Do you ever go look in the back of your fridge, and have this moment of “whoa, I still have that?  I’ve got to use that up like, TODAY.”

That happened to me the other night, after I finally gave up on my lofty goal of making green smoothies every day for my health. (I need a better blender before that’s really a viable option.)

So I looked in the fridge, and I had just… GOBS AND GOBS of beautiful, lovely spinach and kale, just begging to be cooked. And I thought to myself “well, I can’t just let it go to waste!”  So I went to the store for a few sundries, and got to work.

The Goods: (and this is like, a REALLY ROUGH estimate of what I actually had, okay?  So just… play. Seriously, it’ll be all right.)

– somewhere around 16 oz, combined of baby spinach and baby kale

– 1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced

– minced garlic, as much as you want. (for me, this was at least a quarter of a cup)

– patak’s curry paste, about 1/2 jar (and don’t ask me how long that had been in my fridge, please)

– pickled sliced jalapenos (like for nachos), about 1/2 cup

– diced tomatoes in juice (possibly the kind with chilies and onions, knowing me), 1 15-oz can

– coconut milk (I actually prefer the whole fat stuff, so don’t skimp, okay?  the rest of the dish is lean enough.)

– chicken.  I grabbed some chicken and garlic sausage, but I think it’d be even better with plain chicken thighs. boneless and skinless, and diced.

The method:

  • Heat a HUGE skillet (or wok, that’s my favorite vessel for pot o’ random stuff) on medium, add a couple glugs of oil.
  • Add onion and garlic, sautee until translucent
  • Add chicken, cook through.
  • Add spinach and jalapenos, sautee until spinach is wilted.  Cook another minute or two to burn off some of the liquid the spinach will give off.
  • Stir in curry paste and tomatoes.  Simmer for about ten minutes.
  • Stir in coconut milk.
  • Taste and add salt and pepper if desired.  Now would also be a great time to add in some garam masala, crushed red pepper, curry powder, coriander, or whatever else tickles your fancy.  Or fresh cilantro, that’d be pretty awesome.

Serve over polenta or rice.

Best leftovers ever.