Wasabi Prime: yams

Welcome Home, Wasabi! Honestly, I'm lookin' a tired mess, so you'll forgive my lack of Island vigor to immediately post stuff related to the sights, sounds and tastes of my visit with family in Hawaii. Much Mahalo Plenty props to those who were keeping up with Tweets. I promise to do a proper post about this visit soon, but until then, I'm in lazy cook mode. For that, I rely on the trusty slow cooker and a bottle of premade curry sauce thrown together with some basic ingredients. Lazy Wasabi's Chicken Curry, here I come!

Chicken Curry - everything looks better with a macro lens! Photo by Wasabi Prime

I don't often make curry sauces from scratch, as I end up craving it in my laziest of moments, so I rely on a particular store-bought brand. I know other bloggers have given props to it, so I know I'm not the only one to love the power of Patak's. I used their Korma Curry sauce this time, but normally I stick with their Tikka Masala because it's got a nice spicy, tart flavor.

The reason why this qualifies as an UnRecipe of MacGyver Cooking proportions is because I literally throw roughly-chopped carrots, yams, onions -- basically whatever's in the pantry or refrigerator -- and two chopped chicken breasts into the slow cooker, pour on the sauce, and add an extra can of coconut milk for richness. Let the slow cooker do its work for a few hours, and the meal is done, son. The coconut milk also helps stretch out the sauce's portion amounts, along with a healthy dash of salt. If I have a can of chickpeas, I throw those in later, when the stew is almost done, otherwise they just get too soft. Poured over some couscous or rice, a sprinkle of fresh cilantro, and dinner is served with many portions leftover for lunch throughout the week.

While not particularly fancy or gourmet, this often becomes the kind of go-to dish I make before or after a trip, when I'm too tired to prepare a complicated meal and don't have a lot of fresh things in the refrigerator. Is it really cooking since I'm using a premade sauce? Honestly, I'm too tired to think about that question and just want to continue shoveling tasty curry in my gaping maw. Om-nom-nom-nom...