In keeping with my New Year’s resolution I’m going to endeavor to make more easy healthy dishes and pair them with weeknight wines that won’t break the bank. Since I’m an avid cook, but certainly no recipe writer, I get by with a little help from my fellow bloggers. One of my absolute favorite blogs is Homemade With Mess. What better way to recover from holiday excess than with her light and easy take on a creamy Indian curry, Healthy Chicken & Butternut Squash Korma.
The korma was easy to prepare and lightened up considerably with yogurt replacing cream and butternut squash in the place of some of the meat.
The wine I chose to pair was a Trader Joe’s 2010 Cosmia Sonoma County Chardonnay ($5.99) It opened with a bright lime zest nose leading to a light body and tropical fruit flavor more akin to a warm climate Sauvignon Blanc than a typical “large and in charge” California Chardonnay. Pineapple, green mango and a bracing acidic green apple back. This was simple, easy to drink and would pair nicely with even spicier Asian foods (the curry was quite mild.) The tropical notes of the wine married well with the sweetness of the butternut squash, while the generous acidity was a good counterpoint to the creamy sauce and almonds.
The Trader Joe’s write up describes it as “oaky and buttery” but I didn’t get a lot of that on the bottle I tasted. I will admit though, that there can sometimes be larger variations between TJ bottlings than those of more mainstream wineries. This was a decent (82 pts.) wine at a great price point! And the Korma was fantastic!
I love this! I now want to make the curry again so that I can have an excuse to try the wine 😀 thank you
And I want to make the curry again to make the curry again! So delicious! Your recipes are fantastic and fun!
I was so dissapointed when I had to return 1 bottle out of the case I bought, but TJ was very accommodating w/ the return/replacement! Overall, great value, great taste for everyday for something crisp with or without a light meal.
Hi Dorene – I completely agree on the wine. I’ve also found TJ’s to be amazingly courteous and “no questions asked” about returns. There is a Trader Joe’s near me that actually has a wine tasting area featuring 2 wines a day, which is great, even though the investment in TJ’s wine isn’t as large as at many other places you still want something you enjoy.