Thai Chicken Curry

(adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Food Made Fast: Weeknight)

This is a pretty neat cookbook. Joef got it for me a few years back for my birthday, and it's perfect for my style of cooking - fast, and not too many ingredients. If something takes more than 1/2 an hour to make, it had better be a special occasion, or something I can just leave on the stove for a couple hours while I go about my business.

Pasta is my favorite "fast" food (and favorite food in general, really...and pretty much my whole diet), but when it comes to weeknight cooking, I default to pasta, perhaps, too often. So I was excited to try this recipe, and it was really yummy, and fun to make.

The cookbook gave this a "30 Minutes Start to Finish" rating. I'm going to have to disagree. There was a lot of prep involved, which took about 20 minutes on its own, and then there was the actual cooking, another 20 minutes or so. Still, not bad for a meal that looks and tastes pretty fancy. I especially liked the crispiness of the green beans.

I'd make a few modifications next time (reflected in the instructions). It called for two limes. It was just too limey. And I couldn't find Thai red curry paste, so I used red curry powder, which was probably not an ideal substitute, although it worked. Finally, I got panicky at the end that it wouldn't be enough sauce, so I added the whole can of coconut milk (as opposed to 1 cup), and then doubled the broth, fish sauce, and curry paste. (Even with that doubling, it was still too limey.) Of course, then it was really brothy.

So, let's see if I can reproduce this:
1 lime
1 package (1-1.5 lbs) boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp peanut oil (careful, the flash point on this stuff is intense - lots of bubbling and popping)
1/4 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1.5 tbsp Thai red curry paste (alt. if absolutely necessary, red curry powder)
1-2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
2/3 - 1 1/3 cups chicken broth
1-2 tbsp Asian fish sauce
6 green onions, including white and tender parts, sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil (Thai if you can get it, which I couldn't)
Steamed brown rice, for serving (1-2 cups)

Grate 1/4 - 1/2 tsp lime zest and squeeze 1/16 - 1/8 cup juice (like 1/2 a lime, maybe 1 whole lime, depending on what you want). Set aside. Cut the chicken into thin strips or cubes and season with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until golden. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add the green beans to the wok and cook, stirring frequently, until they start to get tender and a little golden/crispy. Transfer to the plate with the chicken.

Stir the curry paste into the pan over medium-high. Stir in the coconut milk, broth, and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer and stir, scraping up any browned bits on the pan. Stir in the lime juice and zest.

Add the chicken and green beans back to the pan and stir to coat with sauce. Simmer until the chicken is opaque throughout. Stir in the green onions and basil, then serve over rice.