Devon's Cooking... Curried Chicken with Spinach and Tomatoes

Wow. My house really smells like curry powder right now. I mean, REALLY smells like curry powder. This is a big step for me, you have to understand. I despise the smell of curry powder and for that, I blame my parents. Here's the story: when we were kids, my parents insisted on abiding by the belief that kids shouldn't be catered to and should eat whatever is on the table. In theory, I completely agree with this idea. In practice, particularly as a five year old, I believe this is the worst, cruelest theory ever. This was never more so my belief than when my mom, about once a year, made my very most unfavorite meal-- Curried Chicken Salad. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes my stomach turn. This unfortunate meal combined curry powder, mayonnaise and some other ungodly ingredients together; all of this was then heaped on a ring of honeydew melon. Ick. I spent every "Curried Chicken Salad night" playing with my food on a milk crate in the garage (in my house, if you misbehaved at the dinner table, it was straight to the garage for you. Needless to say, I spent a LOT of time in the garage as a child), and forevermore I have hated the smell of curry powder as it would quickly transport me back to the dreaded Curried Chicken Salad night. Short story long, I've been resisting curry powder for thirty years, until last night. Dave and I are currently obsessed with Indian food (every time I ask him what kind of food he wants for dinner, he replies, "Indian?" with a hopeful look on his face). So last night, I made:

CURRIED CHICKEN WITH SPINACH AND TOMATOES

Ingredients:

6 tsp olive oil, divided

4 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 Tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped

garlic (as much as you like-- you know I like a lot so I used 3+ garlic cloves)

1 lb. raw, boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 large bag of fresh spinach (about 9-10 oz.)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (the recipe I used called for cilantro, but don't even get me STARTED on my feelings about cilantro)

1 cup uncooked barley (you can use basmati rice or brown rice if you want, as well)

Instructions: Cook barley according to directions (the pearl barley I use takes 1 hour to cook, so get this started earlier rather than later!). Heat 3 tsp of olive oil in large skillet, mixed together with curry, coriander, cumin, ginger and garlic for about 3 minutes. Add remaining 2 tsp of oil and chicken to skillet; stir to coat chicken with oil/spice mixture. Add tomatoes to skillet and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover, stir the mixture and then add the spinach on top. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Uncover, stir and add salt, water and parsley; simmer for 1 minute or so. Place 1/4 of barley on a plate and heap 1/4 of curried chicken mixture on top. Serve with fresh, steamed veggies (we had broccoli) and half a pita. Enjoy! SERVES 4.