Sponsored Post: Campbell's Dinner Sauces

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Recently I was selected to try the new Campbell's Dinner Sauces. The tagline is "Make an awesome weeknight dinner in just 15 minutes" by browning meat, adding the sauce and serving over pasta or rice. I was excited to try it out.

I couldn't choose between the different flavors (the Campbell’s Skillet Sauces are available in Marsala, Toasted Sesame, Scampi and Thai Green Curry), so I asked SP which he preferred. He immediately chose the Thai green curry, which ended up being a good thing because when he went to the store to buy it that was the only flavor they had on the shelf. They've since added the rest of the line-up at our supermarket, however.

I wanted to make this a complete meal, so I opted to add some vegetables in with chicken and sauce. I chose potatoes, onions and zucchini, but you could also add mushrooms, green beans, squash, etc.

I was a little skeptical as I was cooking dinner, thinking the flavors would be watered down to be palatable to a wider audience, but we all enjoyed this. It had a nice kick and the green curry flavor really came through, but it wasn't too spicy for Baby Girl. I loved the addition of the veggies, although adding them in did take this from a 15 minute meal to a 30 minute meal.

Campbell's also has a line of slow cooker sauces: Tavern Style Pot Roast, Sweet Korean BBQ, Apple Bourbon BBQ, Hawaiian Luau, Mexican Red Chile Taco and Moroccan Spiced Stew. If I ever get myself a new slow cooker I'd love to try a few of those.

You can check out Campbell's Dinner Sauces on their website and on Facebook.

Thai Green Curry Chicken with Vegetables

4 small-medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1lb chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 zucchini, cut into chunks
1 small onion, cut into chunks
1 pouch Campbell's Thai Green Curry sauce
rice, for serving

Boil the potatoes in salted water until just tender. Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Add the zucchini and onion to the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken back into the pan, along with the potatoes and green curry sauce. Simmer according to package directions.

Serve over rice.













This post brought to you by Campbell’s Dinner Sauces. Weekend-worthy dinners with only weekday-level effort needed! Learn more at http://www.campbellsauces.com/.

Sponsored Post: Kung Wow Spicy Kung Pao Chicken Tenders

Chinese New Year began on Monday, February 10, and to help kick off the celebration Thai Kitchen and Simply Asia partnered with food bloggers to try some of their products.

SP and I were looking for a quick meal after having a big lunch and this recipe for Kung Wow Spicy Kung Pao Chicken Tenders sounded like the perfect snack. From mixing the sauce to cooking the chicken, the whole thing took all of 15 minutes to prepare.

Thai Kitchen and Simply Asia offer a complete line of Asian ingredients and convenience items, including sauces, curry pastes, rice noodles, fish sauce, coconut milk, noodle bowls, and more. Most items are gluten free and contain no artificial colors, flavors or MSG. Check out Thai Kitchen and explore their Asian cuisine ingredients.

I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of the Kung Pao sauce. It wasn't overly spicy but added a pleasant heat to the chicken. The dipping sauce was the perfect compliment as well. The original recipe calls for either chicken tenders or chicken wings - I opted for the tenders because we had just purchased a club pack of chicken breasts at the store, but we both agreed the chicken wings would have been even better.

I'm including the recipe for both versions below. Obviously the tenders take much less time to prepare, which was perfect for our needs. However, wings would be a great alternative to the traditional Buffalo wings, a nice Asian twist perfect for celebrating the Chinese New Year.

Kung Wow Spicy Kung Pao Chicken Wings (or Tenders)
Slightly modified from Thai Kitchen/Simply Asia

1 pouch Simply Asia® Spicy Kung Pao Stir-Fry Sauce
2 pounds chicken wings (or breast tenders)
Cooking spray
1 Romaine heart, cut into large dice
Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce (recipe below)
2 scallions, thinly sliced

If using wings - Preheat an oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the wings in an even layer. Bake for 30 minutes, then baste the wings with some of the sauce. Bake for another 15 minutes, baste with sauce, bake for another 15 minutes.

If using tenders - Mix the stir-fry sauce with the chicken in a large bowl. Heat a non-stick skillet sprayed with cooking spray over medium high heat until smoking. Add chicken pieces in one layer. Cook, about 3 minutes per side, basting with more sauce as they cook. Flip, baste with more sauce and cook another 3 minutes or until cooked through.

Arrange the lettuce on a plate, top with the chicken pieces and dollop the Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce in the center. Garnish with the chopped scallion and serve immediately.

Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
Recipe from Thai Kitchen/Simply Asia

1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Thai Kitchen® Sweet Red Chili Sauce
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Store leftover sauce in the fridge.

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This sponsorship is brought to you by Thai Kitchen/Simply Asia whom I have partnered with for this promotion.

Restaurant Review: Bhan Thai, Mt. Laurel, NJ

I've mentioned before that I'm taking a weekly circuit training class on Tuesday nights. The instructor runs the session on a 6-week cycle with a week off between sessions. This past Tuesday was our off week, which was perfect because we'd just gotten back from a long weekend in Chicago to celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday and hadn't been to the grocery store. SP and I decided to meet up near his office for a quick dinner before heading to the store. There are hundreds of restaurants near his office, but it's been awhile since we had Thai food, so we decided to check out Bhan Thai, located in the Cambridge Crossing Plaza in Mt. Laurel, NJ. The Yelp reviews were very positive, so I was excited to try it out.

Since it was a Tuesday the place wasn't crowded, although we weren't alone either. We were seated immediately and given menus. Being me, I'd already looked at the menu online as soon as SP suggested it for dinner and knew what I wanted. We both started with the Tom Kha Soup, mine with chicken ($4.95) and SP's with shrimp ($5.95). As you can see, the portion was huge:


Tom Kha Soup - chicken or shrimps and mushrooms in light coconut broth with a hint of fresh kaffir lime leaf and galangal

The chicken was a little tough, but the broth was incredibly flavorful and chock full of two different kinds of mushrooms in addition to the chicken. We always order Tom Kha Soup when we try a new Thai restaurant (or even when it's an old favorite) and this was, hands down, the best version either of us has ever had. Delicious.

For our entrees, SP decided to get one of the specials, Chu Chee Duck ($18.95), which was in a coconut curry sauce over baby bok choy. He loves duck and usually asks them to make him a masaman curry with duck, but he thought he'd try the special instead:


Chu Chee Duck with curry paste and coconut milk over baby bok choy

It was a gorgeous platter of food and he liked it but wasn't overly excited. I didn't try any of the duck but it looked moist and flavorful. I think he was just jealous of my curry. I got the Chicken Masaman ($12.95) and was thrilled. It was also chock full of chicken and veggies:


Masaman Curry with coconut milk, potatoes, butternut squash, tomatoes, onions, peanuts and avocado

The portions were huge, although for the amount of curry I wished for more rice. We had to ask for another portion of rice with our leftovers and were charged $1 for each. We both enjoyed our meals. Everything was flavorful, cooked well and beautifully presented. And having enough for lunch the next day was a bonus. That never seems to happen when we get Thai food. Other restaurants we visit have much smaller portions, which means no leftovers. Being able to enjoy the curry again the next day was a big plus in my book.

Service was also good. Even though we stuck with ice water our glasses were refilled frequently. Many times I feel like restaurants don't like when customers drink tap water and "forget" to refill glasses unless asked. I had one small complaint and that was with the timing of the food delivery. I try to eat slowly, both so I don't overeat and so I can enjoy the food. As I was slurping up the last of the soup the waitress was putting my entree down on the table. The soup had taken a little longer than expected to arrive and I wished there had been some lag time between the soup and entree.

I have to admit, I'm jealous that SP can visit Bhan Thai for lunch during the week. He works about an hour away from where we live so it's not convenient for us to eat there together often. Maybe someday he'll bring home takeout. If you're local or find yourself in the area I highly recommend this gem.

Bhan Thai
4330 Dearborn Circle
Cambridge Crossing
Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054
Phone 856-234-4202
Fax 856-234-4203
info@bhanthaicuisine.com

Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 11:00AM – 9:30PM
Friday and Saturday: 11:30AM – 10:30PM
Sunday: 12:00PM – 9:00PM
Closed everyday from 3:00PM - 5:00PM

Thai Red Curry Chicken Noodle Soup

As soon as Ashley submitted this recipe for Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Noodle Soup for the recent soup recipe swap I was smitten. I love Thai soup and this sounded delicious. As always, I was hesitant to use my crockpot since I've never made anything in there that's come out right, but I wanted to make this soup and since I'm home all day I figured I could keep an eye on it.


As you can see from the recipe below, I ended up modifying this heavily after making it per the original recipe. I will say this - Baby Girl absolutely loved this soup in it's original form, complete with the squirt of lime juice. She gobbled up a bowl and was asking for more.

However, I felt like something was missing. I added red curry paste to the ingredient list because it definitely needed those spices to make a more complex soup. I also decreased the amount of chicken, rice noodles and bean sprouts. I felt like they overwhelmed the soup, which I preferred with more broth and less "filling." Unfortunately my cilantro had gone bad by the time I got around to making this soup, which was a shame because I know that flavor would have gone well with the soup.

All in all this soup has serious potential. Oh and how did the crockpot work out, you might be wondering. The answer is I think I've given up on it. The chicken was overcooked and since the cooking time is so minimal I think this would have worked better on the stovetop. Directions have been modified below.

Thai Red Curry Chicken Noodle Soup
Modified from Cheesecurd in Paradise

2 frozen or thawed chicken breast halves
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons freshly minced ginger
2 (13.5 oz) cans coconut milk
4 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 heaping tablespoons red curry paste
2 oz thin rice noodles
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 cup fresh beans sprouts
2 jalapenos, finely sliced
2 limes
Cilantro for garnish
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

In a large Dutch oven, add the chicken, garlic, ginger, coconut milk, soy sauce, red curry paste, a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring to a simmer (do not boil). Stir occasionally for an hour.

Using tongs, remove chicken from pot and shred with two forks. Return to pot. Add the rice noodles, bell pepper and sprouts. Cook 30 more minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve each bowl garnished with sliced jalapeno, a good handful of cilantro and some gigantic squirts of lime.

Thai Coconut Curry Chicken

After the success of the Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp I decided to try the dish with chicken and vegetables.


I steamed chopped onion, red pepper, asparagus and green beans before adding them to the sauce, along with mushrooms and scallions. The veggies were a welcome addition, but I made a mistake - I had SP buy light coconut milk instead of the full-fat version. This version lacked the creaminess the shrimp curry had. Next time I won't make that mistake.

Thai Coconut Curry Chicken

1 tablespoon oil
1 lb chicken, thinly sliced
2 scallions, whites and greens separated, chopped
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
2 big cloves garlic, minced
1 can coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Chopped/sliced vegetables (ex. red pepper, onion, mushrooms, green beans, asparagus, bamboo shoots)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, steam vegetables until crisp tender.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add scallion whites, red curry paste and garlic. Saute one minute. Add coconut milk, and fish sauce and mix well. Simmer about 2-3 minutes, then add chicken and vegetables to the pan. Allow to simmer 5 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. Remove from heat and mix in scallion greens. Serve over basmati rice.

Spicy Coconut Chicken Casserole

Another Everyday Food recipe, this one for Spicy Coconut Chicken Casserole, a one-pot weeknight meal:


Sometimes I find Everyday Food recipes to be a little bland, but this one was excellent. I'm sure it had something to do with the copious amount of Thai red curry paste I added. The only modification I made was to use split chicken breasts instead of chicken legs. The chicken stayed moist during the cooking process, one of the perks of cooking meat still on the bone. The flavors of the coconut milk and curry paste were fantastic and the crunch from the green beans and red peppers was a great contrast to the juicy meat.

Our only complaint was that the rice (I used basmati instead of jasmine since I always have it on hand) got mushy from overcooking, which is one of the drawbacks to cooking everything in the same pot. Still, I am loving the one-pot/one-skillet recipes. Less cleanup and so much easier to deal with on a weeknight. One note - if you make this recipe it's imperative that you squeeze some fresh lemon juice over each serving before eating. The citrus really makes the flavors in the casserole pop. We both agreed it wouldn't have been nearly as good a meal without the lemon.

Spicy Coconut Chicken Casserole
Everyday Food

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 whole chicken legs (about 3 pounds total)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) light coconut milk
1 1/2 cups canned reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 to 2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
1 cup jasmine rice
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces green beans (stem ends removed), cut into 1-inch lengths
1/2 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working in two batches, cook chicken until browned, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a plate (chicken will cook more in step 2).

To pot, add coconut milk, broth, 1/2 cup water, and curry paste; bring to a boil, and stir in rice. Add chicken (with any juices), arranging pieces in a single layer. Cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, without stirring, until rice is almost tender, 15 minutes.

Scatter bell peppers and green beans on top of chicken mixture; cover, and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Thai Green Curry Chicken

I wanted to experiment with green curry again. Once again I used things I had on hand, which meant this curry had chicken breasts, bamboo shoots, onion, red pepper, zucchini and mushrooms:


I cooked all the vegetables in a pan until they were soft, then I added a few heaping spoonfuls of green curry paste and toasted it in the pan until it was fragrant. Then I added maybe 1/2 cup of chicken broth and two cans of coconut milk to make the sauce. Once the sauce was simmering I added the chicken and let it poach in the sauce. Last time I made this dish there wasn't enough sauce so I doubled the amount and it was a little too soupy. Still a work in progress, but the flavors were excellent.

Thai Green Curry Chicken

I recently bought a Thai cookbook that has inspired me. Last weekend I got a few pantry staples like coconut milk, fish sauce and curry paste (red and green) so on Thursday I decided to make a Thai Green Curry Chicken dish over basmati rice:


Since we were doing a pantry clean out last week, I had to make the curry using things we had on hand. I found some boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the freezer, along with some frozen peas, carrots, potatoes, bamboo shoots, onion and basil from my garden. It all came together well, but there wasn't nearly enough sauce. We both like very saucy Thai food, so next time I'll double the sauce, but for a first attempt it wasn't too bad.

Thai Chicken Curry

I don't know why I don't cook from Dave Lieberman's Young and Hungry cookbook more often. The recipes I've tried have all been really tasty. Tonight I made Thai Chicken Curry:


I like this dish because the flavors marry well together and it's easy to make. Unfortunately my supermarket didn't have snow peas so I had to leave those out, but it's still a good dish without them.

Thai Chicken Curry
Dave Lieberman

2 cups white rice (basmati or jasmine is best)
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts (around 2) cut into pieces
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Vegetable Oil
1 small onion, diced
I red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Thumb-size piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
Handful of snow peas
Handful of basil, optional
Juice and zest of 1 lime Zest of 1 lime
Salt and Black Pepper

Cook the rice and set aside.

Toss the chicken strips in a bowl with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons of oil. Heat a skillet over high heat and cook the chicken until they start to brown. Once there is no pink, scoop the chicken onto a plate.

Lower the pan heat to medium-high and add a bit more oil. Slide in the onions and cook, stirring until they turn translucent (4-5 minutes). Add the red bell pepper and garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Add the curry powder, sugar and ginger and cook 1 more min. Add the broth and coconut milk and turn the heat up to high. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring often until the sauce reduces, 7-8 minutes. Slide the chicken back in and add the snow peas. Cook for a minute or two, add the basil and lime juice and zest and season with the salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice.