I’ve been doing a ton of weekend batch cooking lately. Basically, I take a bunch of meat out of my “meat freezer” and place it in the bottom drawers of my spare refrigerator, which also houses leftovers on the upper shelves. I tend not to cook a lot with chicken, but this week, I pulled out some boneless skinless chicken breast that my husband bought on sale at the grocery store. It’s been so long since I’ve cooked boneless skinless chicken breast that I have to admit, I was stumped as to what I was going to make. I texted my buddy Michelle Tam, who ALWAYS has tips for me and is my absolute favorite recipe creator. She suggested I make Pressure Cooker Salsa Chicken Tacos in my Instant Pot, which I did. They rocked! I had extra chicken though, so I decided to sear it in a cast iron skillet and use the sauce from her Pressure Cooker Lemongrass & Coconut Chicken, but because the instant pot was tied up with other recipes, and I didn’t have all the ingredients she called for, plus I wanted to use up the oyster mushrooms and summer squash from our farm share, I altered the recipe to make it work for what I had. It was AMAZING! The sauce is so incredible, I could drink it straight. I plan on making it on a regular basis for a new, lighter spin on curries. I know you’ll love it!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil, divided
• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (boneless pork chops would also work great!)
• 1 medium onion, sliced thin
• 1lb oyster mushrooms, or mushrooms of choice, chopped
• 5 small summer squash or zucchini, about 4 cups, sliced
• 1 thick stalk fresh lemongrass, papery outer skins and rough bottom removed, trimmed to the bottom 5 inches
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 tablespoons Red Boat fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
• 1 teaspoon five spice powder
• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Juice from 1 lime

Directions:

1. In a large cast iron skillet, heat 1 TBS of ghee or coconut oil to medium high heat.
2. Place the chicken breasts in the pan and don’t touch for five minutes
3. Flip the chicken and continue cooking until cooked through, about another five minutes
4. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside
5. Reduce the heat to medium and add another TBS of oil
6. Place the onions in the pan and cook for about five minutes or until translucent
7. Add the mushrooms and zucchini and sauté for about 10 min, stirring occasionally
8. While the vegetables are cooking, add the lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, coconut aminos, five spice powder, coconut milk, salt and pepper to a food processor or blender and blend until creamy
9. Slice the chicken into thin strips and place back in the pan with the vegetables.
10. Add the coconut milk sauce to the vegetables and simmer for five minutes
11. Remove from heat and add the lime juice and cilantro