Chicken Curry with Peas and Peanuts

Curry sauce is one of my favorite things to have for dinner. There are so many variations from weather to used chicken or shrimp, to what variety of veggies should be included in the sauce. This is the first time I have made my curry sauce with peas and peanuts, and it turned out very nicely. Next time I might try adding some broccoli or bamboo shoots as well.
To get really great curry sauce, the chicken needs to be moist and full of flavor, so I highly recommend marinating the chicken in Italian salad dressing for about two days. I like my curry sauce fairly thick, but if you like it thinner simply add more milk, and more flour for a thicker sauce. To get that authentic curry sauce taste you must use coconut milk, do not substitute with normal milk.

4 tbs olive oil
1 Large Onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
2 chicken breasts (pre-marinated)
1/4 cup curry powder (plus a little for the chicken breast)
1 tablespoon cumin (plus a little for the chicken breast)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
freshly ground salt and pepper
3-4 tablespoons flour
1 can light coconut milk
1 cup milk (I use 1 percent)
3/4 cup thawed peas
1/2 cup peanuts (toasted)
.

Heat a large, deep pan on medium-high with two tbs olive oil. Add chopped onion and fry, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes. In another pan add the rest of the olive oil and fry chicken on medium heat, season with a little curry, cumin, salt and pepper. Add garlic to onions and fry 3 more minutes, then add curry, cumin, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste. When chicken is cooked almost all the way through, remove from heat, cut into small pieces, and add to rest of sauce, fry for a few minutes.
Whisk in flour and let cook another two minutes. Add coconut milk and 1 percent milk. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and cook until desired thickness on medium heat. Right before serving stir in peanuts and peas. Serve with brown rice

Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki and Greek Salad

It's Greek night at the Covingtons! These meatballs have a great flavor, that goes great with the yogurt Tzatziki sauce. The light Greek salad balanced out the meatballs nicely. I was going to serve this meal with Pita bread, but decided to try it with a great bread known as Naan, it's actually Indian, not Greek, but went great with this meal.

Greek Meatballs
1.5 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 an egg
3/4 pound lean ground beef
3/4 ground pork
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3/4 cup feta
1 tbs oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Stir together breadcrumbs and milk, let stand ten minutes. Puree onion, garlic, and egg. Mix breadcrumbs together with onion/garlic puree. Add ground beef/pork, salt/pepper, feta, oregano, and red pepper flakes and form a uniform mixture. Roll into about 40 meatballs and broil on a lightly sprayed baking sheet at 425 for about 14 minutes or cooked all the way through and brown on top.

Tzatziki
3/4 cup 2 percent Greek yogurt
1/2 English cucumber, peeled, seeded, and grated
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3 tbs finely chopped mint
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. And Woo-laa: Tzatziki!

Greek Salad
1 Roma Tomato
1 cucumber
6 olives, cut into slices
Crumbled feta cheese
8 leaves romaine lettuce
small bunch spring mix lettuce

Dressing
6 tbs olive oil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Cut up veggies and mix together in a large salad bowl. Whisk together all dressing ingredients, and pour on top (you won't need all of it).

Serve meatballs with Tzatziki, Naan, and Greek Salad.