Chicken-Eggplant Parmegiana

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This Italian dinner was created with leftover cooked chicken breast meat I had in the refrigerator and a small amount of cooked spaghetti sauce and some commercial no-sugar sauce I wanted to use up.  I bought a beautiful eggplant yesterday and some mushrooms, so I created a quick Parmegiana casserole.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Primal followers that eat occasional cheese.  This meal would not be suitable for Paleo diners due to the cheese.

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. cooked chicken meat, in bite size pieces

2 T. olive oil

6 oz. mushrooms, sliced

5 oz. eggplant, sliced 1/4″ thick (I do not peel)

¼ c. jarred Luccini spaghetti sauce (has no added sugar)

3/4 c. homemade spaghetti sauce (I used my recipe:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/peggys-spaghetti-sauce/ )  [you could use all homemade or all Luccini]

6 oz. Mozzarella cheese, grated

½ c. grated Parmesan cheese

½ tsp. dried oregano (or 1 tsp. fresh, chopped)

¼ tsp. dried basil (or 1 tsp. fresh, chopped)

¼ tsp. dried rosemary (or ½ tsp. fresh, chopped)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 400º. Use a small amount of the oil to grease your casserole dish and a small baking sheet.  Place eggplant on baking sheet and bake at 400º for about 15 minutes, turning once during this pre-cooking.  Remove from oven and lower temperature to 350º.

In a non-stick skillet, saute the mushroom slices in the rest of the olive oil. Place eggplant in a single layer on the bottom of your greased casserole dish.  Top with the shredded chicken meat.  Spoon half the spaghetti sauce over the meat. Sprinkle on half the Parmesan and half the mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle with half the spices.  Spoon on the remainder of the sauce. Sprinkle on the rest of the two cheeses and the last of the spices.  Top with the sauteed mushroom and pop into your 350º oven for about 30-35 minutes or until cheese is melted and the casserole is hot hot in the center.  Serve with your favorite salad or green vegetable and some garlic bread made with low-carb bread.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

427 calories

26.1 g  fat

10.4 g  carbs, 2.98 g  fiber, 7.42 g  NET CARBS

38 g  protein

408 mg potassium, 27% sodium

11% RDA Vitamin A, 28% B6, 58% B12, 37% calcium, 25% copper, 16% iron, 12% magnesium, 64% niacin, 66% phosphorous, 39% riboflavin, 49% selenium, 12% thiamin and 31% zinc

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Duck-Crawfish soup

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This soup actually came about from leftovers.  I made Cajun Crawfish on “Pasta” earlier this week and had 3/4 c. leftover:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/cajun-crawfish-on-pasta/.  I also roasted a duck and had 1 c. meat leftover (plus another ½ c. tidbits of meat stripped from the stewed carcass I used to simmer down for a batch of duck stock): http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/oven-roasted-garlic-duck/.  And I had just a bit of sausage leftover in my open package in the fridge. All these ingredients made a wonderful soup that was very gumbo-like.  I didn’t start out with a roux, so I would never call this a classic “gumbo”, but the flavor of the final soup was still quite good.    This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Paleo-Primal as well.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. cooked duck meat, chopped coarsely

5 oz. (about 3/4 c.) cooked crawfish tail meat

4 oz. chopped onion

1  10-oz. can (about 1½ c.) Ro-Tel tomatoes and chilies

5 oz. frozen, sliced okra (about 1½ c.)

1 patty pork sausage

6 c. homemade duck stock (or chicken stock)

¼ tsp. my seafood spice blend:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/my-seafood-spice-blend/

Few drops Tobasco or other hot sauce

8 oz. shirataki tofu noodles, rinsed well and chopped a bit (I used the “penne” shape)

DIRECTIONS:  In a large soup pot, crumble up the sausage and brown slowly over high heat.  When no longer pink, add the onion and saute until tender.  Add all remaining ingredients, including the noodles, and bring to a slow boil.  Then lower heat to medium-low and simmer just until the okra is tender.  Salt and pepper to taste at table.  Serve with your favorite low-carb crackers and a nice salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 large bowls, each contains:

203.5 calories

8.52 g  fat

5 g  carbs, 1.35 g  fiber, 3.65 g  NET CARBS

20 g  protein

260 mg sodium

551 mg potassium

20% RDA Vitamin B, 29% B12, 9% C, 45% copper,26% iron, 11% magnesium, 19% manganese, 47% niacin, 31% phosphorous, 40% selenium, 21% thiamin, 23% zinc

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Roasted Lemon-Garlic Duck

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I just love duck and we tried a new marinade tonight on the baby in the pic.  I was originally planning to have it smoked, but I could tell my husband didn’t want to fool with lighting up the grill tonight (he did some yard work today), so I oven roasted it instead.   It came out delicious!  So I’ll share the marinate/sauce I made for this bird with my readers.  This VERY nutritious recipe (check out the stats below!) is suitable for all phases of Atkins (using broth rather than wine for Induction) and is suitable for Paleo-Primal followers as well if broth is used rather than wine.

INGREDIENTS: 

1 c. white wine (use chicken broth if on Induction or Paleo-Primal)

4 T. my Lemon-Parsley-Garlic Butter seen here:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/lemon-parsley-garlic-butter/

2 cloves garlic, minced (I think more would be even better!)

Dash each:  salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

1  whole 5-lb duck, neck and giblets removed for other use

DIRECTIONS:  Remove neck and giblets from duck and save for other uses.  My dog usually gets the giblets and neck meat, but the neck will make great stock if you want to add it to the carcass bones after dinner in a pot of water with chopped onion and carrot.  Makes great soups!  Butterfly the duck by cutting up the backbone and spreading it out in a marinating dish.  Add wine (or broth), minced garlic and other spices.  Marinate covered in plastic on your refrigerator shelf for 2-4 hours, turning and basting again with a basting brush 1-2 times.  You’ll need to allow about 2 hours to cook a 5# duck to internal temperature of 180º.  When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375º.  Remove duck from refrigerator and lift out of the marinating dish. Pour marinade off into a small saucepan.  Add compound butter and simmer for 5 minutes or so to allow raw duck juices to fully cook. Place duck skin side up in a large baking pan, baste with marinade and pop in hot oven.  Using a basting brush, baste duck with marinade and pan juices every half hour.  At 1 hour cooking, remove duck and cover wing tips and leg tips with small pieces of foil so they will not over brown/burn.  Pop pan back into oven, lower oven to 350º and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour longer (ovens will vary), or until a meat thermometer reads 180º at center thigh and center breast.      Serve at once with your favorite sides for fowl.  I served mine with steamed broccoli and broiled tomatoes.  If I had char-grilled the duck, as originally planned, I was going to grill some fresh pineapple slices to go with it.   Mmmm.   How I DOOOOOOOO love grilled pineapple! 

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

791 calories

65.3 g  fat

2.4 g  carbs, .2 g  fiber, 2.20 g  NET CARBS

36.4 g  protein

485 mg sodium

446 mg potassium

23% RDA Vitamin A, 45% B6, 44% B12, 48% copper, 66% iron, 11% magnesium, 66% niacin, 44% phosphorous, 47% riboflavin, 69% selenium, 30% thiamin and 45% zinc

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Chicken Chile Relleno Casserole

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I just love chile rellenos, but I don’t like all the fuss of actually stuffing them.  So I just make the dish up in a layered casserole.  Tastes exactly the same, but it’s much less trouble to put together.   My last similar recipe was with beef.  This is how I make this dish with chicken.   This recipe is Induction friendly and Primal diners who eat cheese can also enjoy this dish. It would not be suitable for Paleo followers.

INGREDIENTS: 

3 small poblano peppers (mine weighed 2-2.5 oz. each)

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces

2 T. olive oil

2 oz. onion, sliced

½ tsp. dried guajillo chile, seeded and chopped fine (optional)

¼ tsp. dried ancho chile powder (optional)

¼ tsp. chili powder  (use ½ tsp. if guajillo and ancho above are omitted)

¼ tsp. garlic powder

3/4 c. Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, solids only

¼ c. cilantro, chopped

6 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 450º.  Roasting your peppers will make them milder and sweeter, so don’t bypass this step.  Cut tops off poblano peppers and remove seed cluster.  Cut in halves, lay the halves on a non-stick baking sheet and roast in 450º oven for about 15-20 minutes, turning once during roasting.  Remove and cool.  Lower oven to 350º. Peel tough skin gently off the peppers.  While they are roasting, heat oil in non-stick skillet.  Saute onion until tender.  Add chicken and saute until meat is no longer pink.  Add all remaining ingredients except the cheese.  Simmer 3-4 minutes for flavors to meld together.  Lay the skinned poblano pepper pieces in the bottom of 3 individual casserole dishes (or use one larger casserole dish if you prefer).  Top the peppers in each serving dish with 1 spoon of the chicken filling.  Spread 1/3 of the cheese over the chicken filling in each dish. Place the remaining chicken filling evenly in the dish(es).  Top with the remaining cheese.  Pop into a 350º oven for about 20 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is melted.  Serve at once with a nice guacamole salad (and if you are in Pre-Maintenance or Maintenance, this is nice with a ½ c. of heated refried beans).

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 3 servings, each contains:

547 calories

35 g  fat

7.70 g  carbs, 2.23 g  fiber, 5.47 g  NET CARBS

47.7 g  protein

541 mg potassium

1194 mg sodium

13% RDA Viatmin A, 54% B6, 15% B12, 67% C, 13% E, 12% copper, 22% iron, 12% magnesium, 104% niacin, 37% phosphorous, 15% riboflavin, 11% thiamin and 16% zinc

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Chicken Rochambeau

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Many, many years ago I ordered this wonderful dish somewhere in New Orleans down in the French Quarter.  But for the life of me I can’t remember if it was at Brennan’s, Antoine’s or where.  What I DO remember is it was REAL good! This dish was made with a seared chicken breast, a rich brown mushroom wine sauce and a Bernaise sauce to top it off.  The marriage of these two sauces, much to my complete surprise, was amazing!

You have to do a little bit of a juggling act with lots of little pans going on your stove-top all at the same time, but I’ve streamlined the directions as much as possible for you. The end result of your juggling act is well worth it.  As I don’t want my sides to have conflicting flavors that will compete with this delicate flavor synergy, I usually serve fairly simple vegetables with this.

This dish is not suitable for Induction due to the bit of wine in the brown sauce.  You could omit the wine and have the dish, however.  Won’t be quite as good, but doable.  This dish is suitable for Paleo-Primal if you leave out the wine.  Although this dish is higher in calories than most of my recipes, a quick review of the macro-nutrients may outweigh the high-cal price you have to pay to enjoy this dish. Very impressive nutritional stats on this one.

INGREDIENTS:

2   5-oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 T. unsalted butter

1 tsp. olive oil

1 c. rich brown gravy (I used leftover gravy from a stewed beef roast)

¼ c. chopped parsley

¼ c. red wine (or rose will do)

Dash each salt and pepper

4 oz. canned mushrooms, drained (or sauteed fresh if you have them on hand)

1 c. Bernaise Sauce (my recipe is here: http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/peggys-bernaise-sauce/ )

DIRECTIONS:  Make your Bernaise sauce and set on rear stove burner that is turned off.  If it gets thick while waiting to do remaining steps, add a bit more butter and warm it up slightly on lowest heat possible, whisking constantly.  You will have about ½ c. of the Bernaise sauce leftover, but it’s great warmed up with some butter the next day over scrambled eggs or a grilled steak!  Butterfly the chicken breasts with a sharp knife. Heat butter and oil in non-stick skillet on high heat and saute chicken until golden on each side and thoroughly done (about 5-6 minutes on a side).    While those are browning, in another non-stick skillet, add beef gravy, red wine, parsley, salt and pepper and the drained mushrooms.  Bring to light boil and then lower heat and simmer to reduce just a bit while you get the plates for plating.  To plate, spoon about 1/2 c. of the brown mushroom sauce in a tidy puddle on the plate.  Set a chicken breast on top.  Finally, spoon about ¼ c. Bernaise sauce on the top down the center and serve your favorite vegetables alongside.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 2 servings, each contains:

786 calories

55.7 g  fat

5.3 g  carbs, 1.3 g  fiber, 4 g  NET CARBS

46.7 g  protein

52% RDA Vitamin A, 59% B6, 52% B12, 27% C, 21% E, 25% copper, 62% iron, 20% magnesium, 10% manganese, 136% niacin, 54% phosphorous, 25% riboflavin, 86% selenium, 15% thiamin, 26% zinc

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Asian Honey Duck

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We just love duck and I bought one this weekend.  I usually do my Dad’s recipe http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/marinated-wild-duck/  when I cook duck.  But my husband didn’t much feel like grilling tonight, so I roasted my duck in the oven with an Asian-style marinade instead.  It came out absolutely delicious!  I served it with my Chipotle “Sweet Potatoes” http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/chipotle-sweet-potatoes/  and simmered kale with caramelized onion.  A GREAT combination of flavors, I might add.

I have a box set of Boyajian infused oils http://www.boyajianinc.com/ and used a few drops each of the Chile Oil and Garlic Oil in this marinade.  I love their oils and flavorings!  But I’m not sure Boyajian still makes this particular box set of oils.  They have changed the oils in their mini set now, it appears. I can’t find the set I have for ordering on their site anymore.  It’s pictured only. So I took the liberty of substituting fresh garlic and chile paste into the recipe and nutritional info calculations to make it easier.   Who knows, it might even taste better than the infused oils I used.

This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins (provided you substitute imitation honey) and acceptable for Paleo-Primal followers as written.  Check out the nutritional stats on this baby!  Very nutritious, duck is!

I suspect this delicious marinade would be good also on chicken or pork ribs.

INGREDIENTS:

1   5 lb. duck

1/4 c. chicken stock, preferably homemade

2 T. honey

2 T. coconut aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp. hot chile paste

½ clove minced garlic

DIRECTIONS:  In a 9×13 plastic container or glass dish large enough to hold a butterflied duck, mix the marinade ingredients.   Pull organs out of duck and reserve for baking alongside the duck, or for other uses.  Butterfly the duck by cutting it up the back bone with kitchen shears (you can leave the bird whole if you prefer). Place the duck in the marinade pan and baste him all over with a basting brush.  Baste or turn duck several times in the marinade during the 1 hour marinating time.  Be sure to set him in the refrigerator while he is marinating.

15 minutes before he has marinated the full hour, preheat your oven to 450º.  You may want to lower the top rack of your oven one notch so the duck won’t sit too high in the oven and scorch while roasting.

Place a meat roasting rack in a large roasting pan big enough to hold the rack and the duck and him not hang over the pan on the sides.  Fill the bottom of the pan with about 1″ water.  Place the duck, skin side up, on the roasting rack and if the bird doesn’t totally clear the water, pour a little water out of the pan.  I like to cut off the long excess piece of skin from around the neck area, cut it into two pieces lengthwise and set aside for now.  You will use these in 30 minutes.

Pop duck into preheated 450º oven for 30 minutes, which should help crisp up the skin (you may want to lower the top rack of your oven for more even browning and no over-browning of the skin. Remove pan from oven carefully and bast duck again. Reduce heat to 350º.  Wrap the wing tips with the neck skin you cut off earlier.  This will keep them from burning during cooking (the wing is my favorite piece of a duck, turkey or chicken and I don’t want it scorched!).  Place the pan back in oven and cook the duck for about 2 hours longer at 350º (smaller ducks will take less time).  I basted the duck several times during cooking, using up all the marinade.  Test the duck breast and leg quarters with a meat thermometer at 1 hour 30 minutes and at 15 minute intervals thereafter.  The USDA says for safety, you should cook duck to a minimum of internal temp of 165º and it should not be oozing red juice when you pierce him with a meat thermometer.  I cook my duck to 170º usually.  The breast meat will be the slightest pink at the center and the leg quarters should not be pink when done.    Remove duck pan from oven when the bird is cooked to your satisfaction and let it sit for 10 minutes before attempting to cut/slice.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 adult servings (possibly 5 if light eaters).  1/4 duck contains:

682 calories

52 g  fat

9.5 g  carbs, .4 g fiber, 9.4 g  NET CARBS (if using real honey)

.83 g  carbs, .3 g  fiber, .53 g  NET CARBS (if using imitation honey)

37 g  protein

697 mg sodium

425 mg potassium

17% RDA Vitamin A, 25% B6, 27% B12, 9% E, 50% copper, 67% iron, 10% magnesium, 59% niacin, 44% phosphorous, 49% riboflavin, 70% selenium, 31% thiamin, 45% zinc

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Thai Chicken Soup

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This delicious soup goes together in 30 minutes if you have the cooked chicken on hand.  If not, you know how to cook that, I’m sure.    This is MY kind of lunch…….quick and tasty!  This is actually my modification of yet another modification of a Paleo recipe found on the net.  This recipe is suitable for Atkins OWL phase or higher and also acceptable for Paleo-Primal diners.  It’s a wee bit high in carbs, but so nutritious those carbs are well worth consuming.   I think a nice variation would to make this with steamed cauliflower, cooked just until tender, rather than with cabbage.

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. cooked chicken, shredded or cut up

4 oz. onion, chopped

½ c. red bell pepper, chopped

1 carrot, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. ginger root, peeled and minced

3 c. green cabbage, chopped

4 c. chicken broth (preferably homemade)

1 c. coconut cream

2 T. Thai red curry paste

1 T. toasted sesame seeds

1 T. black sesame seeds (or use all white seeds if unavailable)

1 tsp. sesame oil (added right before serving)

DIRECTIONS:  Mix all ingredients but the sesame oil and coconut cream in a large soup pot.  Stir well, bring to a boil over high heat.  Then reduce to a simmer and simmer for about 20 minutes to allow carrot and cabbage to get nice and tender.  Once carrot is tender, add coconut cream.  Simmer 2-3 more minutes.  Add sesame oil, stir and serve with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds on top and a sprig of red bell pepper as well, if desired.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 5 large bowls, each containing:

315 calories

20.3 g  fat

11.5 g  carbs, 3.44 g fiber, 8.06 g  NET CARBS

27.4 g  protein

325 mg sodium

593 mg potassium

22% RDA Vitamin A, 46% B6, 55% C, 25% copper, 23% iron, 16% magnesium, 12% manganese, 91% niacin, 37% phosphorous, 24% riboflavin, 40% selenium, 20% thiamin, 19% zinc

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Oven-Fried Chicken Livers

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Southern girl that I am, I get a hankering for fried chicken liver every once in awhile and today was my day.  This is not a food I’ve tried to low-carb before now.  Frankly, I didn’t think they would come out very good without the crispy traditional flour coating they are often made with. My grocery store has taken to carrying their chicken livers in a huge 1.25# cartons instead of the 1# carton they have stocked in the past.  My husband doesn’t like chicken liver, so I alone (or my puppies are most eager to) polish off any leftovers.  So it looks like I’m going to have 5-6 oz. leftover every time I bake my homemade dog treats with the livers.  Now I’ll have a convenient way to quell my fried chicken liver craving that crops up once in awhile.  Since this coating has worked well on everything I’ve tried it on to date, I thought I’d give it a go and these came out REAL good!!  Since I baked doggie treats yesterday, I decided to oven-fry the remainders today for my lunch.  They came out much crisper than I anticipated!   I won’t hesitate to “low-carb” chicken livers again!  These would be suitable for any phase of Atkins.  They are also suitable for Paleo-Primal, if you occasionally eat pork rinds (otherwise, coat with almond flour).    This coating is also good with a bit of grated Parmesan cheese added, but I did not do so today and it is not calculated in the stats below.  Be sure to note the incredible nutritional stats for this food!!  I’m going to try to fit chicken livers into my menus more often now, for sure!

INGREDIENTS:

5 oz. raw chicken livers

½ c. homemade mayo (my recipe is here:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/homemade-mayonnaise/ )

4 oz. plain pork rinds, crushed fine

1/4 tsp. spice blend of your choice (I used my seafood spice blend: http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/my-seafood-spice-blend/)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 425º.  Place chicken livers on paper toweling and pat them with more paper towels to get as much moisture off as you can. Cut the really large ones in half for more even cooking.  Pour mayo onto a paper plate and crushed rinds onto a second paper plate.  Dip livers into the mayo to coat boat sides, then drop into crushed rinds.  I curl the paper plate to facilitate rolling the rinds up over the tops.  Place coated livers onto a non-stick sided cookie sheet.   Pop into 425º oven for 10 minutes.  Turn gently with tongs and cook an additional 10 minutes.  They should be done in 20 minutes and browned nicely on both sides.  Enjoy quickly so they will still be crispy!  Serve with your favorite sides.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 3 servings, each contains:

526 calories

43 g  fat

.53 g  carbs, .03 g  fiber, .5 NET CARBS

32.5 g  protein

488 mg sodium, 171 mg potassium

73% Vitamin A, 38% B6, 412% B12, 11% C, 11% D, 39% E, 47% copper, 86% iron, 11% magnesium, 13% manganese, 41% niacin, 69% phosphorous, 152% riboflavin, 176% selenium, 23% thiamin, 46% zinc.

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Thai Chicken

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I’ve recently acquired Thai fish sauce and am really enjoying experimenting with it. An interesting flavor, that. This tasty dish was almost effortless to prepare. Goes together in minutes!  My kinda food!    We both thoroughly enjoyed this and hope you will, too.  I served my portion atop some leftover steamed cauliflower, which was quite good.  My husband had his atop some leftover basmati rice.  This would also be good atop steamed spaghetti squash, zucchini pasta or eaten alone with side vegetables of your choice.  This dish is suitable for all Atkins phases and for your Paleo-Primal guests as well.  I use coconut aminos nowadays for its healthier and low sodium qualities, but you can certainly substitute tamari or low-sodium soy sauce if you prefer.

INGREDIENTS:

2 chicken breasts (10 oz., skinless, boneless, cut into small bites)

1 T. coconut oil

2 T. olive oil

4 oz. onion, chopped or sliced (yellow, white or red)

1 large jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and chopped

1 clove minced garlic

½ tsp. minced ginger root

1 tsp. Thai fish sauce

1 tsp. coconut aminos (or low-sodium soy sauce or tamari)

¼ tsp. chile paste (I use Sambal Oelek)

½ c. fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

½ c. homemade chicken broth

Pinch of your preferred thickener (optional)

1 oz. red bell pepper (optional for color)

DIRECTIONS:  Heat oils in a non-stick skillet or wok and add onion and jalapeno. Saute until it begins to wilt/caramelize.  Add cut up chicken meat and saute until done. Add garlic, ginger, fish sauce, coconut aminos and chili paste.  Continue to stir fry a couple minutes.  Add cilantro and broth.   Allow flavors to meld a couple more minutes and thicken if desired.  Serve at once over a bed of steamed riced cauliflower or shirataki tofu noodles.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 3 servings, each contains:

338 calories

21.43 g  fat

5.17 g  carbs, .97 g  fiber, 4.2 g NET CARBS

29.7 g  protein

495 mg sodium

388 mg potassium

46% RDA Vitamin B6, 39% C, 13% E, 12% copper, 18% iron, 92% niacin, 45% selenium, 10% thiamin, 14% zinc

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Chipotle-Guajillo Baked Chicken

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This simple baked chicken is GREAT when you don’t feel much like cooking. I’m fighting off an upper respiratory infection and tonight was my night to just not feel like cooking.  Those are the nights we tend to bake chicken in the simplest way.  But the seasoning on this was very nice and I will do this combo again. I served this with a guacamole/lettuce salad and ½ roasted sweet potato.  This chicken in suitable for all phases of Atkins and also for Paleo-Primal diners.

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole chicken, butterflied

4 T. unsalted butter (mine was clarified), melted

½ tsp. guajillo chile powder (or 1 seeded, ground whole dried guajillo chile)

¼ tsp. smoky chipotle powder

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. onion powder

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 450º.  Cut up the back of the chicken and lay the bird out flat on a large baking pan.  Add the butter.  Mix the spices in a small saucer or paper plate and sprinkle over the chicken.  Pop in the oven and in 5 minutes, take it out and using a brush, baste the chicken with the melted butter.  Return to the oven and bake at 450º for 30 minutes.  Remove and lower heat to 350º.  Baste again with buttery pan juices and return to hot oven.  Bake an additional 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer stuck into the leg/thigh joint and breast reads internal temp of 170º.  Baste one last time with pan juices and serve with a nice guacamole or green salad and your favorite, allowable vegetable.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  I will provide the nutritional info for 1/10th of the basting marinade as I get 10 pieces of chicken from a whole bird.  You will then need to add in the info for the specific piece(s) of chicken eaten.

Makes 10 servings; One serving of basting sauce only contains: (add meat to this number)

46.3 calories

5.13 g  fat

.31 g  carbs, .08 g  fiber, .23 g  NET CARBS

.07 g  protein

negligible sodium

6 mg potassium

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Iranian Grilled Chicken

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This is a dish my Dad cooked often when we lived in Iran when I was a child.  Our assigned motor pool driver, Reza, taught my Dad how to make this wonderful dish.  I can remember to this day, some 50+ years later, the smell of this wonderful chicken being grilled on portable Aladdin grills outside shop fronts on Shimran Boulevard (or so it was named in 1960) in Teheran, walking to our favorite bakery for their wonderful 2′ long sheet bread called nan-e sangak.  Not sure which aroma was more divine, the chicken or the to-die-for bread cooking in the pebble-based ovens.

My addition to this recipe is the smoked Spanish paprika.  I know for certain that was not in the recipe my Mother wrote down & brought back to the States.  The original recipe uses a popular Iranian spice, sumac, which can be obtained in better spice stores, ordered on-line from places like Penzey’s Spices…….or you can grow your own like my  father did!  Sumac is the ground, dried berries/fruit of the sumac bush.    It is a slightly acidic, lemony tasting spice that is found in many Iranian, Israeli and other Gulf States dishes.  If you can’t get sumac, it can be omitted without great detriment to the final flavor of this dish. This recipe is Atkins Induction friendly and Paleo-Primal acceptable as well.  Because it is impossible to calculate the total nutritional info per serving, as that would depend on the specific pieces of chicken eaten, I will just provide the information for each of 10 servings of the marinade (the # of pieces of chicken I get from a chicken, cutting each breast in half) of sauce and you will have to calculate and add in the values for the piece(s) of chicken eaten.

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick unsalted butter or ghee, melted

Juice of 2 lemons

Dash each salt and pepper

½ tsp. sumac

1½ tsp. paprika (I use smoked Spanish paprika)

½ tsp. turmeric

1 onion, minced very fine

1 whole chicken, cut into 10 pieces

DIRECTIONS:  Melt the butter in a small sauce pan or in your microwave.  Add all other marinade ingredients.  Stir well and remove from heat.  Cut up the chicken into 10 pieces (I reserve the back for making stock).  Place chicken into gallon ziploc bag.  Pour 1/2 of the marinade over the chicken.  Zip bag and manipulate it to coat each piece of chicken well with marinade.   Set rest of marinade aside for basting later.  Allow the chicken to marinate in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.  Prepare charcoal grill.  When the coals are hot and ready, place chicken on the grill and cook on each side until done, basting often with the remaining marinade mix.  Cooking takes about 20 minutes on a side to get the chicken properly done (longer if cooked far from coals, indirectly).   Serve with grilled vegetables, green vegetable or a classic sour cream/yogurt cucumber mint salad.  ENJOY

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes ample marinade/sauce for 10 pieces of chicken.  Each serving of the marinade only contains:

88 calories

9.2 g  fat

1.87 g  carbs, 1.2 g  fiber, .67 NET CARBS

1.3 g protein

17.9 mg sodium

35.7 mg potassium

12% RDA vitamin A, <10% all other macro nutrients

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Chicken in Cherry Walnut Sauce

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I’ve been enjoying some lovely Oregon-grown cherries this week and had exactly 1 cup left in the bag when I was deciding how to cook my two chicken breasts for dinner tonight. I wanted to do something different and this dish was hatched in my head at the stove top, actually. It came out very good and my husband put his stamp of approval on it, although he’s not fond of nuts and I noticed him picking those out as he at his.  I, however, LOVED the walnuts in this sauce. This dish is not suitable until the higher fruits rung of the Atkins OWL carb ladder as the cherries make it pretty carb-y.  I certainly won’t be able to have this dish too often, but it’s nice special occasion fare.  This is suitable for Primal and Paleo as written.    The wine in this can be omitted if you prefer.  I’m not doing wine right now on my Whole30 Challenge, so I cooked this tonight in two separate skillets.   I suspect this sauce would compliment duck breast or pork chops, perhaps venison and elk steaks as well.  This dish boasts some impressive nutritional stats you can see below!

INGREDIENTS:

1T. each coconut and olive oil

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (mine weighed 9 oz. total)

2 oz. yellow onion, sliced

2 T. dehydrated shallots

Pinch each salt and black pepper

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

2 T. balsamic vinegar

¼ c. fruity red wine (optional)

1 T. butter or ghee

3/4 c. homemade chicken stock

1 c. fresh Bing cherries, pitted and sliced in halves

½ walnuts, chopped coarsely

xanthan gum or your favorite thickener (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 400º.  Butterfly the chicken breasts so they are thinner and will cook faster and more evenly.  Heat the coconut and olive oil in a non-stick skillet.  Sear the two butterflied breasts on one side of the skillet until golden brown.   Brown and caramelize the onion on the other side of the skillet at the same time, stirring them as they caramelize.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on the onions as they cook. When the onions are done, add the cherries to that side of the skillet and let them cook a minute or two, stirring.  Chicken should be nearly done at this point. Add all remaining ingredients  and stir the sauce mixture around the two breasts.  Sprinkle sauce with thickener, if using, and stir to blend it well.  Pop skillet into oven for about 15-20 minutes to finish cooking and blending of flavors.  Remove from oven and plate the chicken, dipping half the sauce over each serving.  I served with steamed caulirice and a cucumber/tomato salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 2 servings, each containing:

601 calories

42.6 g  fat

20.3 g  carbs, 3.3 g  fiber, 17 NET CARBS

30 g  protein

370 mg sodium

651 mg potassium

13% Vitamin A, 50% B6, 10% B12, 11% E, 69% copper, 31% iron, 27% magnesium, 62% manganese, 84% niacin, 46% phosphorous, 22% riboflavin, 42% selenium, 19% thiamin, 24% zinc

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Paleo Pot Pie

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I was wanting to use some leftover baked chicken breast meat for dinner tonight and my husband voted for chicken pot pie.  I have a pot pie recipe on my site already that is Atkins suitable, but it has Carbquick in it and therefore I can no longer eat that one.  I told hubby “I don’t think I can do that and stay true to my new Paleo way of eating.”   Then I thought about it a few minutes and realized I just might be able to pull it off so that it would be tasty, satisfy his desire for one of his comfort foods and meet all Paleo recommendations.  AND I DID!  MIKEY LIKED IT!!!!  

This dish is suitable for anyone who is at the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins OWL ladder or who follows a Paleo-Primal program.  The nutritional stats below are very impressive, making it a most nutritious dinner! This would also be good made with turkey or rabbit.

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

2 c. homemade chicken stock

1 1/3 c. carrot, diced

1 1/3 c. red radishes, diced

½ c. red bell pepper, diced

1½ c. green beans, cooked and chopped a bit

½ tsp. red palm oil (for yellow color)

2 c. chicken breast, cooked, diced

½ tsp. glucomannan (Konjac) powder (or your favorite thickener)

Dash black pepper

3 T. coconut cream

3 T. homemade mayo

Dash olive oil to grease baking dish

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

1 c. almond flour

2 T. butter or ghee, softened

1 whole egg

1 T. coconut cream or coconut milk

DIRECTIONS:  Pour chicken stock into 4 qt. saucepan.  Add diced carrot and radish.  Bring to boil and simmer until almost tender.  Add bell pepper and cook until it is just softened a bit.  Turn off fire and add chopped green beans.  Stir in coconut cream and mayo.  Dust the glucomannan powder (or whatever thickener you prefer) evenly over the broth and stir quickly to disperse into the sauce.  Sauce should begin to thicken right up.  Add black pepper and stir to blend all ingredients.  Preheat oven to 350º. Grease an 8×11 baking dish with a bit of olive oil and pour chicken filling into the dish.  Set aside while you make the topping.

In a small bowl, measure the almond flour.  With a fork, beat in the soft butter, then the egg and finally the coconut cream or coconut milk.    It will form a medium thick dough.  With the fork and a spoon, drop small dots of the dough evenly all over the top of the chicken filling.  Pop into the preheated 350º oven for about 40 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned on top.  This is nice served with a green salad.  ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 5 nice 1¼ cup servings, each containing:

426 calories

33 g fat

12.5 g  carbs, 5.56 g  fiber, 6.94 g  NET CARBS

24.3 g   protein

382 mg sodium (less if there is no salt in your broth)

475 mg potassium

58% RDA Vitamin A, 33% B6, 31% B12, 45% C, 15% E, 16% copper, 37% iron, 11% magnesium, 13% manganese, 48% niacin, 34% phosphorous, 30% riboflavin, 48% selenium, 17% zinc

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Chicken al Pesto

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Today’s lunch was a quick (under 10 minutes), easy, and delightful surprise!  It was sort of a cross between a curry and an Alfredo dish.  Very delicious!  This can be served atop cooked cauliflower, zucchini noodles, lightly stir-fried cabbage, like I did (which turned out to be a very good choice for this dish), or if you eat them, shirataki noodles. This dish would be suitable for Atkins OWL phase or for Paleo eating.  I used red palm oil to saute my chicken in, thus it gave it the distinctive yellow color you see in the pic.  If you use olive oil or coconut oil, the sauce will be white.

INGREDIENTS: 

8 oz. skinless chicken breast

1 T. red palm oil (or oil of your choice)

Dash crushed red pepper

2 T. pesto sauce (I use my homemade:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/pesto-sauce/)

½ c. coconut milk

¼-½ water (or chicken stock if you prefer)

Dash sea salt

DIRECTIONS:  Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces.  I actually used a baked leftover chicken breast.  In a heated non-stick skillet, saute the chicken in the oil until it begins to brown and is fully done.  Add the crushed red pepper and pesto sauce.  Lower heat.  Add the coconut milk, just enough water to achieve the thickness you like and the dash of salt.   Simmer on low while you prepare the sauteed cabbage or whatever you plant to serve this on.  If it gets too thick, thin with a little more water stirred in.  Serve atop your vegetable or “noodle” substitute of choice.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 2 servings, each contains (not including the cabbage or base you decide to serve this on)

520 calories

40 g  fat

5.1 g carbs, 2.1 g  fiber, 3.0 g  NET CARBS

37 g  protein

543 mg sodium

445 mg potassium

46% RDA Vitamin B6, 15% B12, 10% E, 30% copper, 31% iron, 19% magnesium, 41% manganese, 113% niacin, 48% phosphorous, 11% riboflavin, 64% selenium, 9% thiamin and 20% zinc

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Montreal Chicken Soup

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I was quite taken with a recipe I saw on PeaceLoveAndLowCarb’s blog not long ago and was inspired to create a similar but I suspect, considerably different-tasting soup today.  This chowder recipe was my inspiration:  http://peaceloveandlowcarb.blogspot.com/2012/03/chicken-bacon-crock-pot-chowder.html.  I decided to greatly reduce the bacon (I’m extremely salt sensitive) and inject the milder taste of pure ground pork instead.  I also added some coconut milk to my recipe, so there was a subtle taste of coconut to my final dish.  Perhaps the biggest flavor difference in my creation is in lieu of thyme, I decided to use McCormick’s Montreal Steak Grillmates seasoning, since the chicken I was putting into the soup was not sauteed chicken, as is called for in her recipe, but was in fact 12 oz. of my leftover Montreal Baked Chicken, which has a distinctive flavor and has become quite a popular chicken dish both with my husband,dinner guests and readers.   As this seasoning has salt in it already, I eliminated the salt from the original recipe.  I’ve altered the amounts of several other ingredients, deleted the celery entirely and added chia seeds not only for their incredible nutritional value but also for their their ability to thicken liquids. I grind mine in a coffee grinder dedicated solely to spices, but you could just put the seed in a sandwich bag, zip and pound with a hammer or flat meat mallet on a cutting board.  You just want to break them up a bit so they are not so visible in the soup, particularly if you are using the darker seeds rather than the whiter chia seeds.

All I can say is this soup is incredibly rich, has depth of flavor and the strong flavor of bacon and coconut in this soup takes my Montreal Chicken flavor combination to a whole new level!  I want to thank Kyndra for my inspiration with this recipe.  It ‘s a keeper for sure!  I look forward to trying her original version with thyme one day as well.  This soup is not suitable until the OWL nuts and seeds phase of Atkins, due to the coconut milk.  Here’s how I put it together:

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. baked chicken meat, skin removed (I used my Montreal Baked Chicken), diced small

4 oz. lean ground pork (or bulk pork sausage)

4 oz. lean bacon, chopped coarsely

2 oz. onion, chopped

1 T. shallot, chopped (I used 1 T. dehydrated shallot)

3 cloves garlic, minced

5 oz. sliced mushrooms

1/3 c. chopped parsley

3/4 c. leek, well washed and very thinly sliced

¼ tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1½ tsp. McCormick “Grillmates” Montreal Steak Seasoning

4 oz. cream cheese

1/4 c. heavy cream

3/4 c. coconut milk

2 c. chicken stock (low sodium)

3 c. water (more if final soup is too thick for you)

1 tsp. chia seeds, ground

DIRECTIONS:  Cut up the chicken into small bites and set aside.  Cut bacon and brown a bit, add onion, leek and garlic.  Saute until onion is getting tender.  Add sausage, mushrooms, parsley, and all seasonings.  Saute, stirring for 4-5 minutes. Add in cream cheese in small bits at a time, the diced chicken, chicken stock, water, coconut milk and ground chia seed.  Simmer over low heat for about 15-20 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.  Lower heat and stir in heavy cream.  Simmer about 5 minutes longer at lowest heat to slightly thicken up. Add a bit more water if the overall soup is too thick or doesn’t have enough liquid for your liking.  I found I wanted 1 c. more water in mine, as I don’t like too high a solids:liquid ration in my soups.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Entire recipe has 35 net carbs.  I found my recipe made eight 1-cup servings, each containing:

315 calories

25.4 g  fat

5.74 g  carbs, 1.38 g  fiber, 4.36 NET CARBS

16.5 g  protein

580 mg sodium

360 mg potassium

18% RDA Vitamin A, 19% B6, 14% B12, 14% C, 23% copper, 22% iron, 19% manganese, 38% niacin, 26% phosphorous, 19% riboflavin, 30% selenium and 18% zinc

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Pollo con Queso

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My husband asked for Mexican food last night and I had already thawed a whole chicken, so this dish is what I came up with that satisfied his craving and my tastes as well.  It was simple to throw together, is tasty, and pretty much cooks itself after browning the chicken.  This dish is suitable for Atkins Induction.  It is a little carb pricey, but very nutritious, as the info below indicates.

INGREDIENTS:

1  3-lb. chicken, (skin, wings and back removed for making stock)

1 T. butter, coconut oil or olive oil  (I used coconut)

½ can (10 oz) Ro-Tel tomatoes & green chilies, drained solids (I used extra hot)

2/3 c. chicken stock

¼ tsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ c. heavy cream

2 oz. American cheese slices (broken into pieces)

2 oz. Cheddar cheese, grated

2 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, grated

2 oz. Pepper Jack Cheese (cut into pieces)

DIRECTIONS:   Cut up chicken.  Remove most of the skin, wings and neck (if present) and boil those in water to cover until tender, about 40 minutes.  While that is boiling, cut breast pieces diagonally into two portions.  The legs and thighs will make a total of 8 pieces.   Preheat oven to 350º.  In a large skillet (mine is oven-proof 13″) heat the oil of your choice and brown the skinned pieces of chicken until nicely browned on both sides.  Meat will not be totally done inside, however.   Turn off the heat and stir in the ½ can of drained tomato/chile solids, the chicken stock and spices.  Freeze any remaining stock and I then cut up the skin and meat to add to my two rat terriers’ dinners for this entire week.    They love it when I cook chicken.    Reserving out a bit of the grated cheddar and Monterey Jack for final topping, evenly distribute the cheese over the sauce and chicken.  Cover and pop into  350º oven for about 40 minutes.  Remove from oven, uncover  and stir in the cream over low heat until it begins to slightly thicken  Sprinkle reserved cheese on top.  Place cover on top for 1-2 minutes to melt the final cheese addition and serve at once.  If you have it, a garnish of a few cilantro leaves would be good on this also. You can see from the pic above I served my husband some canned refried beans with cheese melted on top and this is good with a little guacamole (I didn’t have an avocado on hand) or a green salad of lettuce and tomato only.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

469 calories

35 g  fat

3.48 g  carbs, .48 g  fiber, 3.0 g  NET CARBS

973 mg sodium

357 mg potassium

25% RDA Vitamin A, 25% B6, 25% B12, 21% calcium, 15% copper, 18% iron, 56% niacin, 45% phosphorous, 39% riboflavin, 42% selenium, 17% thiamin, 39% zinc

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Balsamic Chicken

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There used to be a little Italian restaurant here in town that went out of business a number of years ago.  We loved their chef’s more unusual dishes and were sorry to see them go under.  I was thinking of that place today while I was trying to decide what to do with two large chicken breasts.  This restaurant used to serve a delicious grilled rib-eye steak smothered in a rich balsamic red wine sauce we both loved!  I wondered if that flavor might be good on chicken so I decided to get creative this evening and came up with a tasty, quick chicken dish.  Of course, I think this would be very good served over a char-grilled steak as well.     This dish is not suitable until On-Going Weight Loss (OWL) phase due to the wine.  You can substitute cream for the almond milk, which I’m sure would be very good indeed, but I was out of cream.  My husband took one bite of this and said “This one’s a keeper.”  I just love when he does that with a new creation.

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut laterally into four thinner slices

2 T. unsalted butter

3 oz. onion, sliced

1 oz. sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped (the ones NOT packed in olive oil)

2 T. hazelnut oil

¼ c. balsamic vinegar

4 T. white wine

½ c. unsweetened almond milk

1 c. chicken stock, low-sodium

1   6.5 oz. can sliced mushrooms, DO NOT drain off juice

1½-2 T. peppercorns, slightly broken up (mine are black, red and white mixed)

Dash sea salt

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Melt the butter in a large non-stick skillet over high heat.  Sear the pieces of chicken until golden and nearly done through.  Remove chicken and add sliced onion to the skillet.  Saute until they begin to caramelize and slightly brown. Add diced sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms with their juice.  I placed my peppercorns into a quart ziploc bag, zipped it up and hit them 3-4 times with a meat cleaver to break them up a bit.  Add pepper, salt and all remaining ingredients to the skillet and simmer 1-2 minutes to allow tomatoes to begin to plump up as they absorb some of the juices.  Place chicken back into the pan and spoon some of the juices over the top.  Pop into hot oven and bake for 15-20 minutes to allow the vinegar and wine to caramelize and meld their wonderful flavors together.  I don’t bother to thicken mine, but you certainly can if you are so inclined.  Serve each chicken portion with some of the sauce alongside your favorite vegetable dish.  Balsamic vinegar goes nicely with green beans, so I served mine with some of those to which I added some finely minced shallots.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains: (numbers reflect almond milk, not cream)

369 calories

17.7 g  fat

10.15 g  carbs, 1.73 g  fiber, 8.12 g  NET CARBS

37 g  protein

439 mg potassium

147 mg sodium

48% RDA Vitamin B6, 33% E, 31% Iron, 115% niacin, 58% selenium, 43% phosphorous

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Chicken Bolognese

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This dish is very easy to prepare (provided you have the spaghetti meat sauce on hand) and quite tasty!  It can either be served as shown above, over a bed of Dreamfields pasta (if you imbibe) or over shirataki tofu noodles.  This extremely nutritious dinner is suitable for your Induction menu rotations provided you omit the wine. Each serving begins with 5 oz. raw chicken breast, which cooks down to about 4.5 oz.  Of course, you may choose to use larger portions of chicken, and I did for my husband.  But the smaller portion filled me up quite nicely.

INGREDIENTS: 

20 oz. deboned chicken breast, skinless (5 oz. piece per serving)

1 c. my spaghetti sauce (I used:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/peggys-spaghetti-sauce/)

4 basil leaves, chopped

4 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated

½ c. grated Parmesan cheese

1 oz. red wine (omit if still on Induction)

2 T. olive oil

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Pound the chicken breasts with a meat cleaver between two sheets of plastic wrap until they are just about ¼-3/8″ thick.  Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet and sear the chicken on both sides until golden and nearly done.  Turn off heat.  Spoon ¼ c. meat sauce over each of the four pieces of browned chicken.  Next drizzle ½ T. red wine over each serving.   Sprinkle ¼ of the basil leaves on each next.  Then 1 oz. of mozzarella.  Finally sprinkle the top of each stack with 2 T. Parmesan cheese.     Pop that skillet into your preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes to finish cooking and blend the flavors.  Serve with your favorite green vegetable or a nice green salad.  I made some low-carb garlic bread to go with this also.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

475 calories

28.4 g  fat

6.4 g  carbs, 1.3 g  fiber, 5.1 g NET CARBS

45.7 g  protein

702 mg sodium

279 mg potassium

37% RDA Vitamin B6, 32% B12, 407% phosphorous, 27% zinc, 29% calcium, 16% iron, 12% magnesium, 86% niacin, 23% riboflavin and 53% selenium

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Indian Chicken-Cabbage Stir Fry

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This dish came about when I decided to make something completely different with one lonesome grilled leftover chicken thigh in  my refrigerator.  I pulled the skin off (and enjoyed that right away, as I was famished ), chopped up the 3 oz. of smoked chicken and started throwing a few veggies into an oiled skillet.  The resulting dish was filling, tasty and super easy.  You could use any cooked chicken meat, but the smoke on this piece gave this a Tandoori smoke flavor that really improved it I think.  This dish is Atkins Induction friendly.  This is an extremely nutritious dinner or lunch, as you can see from the nutritional stats below.   I suspect this recipe would be be quite good if you substituted shrimp for the protein.

INGREDIENTS:

1 T. coconut oil

3 oz. skinned chicken meat, chopped (preferably smoked chicken)

6 oz. green cabbage, cut into large shreds

2 oz. onion, sliced thin

½ c. red bell pepper, sliced or chopped

Dash salt

½ jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced thinly

¼ tsp. garam masala spice (I used my own recipe here on the site)

DIRECTIONS:  Skin the chicken and chop.  Prepare all the veggies and have them and your spices nearby.  Heat a large non-stick skillet (or wok) on MEDIUM-HI and stir-fry the cut-up chicken a couple minutes, until it just begins to brown a bit on the surface.  Add the sliced onion and continue to cook.  Add the cabbage and saute just until it begins to soften. Lower heat to MEDIUM if cabbage is beginning to brown, as you don’t want to brown it.  Add the red pepper, jalapeno and spices.  Cook until all veggies are tender crisp or as done as you like them.  Stir continuously to avoid scorching of the veggies.  Serve at once. I don’t serve anything with this dish.  Chow hound that I am, I consider this to serve just 1 person.  It filled a large plate.  You may find it will serve 2.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 1 serving which contains:

377 calories

23.3 g  fat

19.3 g  carbs, 6.7 g  fiber, 12.6 NET CARBS

25.4 g  protein

542 mg sodium

729 mg potassium

21% RDA Vitamin A, 55% B6, 218% C, 17% copper, 18% magnesium, 24% manganese, 48% niacin, 34% phosphorous, 31% riboflavin, 46% selenium, 22% thiamin and 334% zinc.

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Chicken Cacciatore

Click to enlarge. Shown with sauteed eggplant.

I asked my husband what he wanted me to prepare with the chicken I thawed for dinner and he said “Something Italian.”    You can’t get much more Italian than Chicken Cacciatore, so that’s what I cooked for him.  It’s one of the dishes I made him before we got married. He tells me me often it and my shrimp curry cinched the proposal.    As I prepared it, it dawned on me I have not yet included this long-time favorite on my website.   So here ya go!  This one only takes about an hour from start to finish to get it to the table, so that’s always nice.

This recipe is not suitable for Induction unless you leave out the red wine.  But it just won’t be classic cacciatore without it, in my opinion.

INGREDIENTS:

1  chicken breast, (mine weighed 7 oz) deboned and cut into 3 slices (I leave the skin on)

1 large chicken thigh

1 large drumstick

2 T. olive oil

4 oz. sliced onion

1 medium green bell pepper, sliced

1 can sliced mushrooms (or 4 fresh mushrooms sliced)

1 clove minced garlic

3/4 c. chicken broth, low sodium

¼ tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1  can (14.5 oz) diced or crushed tomatoes

¼ c. red wine

DIRECTIONS:   Cut up the breast into 3 pieces, the thigh into two.  Heat 1 T. of the oil in a non-stick skillet and brown all the pieces well on all sides.  Remove the chicken temporarily to a platter.  Add remaining oil and saute onion and bell pepper a few minutes.  Add all remaining ingredients to skillet, stir and replace chicken pieces into the skillet.  Cover and simmer about 45 minutes or until the largest chicken pieces are fully done.   If it isn’t cooked down enough to be fairly thick on its own (tomatoes will vary in water content), I would thicken it a bit with a light sprinkle of your favorite thickener and simmer, stirring for a few more minutes before serving. This is traditionally served on spaghetti, but I usually just serve it by itself or with sauteed eggplant as shown above.  My husband, not fully low-carbing, eats a piece of crusty Italian bread with his or I cook him a single serving of Dreamfield’s pasta.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 4 servings each containing:

274 calories

13.23 g  fat

8.83 g  carbs, 2.33 g  fiber, 6.5 g  NET CARBS

26 g  protein

741 mg sodium

346 mg potassium

29.5% RDA phosphorous, 35% Vitamin B6, 46% C, 26% iron, 10% magnesium, 67% niacin, 14% riboflavin, 39% selenium, 10% thiamin, 20% zinc

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