When you have a downer of a day, there’s nothing like finding a simple and satisfying meal that both tastes and smells wonderful. Plus, comfort food can be comforting without it being bad for you.

Actually, to be quite honest, I think the combined smell of cinnamon, brown sugar, ginger, and curry is my new all-time favorite comforting smell. It was just what I needed tonight.

I found this amazingly simple meal in the Pillsbury Fast and Healthy Cookbook. (I am now incredibly disappointed that I returned that to the library yesterday. Because this is the second mouth-watering, yet healthy meal I’ve made from this book–and loved.)

Ingredients:

3/4 to 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces

1 1/3 cup water

1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes, undrained

1/3 cup raisins

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp chicken bouillon granules

1 tsp curry

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ginger

1 cup basmati rice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except the rice in a large pot. Bring to a boil.

2. Stir in the rice. Reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink and the water is absorbed into the rice.

It’s really that simple. And it smells WONDERFUL. Chris and I loved it. The raisins and the brown sugar gave this the perfect hint of sweetness. And the cinnamon made it so homey. I’m 100% making this again and again. And it’s so cheap–most of these things you already have in your pantry. (Except…I didn’t have curry powder, so I had to buy it at Shaw’s. But Shaw’s only carries $6.79 bottles of curry. So in that sense it wasn’t cheap. BUT. I won’t have to buy curry again for a while! And I sure won’t get it at Shaw’s next time…)

Oh well. It was worth it. Reach for this next time you’re feelin’ sad. It’ll make you feel better, and it’s better for you than potato chips… 🙂