151.0...Chicken Tikka Masala

I cooked a few new recipes last month.  A couple were good and one wasn’t. Can’t win them all. One of them that was pretty good and healthy was Chicken Tikka Masala from Cooking Light. I can’t say it’s my favorite Tikka Masala recipe but it was quick and easy and tasty!

Chicken Tikka Masala (Serves 12)

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, March 2014

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

3 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

2 tsp. kosher salt, divided

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup finely chopped onion

3 Tbsp minced fresh garlic

2 Tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger

2 serrano chiles, minced

2 tsp. garam masala

3/4 tsp. ground red pepper

1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock

1/2 cup half and half

2 (26.5-ounce) boxes chopped tomatoes (such as Pomi), undrained

1/4 cup butter

6 cups hot cooked basmati rice

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, and cinnamon. Add chicken to pan; cook 2-3 minutes until browned, stirring once. Remove chicken from pan. 

2. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onion, garlic, ginger, and serrano to pan; sauté 1 minute. Reduce heat to low; cook 5 minutes or until softened, stirring frequently. Add garam masala and red pepper; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add remaining 1 teaspoon salt, stock, half and half, and tomatoes, scraping pan to loosen brown bits. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low; stir in chicken. Simmer 6 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove from heat; stir in butter melts. Serve over rice. Sprinkle with cilantro.

*I made half the recipe but it freezes well if you want to make the whole batch.

Printable Recipe

Tuesday night I want to Darci’s for Bunco. Her theme was “Taco Tuesday” and I definitely enjoyed some tacos and all the fixings!

Check out these Sprinkles Cupcakes that tasted like margaritas:

They had tequila in them and were amazing. I know it sounds weird but they were incredible!

Thanks Darci for a fun night!

Wednesday’s breakfast:

I took the kids to school then went to Orange Theory. I went to an appointment, then met some friends for lunch at Sweet Fin.

I seriously love this place.

Dinner was Chicken Tikka Masala:

Thursday’s breakfast:

After I took the kids to school, I went to a Sculpt class at the gym. I ran a bunch of errands stopping at Napizza for lunch. I ordered the Greek Quinoa Salad with Salmon which is what I usually get.

They’ve recently changed the salad. The salmon used to be served whole and warm and now it’s crumbled onto the salad and way overcooked. The salad used to have kale. I decided that I don’t enjoy this salad anymore with the changes, sadly.

For dinner I made another recipe from Cooking Light for Honey Cashew Chicken and it was super boring and bland so I’m not going to share the recipe.

Friday’s breakfast:

I had a bunch of stuff to do that day before leaving for Palm Desert so I skipped the gym. Before picking up the kids from school, I stopped at Sushiya for lunch. 

We wanted to wait out the traffic so we had dinner at our club before we left. I had a Mushroom, Roasted Garlic and Truffle Oil Flatbread:

Yum!

We arrived in Palm Desert and my brother and his family were already there. We hung out for a bit then went to bed.

For breakfast on Saturday, we went to Manhattan in the Desert. I had the Bacon, Tomato, Avocado Omelet (and added onions and pepper jack cheese) with sliced tomatoes:

We hung out at the house all day. We ordered in from our club for lunch. I had the Greek Salad. 

It was huge so I ate about half and saved the rest.

Dinner was at Shogun. 

I love this place. It usually slow but always so good!

Mother’s Day breakfast was at Manhattan in the Desert again. This time I had two eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns (with sautéed onions and jalapeños) and sourdough toast. Don’t forget the bottomless mimosas!

Lunch was from the club again. Ceviche tostadas: 

We packed up and headed back to San Diego. 

Dinner was at Alicia and Joe’s. They picked up Phil’s BBQ. 

So delicious. A perfect way to end Mother’s Day!

Today’s breakfast:

I skipped the gym because my back has really been bothering me the last day or so.  I took the kids to school, went grocery shopping and came home to get some stuff done around the house. I had the rest of my Greek salad for lunch:

Tonight is a chill night at home. Looking forward to it!

Technorati Tags: Bunco, Chicken Tikka Masala II, Everyday, Manhattan in the Desert, Napizza, Palm Desert, Phil's BBQ, Shogun, Sushiya, Sweet Fin Poke