Chicken and Lentils in Apple-Curry Sauce

 

Make sure you get some good size chicken thighs for this dish because those suckers can shrink up big time, which is why my photo shows 2!  I only had a one-pound pack of chicken thighs instead of the 1-1/2 lbs this recipe calls for, so no biggie!  This is under 500 calories at 436!

Yes, there is 10 g of fat in this recipe but only 2 of them are saturated fats and chicken thighs have so much more flavor than chicken breasts.  Check out that 19 grams of fiber and 38 grams of protein though.   Very filling dish!

Ingredients:

2 Tbs olive oil
6 skinless/boneless chicken highs (about 1-1/2 lbs total)
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs finely shredded fresh ginger
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs mild curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
3 c reduced-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 c uncooked lentils, rinsed and drained
3 red and/or green cooking apples, cored and sliced
2 5-oz pkgs baby spinach (8 to 10 cups)

Instructions:

Rinse and drain dried lentils and set aside. 

Place oil in a large nonstick skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat and add chicken thighs once hot enough. Cook only 4 to 6 minutes per side turning once or just until nicely golden brown.  Remove (still undercooked chicken) from pan and set aside.

In the same pan add onion to skillet stirring and cooking for about 3 minutes and then add garlic and ginger stirring and cooking for another minute or so more.  Stir in tomato paste, curry powder, garam masala and 1/2 tsp salt mixing well.

Add chicken broth and lentils stirring well and place chicken thighs on top in pan.  Bring to a rapid boil and reduce heat to simmering and simmer for about 30 minutes or until lentils are tender.

Add sliced apples to skillet and cover and simmer for about another 10 minutes. Stir in about 3 cups of spinach until wilted.  No need to cook the spinach in.  The heat from the finished dish still in the pan will wilt your spinach nicely.

Divide the remaining 6 to 8 cups of spinach among the 6 plates or bowls to create a "bed" or a base.  Top each with the lentil-apple mixture and then the chicken thighs.

YIELDS: 6 Servings
SERVING SIZE:  1 thigh, 1-1/2 c spinach, 2/3 c lentil mixture

Nutritional Information:  436 calories, 10 g fat, (2 g sat fat), 108 mg cholesterol, 658 mg sodium, 49 g carb, 13.5 g sugars, 19 g fiber, 38 g protein

Bacon, Ranch & Chicken Mac and Cheese

So my youngest son had a sleepover for the first time in months the other day.  These two kids get together maybe once a month right now but we and the other family don't really go out and about so that we don't have to worry about the virus so much and they maintain their distance fairly well when finally together.  They sit on separate couches to play their video games and they are outside a LOT shooting hoops or swimming, etc. 

I needed to find something that they would want to eat that I could as well while my husband worked overtime and wouldn't be home until midnight or so having already eaten so I scrapped my initial plan for a fancier meal that included veggies and sides and tried out this bacon, ranch and chicken mac and cheese recipe.  They liked it, as did I and I only wound up eating half of a serving for 249 calories!  A whole serving is about 2 cups for 497 calories and is actually A LOT!

Be honest, I have to feed teenage boys SOMETHING when they are hanging out together and they won't go anywhere near "diet-friendly" food.  As long as I know this is not something to make on the regular and it is a once in a while dish only, I'm good!  It is an easy option for these occasions and even serves as a good passing dish!

** I had made bacon for BLT sandwiches the previous day so did not have "drippings in the pan" in which to cook the chicken as this recipe says you should.  I just added a tsp of olive oil to my pan to fry up the chicken in a nonstick skillet.  (okay, so I also cheated and used 3 pieces of bacon total but added calories and adjusted my log! It was so worth it!)

Ingredients:

8 oz uncooked elbow macaroni
1 slice applewood-smoked bacon
8 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1-1/2 c fat-free milk
1/3 c condensed 45% reduced sodium 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
3/4 c (3 oz) shredded 6-cheese Italian blend cheese
12 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chopped fresh dill
1/2 tsp salt
Cooking spray
1/2 c (2 oz) shredded Colby-Jack cheese

Instructions:

Cook pasta according to package directions leaving out salt and fat.  Drain.

** (see my note above).  Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan.  Finely chop bacon; set aside.  Increase heat to medium-high.  Add chicken to drippings in pan and saute 6 minutes or until done.

Combine the milk and soup stirring with a whisk and set aside. 

Melt butter in a large saucepan (and I mean large! Large enough to hold this whole recipe!) and sprinkle in the flour whisking until thick and bubbly.  Now slowly whisk the soup and milk mixture into the butter-flour mixture in the sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Cook another two minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat and let stand until it cools down to about 155 degrees.

Add Italian cheese to the sauce pan stirring until the cheese melts.  Now stir in the pasta and the chicken and toss to coat. 

Preheat your broiler.

Spoon the contents of your sauce pan into a casserole dish that is coated with cooking spray first.  Sprinkle the top Colby Jack cheese shreds and the crumbled/chopped bacon pieces. 

Broil for about 3 minutes or until the cheese melts and to your broiled cheese doneness preference!

YIELDS:  4 servings
SERVING SIZE:  About 2 cups

Nutritional Information:  Calories 497, Fat 17 g (saturated 9.2 g, mono 4.7 g, poly 1.4 g), Protein 33.3 g, Carb 51.7 g, Fiber 2 g, Chol 74 mg, Iron 2.4 mg, Sodium 767 mg, Calcium 368 mg

Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken Thighs

I don't remember where I noted this recipe from but can't believe I haven't shared it here yet!  If you don't like a little kick of spicy heat here and there, you will want to lessen the amount of the ground red pepper you add.  This rings in at 446 calories for two whole chicken thighs and halving that for one thigh is only 223 calories!

Chicken thighs have a little more fat and a bit more calories than your average diet-friendly choice of chicken breasts, but they also have more flavor and are more tender.

You'll want to have a brown paper bag handy to shake your chicken up into the spice mixture perfectly!  You can just put everything in a bowl and toss to coat, but that shake-in-a-bag trick you see in the movie The Help is really nice with this one!

Spice Ingredients:

2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground red pepper  (can take down to 1/4 tsp)
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking Spray

Glaze Ingredients:

6 Tbs honey
2 tsp cider vinegar

Instructions:

Preheat the broiler to low with rack in middle of oven.

Combine all of the spice ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Place spice mixture in the bottom of a brown paper bag large enough to hold all 8 thighs.  Add the thighs, fold down the bag and shake 'er up!  You can open and check and pull out well-covered pieces so as to allow those less so to get covered on subsequent shakes!  You can also just add all ingredients into a large bowl and toss to coat but the bag method allows all of the seasoning to stick to the chicken specifically!

Cover the broiler pan with cooking spray and broil chicken at least 5 minutes on each side.  Make sure to open the thighs so they lay evenly on your pan avoiding having pieces that are so thick they will take longer to cook through.

Combine the honey and vinegar for the glaze and stir it together well with a whisk while the chicken is broiling.

After 5 minutes broiling per side with only the dry seasoning, remove the chicken from the oven or just pull it out far enough for brushing and brush the glaze onto the chicken and broil again for at least 1 minute.  Flip the chicken and repeat glazing the other side and broiling again for at least another minute.

Let me tell you, that allowing a little extra time (watching closely) so that the surface of the chicken with the glaze applied has a moment to caramelize and appear a little crispy or burned, is delicious!

Brush whatever little bit of glaze mixture is left over the top once done while still hot.

SERVES: 4 Servings
SERVING SIZE:  2 chicken thighs

Nutritional Information:  Calories 321, Fat 11 g (sat 3 g, mono 4.1 g, poly 2.5 g), Protein 28 g, Carb 27.9 g, Fiber 0.6 g, Chol 99 mg, Iron 2.1 mg, Sodium 676 mg, Calcium 21 mg