Coconut Curry Chicken

This is a recipe I tore out of a Rachel Ray magazine years ago...it's simple and distinctive.
(the original recipe can be found here)

• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• One 13.5-ounce can coconut milk
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds), cut into strips
• 2 teaspoons five-spice powder 
• serve with rice

Heat about 1 T of olive oil in a sauce pan.  Add 2 tsp curry powder and cook until it smells delicious (a minute or so)

Add the can of coconut milk and continue to cook (stirring occasionally) so that it reduces by about half.

Meanwhile, cut the chicken into strips (cut across the grain), toss with 2 tsp 5-Spice Powder, salt and pepper...stir fry in olive oil.

My kids don't like the spice powder (which I found in the oriental section of our grocery store)....so I divide the chicken in half and cook half with about 1 tsp spice and the other half with just salt and pepper.  Also, I've found that I really like carrots with this recipe.  The sweetness of the carrots is a nice contrast to the spice and curry.  AND you have a veggie built in!  In this case, I'm using julienne-cut, but halved baby carrots are great too.

By now, the coconut milk will have been reduced to a nice sauce.  You can mix it all together, or serve separately over rice.  (I like Basmati)

I usually don't care for leftovers, but I love this for lunch the next day.  I toss it all together and heat up on the stove, fried rice style.