Smokey Braised Chicken over Pumpkin

I made this for dinner. Everyone loved it and had it again the next day for lunch. I adapted the recipe in the following ways: The recipe called for sauteing everything in oil. I used water when creating the salsa. I did not saute my garlic, I put it in the blender raw. I left out the salt, it called for one teaspoon to be added at the end. I used the fresh roma tomatoes and can chipotle (2 tablespoons).

What Ya Need:
1 Smoky Chipotle Salsa
2 medium round, or 4 to 5 plum, ripe tomatoes, or one 15-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 pound lean, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium sweet onion, thinly chopped/diced
2 cups sliced Swiss chard
4 cups roasted mashed pumpkin.

What Ya Do:

If using fresh tomatoes, place tomatoes on a baking sheet and place baking sheet 4 inches below the preheated broiler. Roast until blackened on one side, about 6 minutes. Turn tomatoes over and roast on the other side, an additional 6 minutes. Let cool, then peel and roughly chop. Transfer tomatoes and any juices to a small bowl; set aside.

In a large heavy skillet, heat water over medium-high heat. Add onions and chicken; cook, stirring, until chicken is nicely braised, about 10-15 minutes minutes.

Add reserved salsa, tomatoes, and 3 to 4 tablespoons water; stir to combine. Add Swiss chard. Simmer til chard is wilted and all the flavors meld.

Serve over warmed mashed pumpkin.

Beef, Mushroom and Carrot Stew

I found this recipe on www.CookingLight.com, which is one of the ones I use regularly when searching for something new to try. I did not need to do much adapting to it, save I used grapeseed oil instead of olive oil, I used less flour, and I used a really lean roast and cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil oil, divided
1 pound small cremini mushrooms
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 pounds bite-sized pieces of really lean beef
3/4 teaspoon sea salt, divided
1 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 (14-ounce) cans less-sodium beef broth
1 bay leaf
2 cups cubed peeled white or red potato
1 cup (1-inch) sliced carrots
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground red, black, green and white peppercorn mix

Preparation
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, and sauté for 5 minutes or until mushrooms begin to brown. Spoon mushrooms into a large bowl. Lightly coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion; sauté 10 minutes or until tender and golden brown. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add onion mixture to mushroom mixture.

Place flour in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Dredge beef in flour, shaking off excess. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add half of beef mixture; sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cook 6 minutes, browning on all sides. Add browned beef to mushroom mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining beef mixture and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Add 1 cup wine to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add thyme, broth, and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Stir in beef mixture. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 1 hour or until beef is just tender.

Stir in potato and carrot. Simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes to 1 hour or until beef and vegetables are very tender and sauce is thick, stirring occasionally. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

8 servings

Adapted	Unadapted
Calories 215	Calories 303
Total Fat 5.5	Total Fat 9.8
Sat Fat   1.4 g	Sat Fat   3.2 g
Poly Fat 1.4 g	Poly Fat 0.6 g
Mono Fat 1.6 g	Mono Fat 4.7 g
Cholesterol 50 mg	Cholesterol 71 mg
Sodium 303 mg	Sodium 494 mg
Total Carbs 16 g	Total Carbs 26.8 g
Fiber 2.5 g	Fiber 2.3 g
Sugar 1.7 g	Sugars ? g
Protein 26 g	Protien 26 g

Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Also known as chicken cacciatore, this rustic stew cooks in a rich tomato mushroom sauce. We had this for dinner tonight! Everyone loved it... well except for my teenager who hates everything... It's very healthy, fast and tasty too! I really couldn't do much adapting to it to make it any more healthy then it is other then switching to grapeseed oil. Serve over rice or with a thick slice of crusty bread if you don't mind the added calories and carbs.

Ingredients:
* 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, about 1 1/2 pounds
* Coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper
* 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
* 1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed or diced tomatoes
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions
1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large (5-quart) saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium-high heat; swirl to coat bottom of pan. Cook chicken, turning when it easily releases from the pan, until golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add mushrooms; cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, and oregano. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, covered, until tomatoes have broken down, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pan; cover, and cook until chicken is opaque throughout, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn chicken to coat with sauce, and serve.

Apricot Curry Chicken

I've been making this dish for my family for some time now and have adapted it into something simple and healthy. They love the sweet and spicy taste of it as well as the different textures. It's an easy warm hearty dish.

1 chopped sweet onion, chopped
1-3 tablespoons curry powder (How spicy do you like it?)
2 tablespoons canola oil
2-3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/2 cup sugar-free apricot preserves (Smuckers brand works great)
2 medium apples, cored and diced (I use Granny Smith, Galas or Fuji)
1 cup vanilla fat-free yogurt

An a large nonstick skillet cook onion and curry in oil until slight tender, 1-2 minutes. Push onion mixture to side of skillet. Cook chicken in skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir together chicken and onion mixture. Stir preserves and apples, cook for 5 minutes. Stir yogurt chicken mixture. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. May be served over rice or eaten on it's own. We usually use Jasmine rice for this dish.

6 Serving

Adapted	Unadapted
Calories 208	Calories 419
Total Fat 6.1	Total Fat 6.1
Sat Fat   0.7 g	Sat Fat   1.5 g
Cholesterol 45 mg	Cholesterol 50 mg
Sodium 76 mg	Sodium 97 mg
Total Carbs 20 g	Total Carbs 67 g
Fiber 3.6 g	Fiber 3 g
Sugar 5.6 g	Sugars 40.8 g
Protein 20 g	Protien 20 g

Autumn Chicken and Rice

Everyone in the house loves this one. This is something I've been cooking for some time. It's a nice warm Fall/Winter dish that is quick and easy. I don't remember where I go the recipe. I believe it was from Martha Stewart's 'Everyday Foods' magazine. The only adaptation I made to it was cleaning the skin and fat off the chicken and using the most nutritional Long Grain Brown Rice I could find.

What You'll Need:

3-4 Pounds Chicken; cooked and pulled apart
1 1/2 Pounds Carrots; peeled and halved lengthwise
1 Pound Parsnips; peeled and halved lengthwise
3 Stalks Celery; thinly sliced
2 Large Onions; chopped
2 Bay Leaves
2 Garlic Cloves; smashed
3 Cups Long Grain Brown Rice
Salt and Pepper to Taste

What to Do:
In a extra large soup pot, combine chicken, carrots; parsnips, celery, onions, bay leaves, garlic, rice, salt and pepper. Add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium. Simmer partly covered for approximately 30, occasionally stirring to be careful not to scorch in pan or cook all the liquid out.

Serves: 16

Calories    123.6
Total Fat    2.2 g
        Saturated Fat     0.5 g
        Polyunsaturated Fat    0.6 g
        Monounsaturated Fat    0.7 g
Cholesterol    35.8 mg
Sodium    56.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate    15.9 g
Dietary Fiber    2.4 g
Sugars    2.2 g
Protein    10.1 g

BUDGET COOKING NOTE: I usually buy the 10 pounds pack of Thighs and Legs for $4.99 and cook them all at once with a whole onion, celery stalks, carrots, salt and peppercorns. I pull the meat out and make about 3-4 meals out of them. This is one of the meals. I also use the chicken to make Chic and Dumplings and Hunter's Chicken.

Joe's Special

I cooked this on Sunday, it was a one pot easy dish that all but our Spinach hater loved. I found it in the 'Favorite Brand Name Low-Carb Recipe'. Recipes from the book are at http://www.fbnr.com. To start with, I used turkey instead of beef and egg substitute. I imagine I could have made it a fair bit lower on the calories and fat if I had had some Low Fat Parmesan cheese to try instead, but alas, I did not.

1 pound lean ground turkey
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 small chopped onion
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 cup egg substitute
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Spray large skillet with cooking spray. Brown ground turkey, mushrooms and onion 6 to 8 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring to separate meat. Add Worcestershire, oregano, nutmeg, garlic powder and salt. Drain off excess liquid.

2. Drain spinach, and squeeze out some of the excess liquid; stir into meat mixture. Push mixture to one side of pan. Reduce heat to medium. Pour in egg substitute into other side of pan; cook, without stirring, 1 to 2 minutes or until set on bottom. Lift eggs to allow uncooked portion to flow underneath. Repeat until softly set. Gently stir into meat mixture and heat through. Top with cheese.

6 Serving

Adapted	Unadapted
Calories 171	Calories 305
Total Fat 4.4	Total Fat 21
Cholesterol 35 mg	Cholesterol 203 mg
Sodium 564 mg	Sodium 531 mg
Total Carbs 5 g	Total Carbs 5 g
Fiber 1.8 g	Fiber 1.8 g
Sugar 1 g	Sugars 1 g
Protein 27 g	Protien 22 g