Oregano Chicken with Fresh Tomato & Balsamic Sauce – DELICIOUS and low fat!!!

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balsamic, Chicken, Cooking, entree, Food, healthy, low-fat, main dish, oregano, Poultry, recipe, tomato

Oregano Chicken with Fresh Tomato & Balsamic Sauce

I think chicken is my favorite protein to cook with! It’s so versatile, healthy and just delicious! This dish was even more delicious than what I expected going in. I want to make it again, so I told myself I definitely needed to blog this recipe. Because yes, I do cook from my own blog! LOL! They are recipes that I loved enough to take the time to document and photograph, so in my book that means they’re worth revisiting!

Oregano Chicken with Fresh Tomato and Balsamic Sauce

Serves 4 people

Cooking time: 45 minutes

4 chicken thighs (I used bone-in with skin removed, as they add more flavor, but you could do boneless and reduce cooking time)

2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

2 tsp avocado or olive oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (I buy the multicolored heirloom cherry tomatoes. Delicious!!!)

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine (Only use wine you would drink. If it’s not good enough for drinking, it’s not good enough for cooking!)

2 tsp capers, drained

2 tbsp lemon juice

Add oil to non-stick frying pan and heat over medium-high heat. Season one side of chicken with 1/2 of salt and rosemary and add to pan, seasoned side down. Season other side of chicken. Brown chicken on each side for about 2-3 minutes per side. When browned but not cooked all the way through, remove to plate and stick in a 350 oven while you continue cooking sauce.

Turn the heat on your frying pan down to medium-low and add garlic and shallots (You don’t want to burn your garlic! It turns bitter, ruins your dish and that pan is done!) stir until shallots are softened. Add vinegar and cook until mostly evaporated, scrapping the bottom of the pan while it cooks to get the yummy stuff off the bottom and into your sauce.

Stir in tomato halves, capers, chicken broth, wine, lemon juice and a little more salt and pepper to taste. Stir and simmer until well mixed. Add your chicken back in to the plan and turn to coat with sauce. Cover the pan and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes, turning chicken once, until chicken registers at least 165 degrees with a meat thermometer.

This is great served over rice! The sauce is fabulous, so you want something to soak up that goodness!!! I paired it with some artichokes cooked with lemon and garlic. So good!!!

I hope you enjoy!!!

Red Beans and Rice – The Easy, Healthy Way!!!!

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main dish, recipe, Red Beans and Rice, side dish, vegan, vegetarian

I’m sure I’ve never had a truly authentic version of red beans and rice, but I would love to!!! I’ve had it from different restaurants and loved it, so I thought I would try my hand at making my own healthy version. The beans and brown rice provide great sources of fiber, making this dish very satisfying. I was making mine as a side dish to barbecued chicken, so I chose to make this a meat-free version. You could very easily add some sausage or even shrimp to make this a great main dish.

Red Beans and Rice

2 – 15 oz kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 – 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

2 tbsp garlic olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed (or 2 cloves if using regular olive oil)

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 tbsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup red wine

2 cups brown rice

Salt and pepper

Optional: 1/2 – 1 pound smoked sausage or kielbasa (I was wanting a side dish, so I left this out, but adding the sausage turns this into a great main dish for a carnivore!)

Add garlic olive oil to pan (I used my Dutch oven) and saute veggies until tender. Add all other ingredients, except rice and simmer for 1 hour on low. Salt and pepper to taste. Add rice and cook another 45 minutes on low or until rice is cooked. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Enjoy!

Ratatouille with Black Beans and Zucchini – A Healthy Choice as a Side Dish or Main

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Black Beans, main dish, onion, Ratatouille, side dish, tomatoes, vegan, vegetarian, zucchini

It’s that time of year here in California where the zucchini is in great form and is plentiful! I had some beautiful, organic zucchini and wanted to do something a little different with it. I decided to make something with beans rather than the typical potato, rice or pasta side dish. This ratatouille like dish that I threw together hit the spot! It had a variety of flavors highlighted by fresh, organic veggies and herbs. It was the perfect side dish to our barbecued chicken. 

You could also make it with a little more sauce and serve it over rice or pasta as a vegetarian main dish. Leave out the Parmesan cheese and you have a satisfying Vegan dish!

Ratatouille with Black Beans and Zucchini

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (Tip: Fresh cooked beans would taste the best or you can go the quick route and use canned, like I did. To reduce the salt in canned beans, be sure to rinse them well.)

3 zucchini, sliced

3 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 medium red onion, diced

3 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (or you can use dried)

1 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil (or use regular olive oil and add a clove of fresh garlic to the mixture.)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Add olive oil to large saute pan or wok. Heat over medium heat. Add all ingredients and saute until onions and zucchini soften. I like my zucchini more on the al dente side. Top with Parmesan cheese just before serving.

Enjoy!

Pork and Sweet Potatoes

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apple, apples, Cooking, Food, healthy, main dish, pork, recipe, sweet potato

Once again, my organic produce delivery inspired a wonderful dinner! This week’s delivery included organic sweet potatoes, onions and apples. I love to cook apples and onions with pork. I thought the sweet potatoes would be a good add. The apples and sweet potatoes are both pretty sweet, so I wanted to a some savory spices to balance out the dish.
1/2 – 3/4 lb pork chops or pork loin, diced

1/2 – 3/4 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1 tbsp canola oil

1 apple, diced

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp ground all spice

1/8 tsp cinnamon

In a dutch oven over medium heat, heat canola oil until beginning to smoke. Add pork, onion and sweet potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.  Add apple, chicken broth and all seasonings and simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes with lid askew, so steam can escape. This will allow everything to cook through, but the broth to reduce.

I served this over brown rice (1 & 1/2 cup instant brown rice, 1 & 3/4 cup water). Making about 4 servings.

Mexican Spiced Chicken With Tomatillo/Avocado Salsa

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avocado, Chicken, Cooking, Food, main dish, Mexican, salsa, tomatillo, tomatillos

 
In one of the many cooking shows I watch someone was making a tomatillo/avocado salsa. I hadn’t cooked with tomatillos in a while and this was sounding yummy, so I picked up some supplies at the grocery store and started concocting!

I was thinking that a fresh salsa over chicken sounded great and it was! This dish was so colorful and had the bold, spicy flavors that I love. It made plenty of salsa and we have some leftover. Think I’ll have a snack later! This salsa was just fantastic and stands up by itself, so you could also serve this as an appetizer with chips or veggies for dipping.

Mexican Spiced Chicken With Tomatillo/Avocado Salsa

Salsa Recipe:

7-8 small – medium tomatillos, diced

2 medium – large tomatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro diced

1 large serrano pepper,finely chopped

1 avocado, diced

Juice of 1/2 lime

Salt and pepper

In a lightly greased frying pan saute diced tomatillos until tender. While they are cooking add some salt and pepper. Remove from heat and allow to cool. While these are cooling, prepare all your other salsa ingredients and mix together. Once tomatillos have cooled to room temperature, toss them into your salsa. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate salsa until cool.

Chicken Recipe:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts

¼ cup all purpose flour

1/8 – 1/4 cup taco seasoning

In a resealable bag, mix flour and taco seasoning. Add chicken to bag and shake until coated. Lightly spray a baking pan with non-stick spray. Place chicken in the pan and lightly spray the chicken with the non-stick spray. Bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through in a 350 degree oven. Remove from oven and spoon salsa over chicken.

Chicken Provençal – A Delicious, Low-Fat Dish that Will Impress!

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Chicken, Chicken Provencal, Cooking, crock pot, Food, low-fat, main dish, slow cook

  

I’ve been wanting to blog about Chicken Provençal for a while. It’s another of my all-time favorite dishes that is easy to make, low-fat, delicious and will impress your dinner guests! This is another dish where I started with a recipe I came across years ago and I have made it my own over time.This dish has a bold rich flavor that is a great fall/winter dish to warm you up. It is much like a stew. I like to use this recipe when entertaining, because it’s easy to increase/double the recipe and you can make it ahead of time and slow cook it. You don’t have to cook it all day though. I have also cooked it on the stove top in my dutch oven. You can easily cook it in 1-2 hours this way, but I do feel the flavors develop more fully the longer it is cooked.

I usually serve this dish over pasta or rice, as it is pretty “saucy”. You could also just serve it in a bowl as a soup/stew. This last time I made it, which is shown in the photo, I served it over a creamy parmesan polenta. It was very delicious this way!

I hope you like it!

Chicken Provençal
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts

28 oz can of diced tomatoes in puree

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 large leek, thinly sliced

½ cup red wine

14 oz chicken broth

2 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

5 cloves of garlic, pressed or diced

4 oz can sliced black olives

2 tbsp fresh basil, diced

 

In slow cooker pot, put all ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. After about 5 hours, remove chicken, shred and put back in slow cooker. Serve over pasta, rice or polenta or simply as a stew.

Lemon Cream Chicken – A Low-fat Version of a Quick and Elegant Entree!

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Cooking, entree, Food, lemon cream chicken, low-fat, main dish

  
One of my favorite dishes is Lemon Cream Chicken. The flavor of this dish is warm and rich, but somehow the lemon makes it refreshing at the same time. It’s just a wonderful combination of flavors and is a quick yet elegant entree! It is perfect for impressing guests!

The only problem is that the “cream” part of the original recipe I found was very fattening, so I took on the challenge of creating a low-fat version of this recipe. I’ve made this version numerous times to rave reviews. I hope you enjoy it as well!

I usually serve this chicken over rice as the sauce covers the rice nicely. Last night, I served this over plain brown rice. It was delicious as usual!

Lemon Cream Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

¼ cup flour, plus 1 tbsp, divided

1 cup fat free chicken broth

1 cup fat free half and half, divided

3 tbsp lemon juice (fresh or bottled)

½ pound sliced mushrooms ( I used baby bellas)

Optional: lemon slices

Spray a frying pan generously with canola oil spray. Season chicken with salt, pepper and ¼ cup flour. Brown chicken in frying pan over medium heat for 3-4 minutes each side. When browned transfer chicken to an oven proof plate and put in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. Meanwhile, add chicken broth to the drippings in the frying pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to loosen bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer uncovered, reducing by half. Stir in ¾ cup of the half and half, lemon juice and the mushrooms. Cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.

Combine the remaining half and half and flour in a bowl until smooth. Stir into frying pan and stir until thickened. Return chicken to frying pan and heat through, spooning sauce over chicken periodically.

Optional: To make this dish extra beautiful, serve with fresh lemon slices.