Crock Pot Chicken and Bok Choy

I wasn't sure what tonight's dinner was going to taste like. It was definitely what you'd call experimental. I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually pretty good. I had to find something to do with my bok choy that I got in my organic goodies box this week. When I found something that could go in the crock pot, that was a bonus. The crock pot has got to be one of the most fabulous inventions ever. The only thing I had to make extra was a side of rice.

Chicken and Bok Choy:

• bok choy - chopped (I used one whole head, it was large, not baby bok choy. You could use baby too, you'd just have to use more of it.)
• 1 large green pepper - chopped, sliced, or diced
• 1 pound chicken breasts (I actually used 1.65 lbs, or 3 breasts)
• sea salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (I used turkey broth, because that's what I had in my freezer from Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys. Vegetable broth would work too.)
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp ginger
• 1 Tbsp red curry paste (see below)

Chop and throw the bok choy and bell pepper into the crock pot. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and arrange on top of the green stuff.

In a bowl, mix broth, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger and curry paste. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you get started late, you can cook on high for 3-4 hours.

Curry Paste:

I was going to just buy curry paste. Honestly, I wasn't quite sure what curry was. I got to the store, and read the ingredients on the jar. That's what I do. I don't count calories, but I do read ingredients. I was surprised to find that it was really just tomato puree and a blend of spices. I could have looked online to find a recipe, and I'm sure could have found one. However, I had some surprise guests this morning and just wanted to get done. I remembered the best I could from the jar at the store, and just kind of made it up. I ended up with slightly more than a Tbsp when I was done. I took about 1.5 Tbsp of tomato puree, 1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric, and 1/4 tsp chili powder. I'm not sure if it tasted like curry paste or not, because I've never used curry paste before. It was good, whatever it tasted like.

Coconut Rice:

This is the part of the meal I was really unsure about. I've never cooked rice in anything but water before. Two cans of coconut milk seemed like a lot of liquid for one cup of brown rice. I cooked it anyway, and prayed that it would turn out. It did, for the most part. Only a little bit of the rice stuck to the bottom of the sauce pan and overcooked. The rest of the rice was just fine. It was more moist than plain rice, though. It really was almost like a rice pudding, but not quite that liquidy.

My 12yo devoured the rice and wanted seconds. He wasn't a big fan of the chicken but did eat it. The 8yo had a pear. I can't wait until he outgrows this phase of not liking everything. Hubby and I really liked all of it. I am not a big fan of cooked green stuff, but the bok choy was quite tasty. The rice in coconut milk was really sweet, and almost could be eaten for dessert.