although it’s super healthy, cooking chicken can be difficult sometimes because it can over cook and become dry. Letting the chicken simmer in the delicious coconut curry sauce not only infuses the chicken with flavour and thickens the sauce, but also helps to keep the chicken moist and tasty. To keep this dish extra lean-mazing try pairing it with cauliflower rice- my go to rice replacement or you may opt to eat it this dish all on its own!

OK, let's see how we make it!

LEAN-GREDIENTS (6 SERVINGS)

• 2-3 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 medium/large yellow onion, diced
• 1-lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut in chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2-3 tsp ground ginger OR 1 tsp fresh ginger
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 13 oz can coconut milk
• 1-1 ½ cup shredded carrots
• 1-3 tbsp Thai red curry paste OR curry powder to taste
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1-2 tbsp brown sugar, optional
• ¼ cups fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• Cauliflower rice (optional)

LEAN-STRUCTIONS:

1. Add oil and onions into a large skillet, sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until onions soften, stir frequently.
2. Add chicken into skillet, cook for about 5 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked
3. Add garlic, ginger and coriander, cook for about 1 minute, stirring frequently
4. Add coconut milk, carrots, Thai curry paste, salt, and pepper, stir until combined, reduce heat.
5. Leave to gently boil for about 5 minutes, or until mixture has thickened slightly
6. Add spinach and lime juice, stir until combined
7. Cook about 1 minute, until spinach has wilted
8. Optionally add brown sugar, or more curry paste, salt or pepper to taste
9. Add cilantro, serve warm Happy cooking Squadies!

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2. LEAN-Dian Butter Chicken

As you all know Squadies take-out foods can be filled with unwanted or non-lean sneaky ingredients, so I figured it would be WAY WAY better to make it myself at home! This recipe I am about to share (just like ALL of the LEANSQUAD recipes) is super easy, super tasty, and super healthy! The best part about this Lean-dian Butter Chicken is that it is so tasty and filling, but also extra LEAN. The entire dish is super satisfying and warming, which is perfect for a cold winter day.First things first, I used a diced-up chicken breast to make sure I had a great source of lean protein and I stir-fried it with a few tablespoons of ghee. The lean-mazing benefit of ghee is that it is packed full of fat-soluble vitamins, islactose free and has a higher burn temperature for cooking! The added lemon juice is agreat wayto jumpstart your digestive system and get the body burning while chowing down/ diving into? on this LEANMAZING dish! Finally, it wouldn’t be a proper Lean-dian dish without a healthy amount of spice! Add a little bit of paprika, curry powder, and chili powder to the party and give your taste buds a little treat while kicking your metabolism into overdrive. After you’re done cooking up the tasty butter chicken, put it over a bed of cauliflower rice to make this the LEANNEST Lean-dian dish you’ve ever tried!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_WPwgoOPPo[/embedyt]

OK, let's see how we make it!

LEAN-GREDIENTS (4 SERVINGS)

• 4.5 tablespoons ghee divided
• 1.5 pounds diced chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1.5 teaspoons garam masala
• 1.5 teaspoons paprika
• 1.5 teaspoons ground coriander
• 0.75 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
• 0.19 teaspoon chili powder
• 0.75 of a 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 0.75 tablespoon coconut aminos
• 0.75 cup coconut cream only the solid white part
• 1.25 tablespoons fresh lemon juice plus more to taste
• 2 tablespoons of curry powder
• Fresh chopped cilantro to top and garnish (Chef’s choice)
• 1-2 bags of frozen cauliflower rice. Cook and Serve

LEAN-STRUCTIONS:

1. Heat up a large skillet until it’s very hot. Add 1 tablespoon of the ghee and spin it around the pan, coating the outside.
   1. Add 1/2 of the cut up chicken and stir fry with the ghee for 4 minutes.
   2. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
   3. Add the remaining tablespoon ghee and stir fry the other half of the cut up chicken until browned.
   4. Remove chicken (you can place with other 1/2) and set aside. Pour out used ghee.
2. Turn down the heat on the pan to medium-low. Add 1/4 cup ghee to the pan and melt.
3. Add garam masala, sweet paprika, coriander, ginger, chili powder, and curry power, and stir fry for 1 minute. Put all of the chicken back into the skillet and mix it around to coat in the spices.
4. Place the tomato sauce and coconut aminos into the skillet and let it simmer. Stir occasionally for 15 minutes. (You’re looking for the chicken to be tender and the sauce to thicken)
5. Finally, add in the LEAN coconut cream and lemon juice and let simmer for 5-10 minutes Add a little bit of salt to taste
6. Serve over cooked cauliflower (green giant is my favourite) rice with cilantro to garnish.

**After you’re finished, place leftovers in Tupperware and store in the fridge for 2-3 days 

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3. Red Thai Coconut Curry

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmm-QibH0hY[/embedyt]

For all the Thai food lovers (and even if you’re not a Thai food lover) this RED THAI COCONUT CURRYIt has a TON of different flavours that come together in one pot which will make your taste buds go crazy! While your mouth is watering, the Red Thai Coconut Curry is also wildly nutritious and ultra lean!! Fuelling your body with super nutritious, but SUPER tasty foods is the name of the game and it’s the BEST way to ensure that eating lean is enjoyable and sustainable!To start, I used red chilli paste, which starts the dish off with a TON of flavour while requiring minimal effort. Also, the red chilli pepper paste is full of nutrients and it has the right amount of heat to ignite your taste buds and immediately kickstart your metabolism! From there, I sautéed a bunch of onion, garlic and ginger to even further set the tone for the dish. By the time I added the chicken and vegetables, the pot was so primed with flavour, I could immediately smell the Leanness!!The other great part about this dish is how EASY and versatile it was to cook. As I mentioned, the red curry paste, onions, garlic and ginger start the dish off right (with not much effort), but when it comes to the “meat of the dish” it is really up to you!! For my Red Thai Coconut Curry, I used a chicken breast (really the only “must” if you want to keep this a “Chicken Curry”) bell peppers (a variety of colours) and some Zucchini! However, if you’re looking for a little different flavour or trying to clean out some extra vegetables in the fridge, feel free to add a few different ones – Chef’s choice!Finally, to top things off, I used a number of different sauces & spices to get the taste buds popping and the metabolism rev’d up! A little sweet chilli Sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, some basil and a liberal dose of Siracha to add the heat that Brodie, Hudson and I love!

LEAN-GREDIENTS (4 SERVINGS):

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound chicken breasts sliced into nice Lean Chunks
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp red chilli paste
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced and chopped into 2” pieces
• 1 orange bell pepper sliced and chopped into 2” pieces
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp Asian/Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
• 2 tbsps low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsps lime juice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp of dried basil
• A dash of Salt and Pepper
• A dose of Sriracha

Spice Toppings:

• Lime juice
• Basil
• Cilantro

LEAN-STRUCTIONS:

1. In a non-stick skillet, add lean cubes of chicken along with red pepper paste, and onion. Cook over medium heat until chicken is no longer pink. After chicken is no longer pink, add in chopped bell peppers, zucchini, ginger and garlic. Sautée for 1 minute.
2. Add half the can of the coconut milk. Mix remaining coconut milk with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and add to skillet along with all remaining ingredients
3. Bring all the LEANNESS to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes (or until the sauce thickens). After curry is at desired thickness, Discard the bay leaf.
4. To finish it off, add basil, cilantro, lime juice and sriracha for some extra flavour!!
5. Serve overtop of Cauliflower rice and ENJOY!!!

There you have it Squadies! 3 recipes that are great options for meal prep, will keep your nourished, satiated and happy! If you cook them, tag me @leansquad and make sure you SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW ALONG ON YOUTUBE!!