Almost eight years ago, I sold my big old 1690 cape and moved to a condo. And while I miss the house, without my husband, who died in 2009, I couldn’t keep up with what an old house requires to stay gorgeous.

Generally speaking, a condo is just fine for me, especially during the fall (raking all those leaves) and winter (shoveling all that snow). But this winter, with too much snow, the company hired for the complex couldn’t begin to do a good job.

Good thing I always have a refrigerator full of leftovers. Last week I ate chili three different meals and made my new favorite: pasta with summer-frozen basil pesto, lots of little tomatoes, tiny frozen sweet peas from Trader Joe’s and flurries of grated good parmesan.

But what I was hankering for was chicken with red curry and coconut milk, and during those snowy days I couldn’t get into my garage to buy a chicken. In the meantime, I found a recipe on the internet I had not made before. A few days later, I tried this recipe, adding carrots and fresh cauliflower: Using one pot, a can opener and a good knife, I had four more yummy dinners.

Whole Coconut Curry Chicken

Adapted from Modern Proper

Yield: serves 6

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds)

2 tablespoons salt

2 cans unsweetened coconut milk, divided

2 tablespoons red curry paste

1 small onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 red bell peppers, sliced

1 cup cauliflower florets (optional)

1 cup carrots, cut into 1/2 inch dice (optional)

1 lime, zest and juice

Cooked rice for serving

Rinse and pat chicken dry inside and out with paper towels. Discard anything inside the cavity. Salt inside and out.

Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown chicken until skin is golden and crispy on both sides. Remove chicken from the pot.

Add 1 can coconut milk, curry paste, onions, garlic and ginger. Bring to a simmer. Add chicken, cover and cook for 30-45 minutes over medium heat.

Uncover and add peppers (or any other vegetables you might like), lime zest and juice, the second can of coconut milk and continue to cook, covered, for another 10 minutes, or until internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees.

When you are ready to serve, either shred the chicken or quarter the chicken from the carcass and serve in a bowl along with the broth and rice.

Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.