Tomato and Bell Pepper Curry Chicken

Will really wanted to call this recipe "Kay's Kitchen Curry Chicken," but I figured that wouldn't help very much in explaining what it actually is. I mean yes, there's a lot of alliteration with all the "K/C" sounds, but I know when I'm looking for recipes, I prefer to have an idea of what is in them instead of where they came from. Anywho, this recipe was derived from pretty much whatever we could find in my mom's kitchen, since we're staying at her house to cat-sit this week. I believe the ingredient that sparked the entire desire for curry were the teeny bit of chickpeas in a tupperware. From there, we had been thawing the chicken for making Salsa Chicken, but decided to just take one breast and make it for a curry. Beyond the chickpeas and chicken, we discovered some bell pepper halves, a tomato, an onion, and of course a ton of spices, and this recipe was born! I'm jealous of Will who gets to eat the leftovers for lunch today; however, I'm not too jealous because I have a pretty great lunch date that I'm about to run off to.

Cooking Notes: Even though we made this up, we are posting the recipe as we would have liked to have made it. We only had about 1/2 cup of chickpeas, 1 chicken breast, and only half of each bell pepper. We also don't have turmeric or garam masala at my mom's house, but we would have added them if we had them around!

Tomato and Bell Pepper Curry Chicken
2 chicken breasts
1 large tomato
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
1 can chickpeas
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup half and half
Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Prepare tomato, onion, garlic, and bell peppers for food processor. Place all the veggies into the food processor and chop until you reach a salsa-like consistency (not chunky, but not pureed). Combine spices--curry powder, ground coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric, garam masala, cayenne pepper, ground ginger--in a small bowl and set aside.

While prepping other ingredients, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once warm, added your veggies to the saucepan, simmering for about 5 minutes. Add spices, then cook until fragrant, about 2 more minutes. Add the chickpeas and chicken*, simmering everything for about 20 minutes.

After simmering for 20 minutes, add 1/2 tbsp cornstarch and 1/2 cup half and half, stirring it in and allowing it to heat through and thicken. Serve over rice.

*If you want to add other veggies, do so at this point. Some suggestions would be broccoli, carrots, peas, etc.

All mixed up!