A Healthy Chicken Curry

After all, teaching good habits from a young age is not just beneficial for your child’s future but can be fun and enjoyable for the whole family. I want to able to show you how easy it is to make mealtime more enjoyable by cooking as a family but at the same time using healthy, wholesome foods that you can incorporate into your daily lives.

As a nation we are rapidly becoming a fast food nation which is probably driven by our current lifestyles. Always being on the go, wanting something quick, easy and cheap! However, this is causing or could cause a lot health issues, therefore we should be taking a lot more notice of what’s actually on our plates.

Below I have chosen a chicken curry recipe from our current menu. I want to highlight how easy it is to cook a home cooked meal, that’s healthy, especially in comparison to the fat ridden or deep fried fast food that is slowly becoming the norm! By making home cooked meals it enables our children to learn not just about how to cook but skills that they can take into their adulthood and when they have their own families. Not only that, but by getting children involved with cooking and the preparation of the meals, makes mealtime a lot more enjoyable for them and for you too!

Chicken Curry
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast – 500g
• Vegetable Oil – 2 Tablespoons
• Onion (Large) – 1
• Curry Powder – 1 Tablespoon
• Chilli Powder – 1 Teaspoon
• Garlic Puree – 1 Teaspoon
• Ground Ginger – 1 Teaspoon
• Turmeric – 1 Teaspoon
• Coconut Milk – 100g
• Vegetable Stock Cube – 1
• Potatoes – 250g
• Organic Carrots – 150g
• Tomato Puree – 2 Teaspoons
• Chopped Tomatoes – 400g
• Water – 250ml

Instructions:

1. Wash and peel the potato, carrots and onions, and dice them.
2. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until they are soft.
3. Add the different spices and continue to fry for a further 2 minutes.
4. Add the diced chicken breast, and seal the meat.
5. Add the tomato puree and stir, then add the chopped tomatoes and diced carrots.
6. Mix the stock cube into water, and add to the pan, bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Add the potatoes, coriander and coconut milk, continue to cook for a further 20 minutes. (Add more water if needed).
8. Season to taste and serve.

To serve, why not try wholegrain rice.
Wholegrain rice is nutritionally dense compared to white rice as well as adding extra fibre into your diet. If you are worried your children may not like wholegrain rice, try to introduce it slowly into their diets by doing a 50/50 mix with plain white rice. However, if you are feeling daring, why not try cauliflower rice?

Did you know?
Chicken Breast without the skin is the leanest part of the chicken.

Swap!!
Instead of Coconut Milk, you can try other alternatives such as natural low fat yoghurt i.e. 0% Fat Yoghurt. This will reduce the amount of total and saturated fat, but increases the amount of protein, which will leave your children feeling fuller for longer.

Swap!!
Why not swap your Vegetable Oil for either olive oil, or the spray oil, which you can now get from your local supermarkets- These tend to have other flavours such as garlic or coconut. Therefore, Eating healthy or looking for healthier ingredients does not mean you are cutting back on flavour!

Swap!!
Using Garlic cloves instead of puree is a more natural flavour. This will reduce the amount of unwanted ingredients or chemicals manufacturers may have added during production. Garlic has many health benefits such as cardioprotective properties- promote good heart health.