I am learning the art of taking myself on a date...oh you were hoping to hear about some torrid or romantic or sexy date in which I was whisked away to a foreign land for amazing food and wine. Um well yeah no!! However, my ME date consisted of a little pampering, an amazing meal made by me and a movie that no one would ever want to sit through with me. How do you beat an I love me date, right? I figure if men can have I love me rooms, at the very least I can have an I love me date.

So I love to cook food in which I have no pre-conceived notions about what it should look like or taste like...because seriously if you know nothing about it...you are always a success!! Win/win!! It is good for your palette and for you ego.

I know very little about how to cook Asian inspired food so I decided to try a dish that well is Asian inspired. Last night I made Chicken Korma. Korma is an Asian dish that is made with yogurt or cream and a seed or nut paste. This recipe came from Food Network and it did contain yogurt, however the paste was more of a spice paste. It really had a ton of flavor as the paste consisted of onions, ginger, coriander and cumin. The yogurt made it creamy and the sprinkling of cashews gave it the perfect texture contrast. It also had fresh cilantro added at the end which gave it a nice flavor enhancement.

I will be honest I am never sure of ground chicken...sometimes the texture is a little off, but this recipe really turned out nicely since the chicken was cooked in the spice paste and yogurt mixture. I also enjoyed this recipe as it allowed me to take my new food processor on it's maiden voyage. And damn do I love it!

The spice paste is super easy to make. Throw the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin and salt into the food processor and turn it on.

Next saute the rest of the onion in vegetable oil. Once it has softened add the spice paste and cook until dry. Yes, you can actually visibly see a difference. I was a little concerned about the whole dry thing, but it does look different...less watery and more well dry.

Add the chicken and cook until it is no longer pink. I cooked it for like 8 minutes...the recipe doesn't have a time on it, but it took me about 8 minutes. Add the yogurt and water and cook for another 3 minutes. Voila!!

Serve the chicken mixture on warm pita with additional yogurt, cashews and cilantro sprinkled on top. This recipe really had a lot of great flavor! I love ginger and the ginger/spice mixture was heaven!! I love fresh pitas and they were perfect with the chicken mixture.




Oh I should mention...well just because it is me...be careful when opening the container of yogurt. My container exploded all over my black sweatshirt and hmmm come to find out yogurt on a black sweatshirt not so hot!!

• 1 large red onion; 1/2 chopped, 1/2 sliced
• 1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
• 3/4 pound ground chicken
• 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 4 pocketless pitas
• Chopped cashews and/or hot sauce, for garnish (optional)

Directions