Chicken W / Mushrooms & Swiss Cheese

Wow... it's been a while since my last post. I've been so busy cooking up polymer clay jewelry, that I haven't paid attention to what I'm stuffing down my gullet. I saw myself in some recent photos and thought, "who's that fat girl in the picture?". Imagine my shock and distress as I figured out it was ME! Definitely time to pay attention and get back on the South Beach Diet.

I dusted off the notebook which holds all the recipes I've collected and created for this diet plan. First up: Chicken Breasts With Mushrooms and Swiss Cheese. Yummy: succulent white chicken meat smothered with portabello mushrooms, onions, and a light piece of Swiss. The drizzle of vinegar lowers the glycemic index rating for the dish, and the olive oil adds flavor and gives one the illusion of feeling full. A real winner:

Chicken Breasts With Mushrooms and Swiss Cheese
Serves 4
preheat oven 350 degrees

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 T olive oil
1 T Cajun-style seasoning
1 8-oz package sliced mushrooms (I chopped up some portabello caps)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 T red wine vinegar
1 C chopped green onion
4 slices low-fat Swiss cheese

In a 9 x 13 inch pan, combine oil and garlic. Add chicken breasts, and turn to coat with oil. Sprinkle with the vinegar and Cajun seasoning. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Remove pan from oven, and cover the chicken with the green onions and mushrooms. Add a few more sprinkles of oil and vinegar and return dish to the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and immediately place one slice of the Swiss cheese on top of each breast. Allow cheese to melt, and serve immediately.

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**Note: I didn't have green onions on hand, so I sliced up a white onion and sauteed it until slightly caramelized. It was delicious.

***Also, in the above photo, the red juices are from the roasted beets I served on the side, NOT poorly cooked chicken.

I hope you'll try this and let me know how you liked it.

Copyright What's Cooking Sunday, 2010

Orange Chicken & Roasted Vidalia Onions

Life is getting back to normal which, for me, means: "Stop eating comfort foods and go back to your diet!!!" These two recipes are very light and packed with savory flavors.

Roasted Smokey Orange Chicken
Serves 4
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

4 (5 oz) skinless chicken breast halves
salt and ground black pepper
1/2 C orange marmalade (of the "all fruit" variety)
1-1/2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Line a shallow baking pan with tin foil. arrange chicken in pan and lightly season all over with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In small bowl, combine marmalade, soy sauce, and liquid smoke. Mix well and pour over chicken.

Roast for 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

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Roasted Vidalia Onions
Serves 4
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

4 medium vidalias (2 lbs) peeled and cut into 8 wedges
Olive oil-flavored cooking spray
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 T balsamic vinegar

Arrange onions, flat side down, on jellyroll pan coated with cooking spray. Lightly coat onions with spray. Sprinkle seasonings over onions. Bake 30 minutes. Turn onions over and bake an additional 25 minutes. Spoon into serving dish and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

copyright 2009 What's Cooking?

Turkey-Stuffed Cabbage

Because of St Patrick’s Day last week, cabbage heads were 39 cents at the grocery store. I’m no dummy – that’s a lot of cabbage for not much lettuce! I love stuffed cabbage rolls, but don’t think to make them very often. We had them this week and oh, boy, they were goooooood.

Turkey-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tangy Red Sauce
Serves 6
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

12 large cabbage leaves

Filling:
1 pound lean ground turkey
¾ C cooked rice
½ C finely chopped onion
½ C finely chopped carrots
1 egg, beaten
1 T lemon juice
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T Dijon mustard
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
½ C milk

Sauce:
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 14 ½ oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 T sugar
2 T vinegar
½ C water
2 T cornstarch mixed with ¼ C cold water

Drop cabbage leaves into boiling water, cover and cook 3 minutes. Drain well. For filling, combine ground turkey, rice, onion, carrots, egg, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, pepper, and milk. Mix well and divide into 12 portions. Place one portion in each cabbage leaf and roll up around filling. Place in a baking dish. For sauce, combine tomato sauce, tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and ½ C and pour over cabbage rolls in baking dish. Cover and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Remove rolls from pan and transfer the juices to a saucepan. Place over medium heat. Stir cornstarch and water mixture into the saucepan. Bring to a boil, and stir until thickened. Pour over rolls and serve.

copyright 2009 What's Cooking?

Light Chicken Parmesan

How often have you ordered Chicken Parmesan in a restaurant only to find the chicken is rubbery and stringy, and the breading is soggy and drenched with sauce? Yuck. Here’s a version that guarantees the breading will be crispy and light, and the chicken will be moist and tender. And it will wind up being so light in calories that your return trip for seconds will be guilt-free!

There are two major changes from traditional preparation to this version:
1) The breaded chicken is baked in the oven instead of fried, and
2) this recipe calls for using panko crumbs instead of traditional bread crumbs. You can see the difference between the two in this photo:

The panko has much larger crumbs, making for a nice crunchy crust. Panko is widely available now in supermarkets, as well as Asian markets. If you can’t find it, you can use traditional bread crumbs, but the texture of the breading will have a more delicate texture.

Light Chicken Parmesan
serves 6

1½ C panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 T olive oil
1 oz Parmesan cheese (about ½ C), plus extra for serving
½ C all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp garlic powder
salt and ground black pepper
3 large egg whites
1 T water
cooking spray
3 large chicken breasts, 8 oz ea, trimmed of fat & cut in half horizontally into cutlets
2 C pasta sauce, warmed
3 oz shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, about ¾ C
1 T minced fresh basil

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Combine the panko and oil in a 12” skillet and toast over medium heat, stirring often until golden – about 10 minutes. Spread the breadcrumbs in a shallow baking dish and cool slightly. When cool, stir in the Parmesan cheese.

In a second shallow dish, combine the flour, garlic, 1 T salt and ½ tsp pepper. In a 3rd dish, whisk the egg whites and water together.

Put a wire rack in a shallow baking pan and spray the rack with cooking spray.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Lightly dredge the chicken in the flour, spank off the excess, then dip into the egg white, and finally coat with the panko crumbs. Lay the chicken on the wire rack. Spray the tops of the breaded chicken with cooking spray. Bake until the chicken feels firm when pressed with a finger, about 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven. Spoon 2 T of spaghetti sauce onto the center of each cutlet and top the sauce with 2 T of the mozzarella cheese. Return the pan to the oven and cook until the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the basil and serve, passing extra sauce and Parmesan cheese separately.

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You'll find you can apply this panko breading technique to other recipes as well. Last weekend I breaded tilapia with it, adding in some more savory spices to the dredging flour, and it was GREAT!

copyright 2009 What's Cooking?

Black Bean & Turkey Chili With Golden Raisin & Rosemary Muffins

What’s more iconic to serve on Superbowl Sunday than chili and cornbread? Well, I’ve got a lean, yet delicious, version of chili here using black beans and ground turkey. You can go with the usual cornbread on the side, but how about trying some Golden Raisin and Rosemary Muffins instead? They are light, savory, and slightly sweet at the same time.

Black Bean, Turkey, & Corn Chili
Serves 6

1 T vegetable oil
1 lb ground turkey
1 large onion, chopped
1 T ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp ground black pepper
2¼ tsp garlic powder
1 ¾ C chicken broth
1 C chunky salsa
1 T sugar
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (16 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained

Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over med-high heat. Add the turkey, onion, and spices. Cook until turkey is well browned, stirring frequently to break up the meat.

Stir in the broth, salsa, sugar, beans and corn . Heat to a boil, then reduce heat to low.

Cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Golden Raisin and Rosemary Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1¾ C all purpose flour
¼ C sugar
1 T baking powder
¾ tsp salt
¾ C skim milk
¾ C golden raisins
2-3 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
1/3 C cooking oil
1 egg, lightly beaten

In small saucepan, heat milk, raisins and rosemary at a simmer for 2 minutes. (It will look curdled, but this is OK.) Add cooking oil and cool slightly. Add in beaten egg.

In large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add milk and raisin mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened.

Divide evenly in greased muffin tin. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden. Remove from pan, and serve warm.

copyright 2009 What's Cooking?