Garlic Green Bean Chicken and Kaytee's Cilantro Rice Pilaf

picture from salad-in-a-jar.com

I always forget to take my own pictures! This one isn't really what mine looked like, but it gives you an idea. Now on to the goods! I LOVE the Garlic Green Bean Chicken dish at Marco Polo Global Restaurant. I've only been there twice and I've had this both times. It is SO good. I've been wanting to try and recreate it and I think this is pretty darn close. Since I've only made it once, this recipe is not quite an exact science. Times are estimates of how I think things went. So, here goes:

Ingredients
3 TBS less-sodium soy sauce
3 TBS honey
2 TBS unsalted butter
4 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion
1 large carrot, cut into 3 inch pieces and thinly sliced
1 ½ lbs green beans, trimmed
salt
4-5 large cloves garlic, minced
1 lb chicken, thinly sliced, cooked (keep warm)
toasted sliced almonds

How to make it

Combine soy sauce, honey and 3 TBS water in a small dish and set near the stove. In a large pan, heat the butter with the olive oil over med-high heat. When the butter is melted, add carrots, onion and ½ tsp salt and toss with tongs to coat well. Cook about 3 or 4 minutes. Add green beans and toss to coat. Cook, turning the beans occasionally, until tender crisp (maybe 5 – 7 minutes). (The butter in the pan will have turned dark brown.) Reduce heat to low, add the garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 – 2 minutes . Add cooked chicken and the soy mixture (you’ll need to scrape the honey in the pan). Cook, stirring until the liquid reduces to a glazy consistency that coats the beans. Immediately transfer to a serving dish, scraping the pan with a spatula to get all the garlicky sauce. Top with toasted almonds. Let sit for a few minutes and serve warm over rice. (Don’t forget to spoon extra sauce on your plate!)

Kaytee's Cilantro Rice Pilaf (SO GOOD!!)

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 or 4 TBS onion, chopped
1 TBS grated ginger
1 cup long-grain rice
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 TBS chopped cilantro

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and ginger and cook, stirring, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. (Don’t peek.) Add cilantro, fluff with a fork, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Serves 5

Coconut-Ginger Chicken with Honey-Scallion Dipping Sauce

Long time no post, huh? I've been a little busy (and sleep deprived) to say the least. But I recently made these coconut ginger chicken skewers that were so good that I had to share. Enjoy!

I saw this recipe one day when I was watching The Chew on ABC. Aaron McCargo Jr. was on the show and did a little cooking demo and made these. They looked delicious so I decided to try them at home. SO GOOD! I'm not sure that I've ever really deep fried anything before but it was so worth it. These were delicious, crispy and the dipping sauce was a fantastic compliment to the flavors of the chicken. I left the canola oil I fried them in cool, poured it back in the bottle and can use it again another day when I make these again ... because I will make them again, they were that good. I also think this recipe would be delicious if you used shrimp instead of chicken as well.

Ingredients:
Chicken Skewers:
4 8-ounce boneless and skinless chicken breasts cut lengthwise into 4 strips
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1½ cups panko bread crumbs
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 tbsp fresh ginger shredded
2 large eggs
3 quarts canola oil

Dipping Sauce:

1 cup sour cream drained
¼ cup honey
¼ cup chopped scallions (white and green parts)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make Honey-Scallion Dipping Sauce:
In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, honey, scallions, and cayenne. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to chill, or for up to 1 week. Stir before using.

To make Coconut-Ginger Chicken Skewers:

1. In a shallow bowl, soak 16 wooden skewers in cold water for about 20 minutes. Drain.

2. In a heavy, deep pot, heat the oil to 350 degrees over medium-high heat.

3. In a wide, shallow bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and pepper. In another bowl, mix together the panko, coconut, and ginger. In a third bowl, whisk the eggs.

4. Thread each skewer with a chicken breast, weaving the skewer in and out of the meat. Leave a “handle” at one end of the skewers.

5. Dip the chicken strips first in the flour mixture and then into the eggs, and then the bread crumb mixture. Grasping the handle ends of the skewers, carefully submerge the chicken in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, 1½ to 3 minutes per side, frying only a few strips at a time.

6. Transfer to a large plate or baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain.

7. Continue frying the strips, letting the oil return to 350 between batches. Serve with the dipping sauce or ketchup, barbecue sauce and honey.

Yield: 4 servings

Beef with Snow Peas

(photo courtesy of thepioneerwoman.com)

The Pioneer Woman strikes again! I swear, everything of hers that I try I love. And this dish is no exception. Great thing about this one though, no butter OR heavy cream? What? Could it be true? Pioneer Woman makes a dish slightly healthy? Let's be honest, there still is a lot of sodium but oh well, it's too delicious to care.

My one suggestion: Do NOT use cooking Sherry for this dish and do NOT use normal soy sauce. Use regular Sherry and low sodium soy sauce. The first time I made this I didn't have sherry so I used cooking sherry but cooking sherry has added sodium and this dish was SO salty I could barely eat it. There is enough salt in the ½ low sodium soy sauce you'll use, don't add any extra. Trust me on this one.

Ingredients
- 1½ pound Flank Steak, trimmed of fat and sliced very thin against the grain
- ½ cups Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Sherry
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger (I grate mine)
- 8 ounces, weight Fresh Snow Peas, ends trimmed
- 5 whole Scallions, cut into half-inch pieces on the diagonal
- 3 Tablespoons Peanut Or Olive Oil
- Crushed Red Pepper, for sprinkling
- Jasmine Or Long Grain Rice, cooked according to package

Preparation

1. In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Add sliced meat to bowl and toss with hands. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in a heavy skillet, iron is best, (I use nonstick) or wok over high heat. Add snow peas and stir for 45 seconds. Remove to a separate plate. Set aside.

3. Allow pan to get very hot again. With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Add half the scallions. Spread out meat as you add it to pan, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount a time as possible).Turn meat to the other side and cook until done. Remove to a clean plate.

4. Repeat with other half of meat, allowing pan to get very hot again first. After turning it, add the first plateful of meat, the rest of the marinade, and the snow peas. Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Mixture will thicken as it sits.

5. Serve immediately over rice. Sprinkle crushed red pepper over the top to give it some spice.

Broccoli with Shallots

This was probably the best broccoli I have ever had. I love broccoli and am always looking for the perfect way to make it. I think this is it! I didn't have any shallots so I used 2 cloves of garlic instead and grated them in with my microplane. I love that thing!

Cook 12 ounces fresh broccoli florets in boiling water for 2 minutes; drain. Heat 1 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons minced shallots; sauté for 2 minutes. Add broccoli, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; sauté 2 more minutes.
Yield: 4 servings.
CALORIES 48; FAT 2.4g (sat 0.8g); SODIUM 178mg

recipe from cookinglight.com

Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross

Drum roll Please.......It's my very first post! I've been meaning to post some tasty recipes for a LONG time, but let's face it. I was lazy. Tonight's dinner was super good and easy, so I'm going to share it with you. I'll list it the way the recipe reads and incorporate my changes in red. I served this with rice and Broccoli with Shallots, which will be my next post!

Makes 4 servings (serving size: 1 cutlet)
Total Time: 30 MINUTES

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk (I used plain yogurt)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 (6-ounce) chicken cutlets (I used chicken breasts)
• 1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) (I used regular bread crumbs)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (I used a 6 cheese Italian Blend)
• 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary (I used 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed with my mortar and pestle, but I would use a little more)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (The bread crumbs had a lot of sodium, so I would eliminate this)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• Rosemary leaves (optional)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425°.
• Combine buttermilk and mustard in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Add chicken to buttermilk mixture, turning to coat.
• Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add panko to pan; cook 3 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently. Combine panko, nuts, and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a shallow dish. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture; discard buttermilk mixture. Dredge chicken in panko mixture.
• Arrange a wire rack on a large baking sheet; coat rack with cooking spray. Arrange chicken on rack; coat chicken with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 13 minutes or until chicken is done. Garnish with rosemary leaves, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 287
• Fat: 9.4g
• Saturated fat: 1.6g
• Monounsaturated fat: 1.6g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 5.1g
• Protein: 42.7g
• Carbohydrate: 6g
• Fiber: 0.9g
• Cholesterol: 101mg
• Iron: 1.6mg
• Sodium: 379mg
• Calcium: 66mg

recipe from Cooking Light, June 2010

Healthier Fettuccine Alfredo

Photo courtesy of EatingWell.com

I've been looking for a healthier version of fettuccine alfredo for a while now. I've found a few but none of them lived up to my taste expectations. Well, I tried this Eating Well recipe last night and it was FANTASTIC! I foundit in their "cooking for 2" section. I was a little nervous because there is no cream or milk in the sauce and didn't think it could taste that great. I was wrong. I think it is just as good (maybe better???) than the real stuff. Seriously, so good. I added some grilled chicken to the top because I need meat with my meals and it was a great addition. Go try this recipe ... now!

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup vegetable broth, or reduced-sodium chicken broth (use chicken broth, much better flavor)

- 4 large cloves garlic, peeled (I used minced garlic because it is all I had)

- 4 ounces whole-wheat fettuccine

- 1 small zucchini, cut into matchsticks (I didn't use zucchini and you don't have to either)

- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water

- 2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream

- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste

- 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (I don't use, I think parsley ruins everything)

Preparation

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Combine broth and garlic cloves in a small saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the garlic cloves are soft, about 15 minutes.

2. After the garlic has simmered about 10 minutes, cook fettuccine in the boiling water, stirring often, for 8 minutes. Drop in zucchini and cook until the fettuccine is just tender, about 1 minute more.

3. Meanwhile, transfer the garlic and broth to a blender. Process until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute (if you used minced garlic like me, you can skip this step). Return the mixture to the pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add cornstarch mixture; whisk it until slightly thickened, about 15 seconds (at this point, I had to add about 1/2 c. more chicken broth because there wasn't enough liquid). Remove from the heat and whisk in sour cream, nutmeg and pepper. Return the pot to very low heat to keep the sauce warm. (Do not boil.)

4. Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl (or back in the saucepan). Add the sauce and 1/2 cup Parmesan; toss to coat well. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately, passing the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan separately.

Makes 2 servings, 1.2 cups each.

Nutritional Info per serving:

379 calories;

11 g fat ( 6 g sat , 3 g mono )

33 mg cholesterol

52 g carbohydrates

21 g protein

8 g fiber

628 mg sodium

326 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Calcium (40% daily value), Vitamin C (25% dv), Vitamin A & Zinc (20% dv), Magnesium (18% dv).

Carbohydrate Servings: 3

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