Chicken Thighs in Red Wine Vinegar

Happy Valentines Day!

Today is the day for candlelight dinners and romantic strolls along the beach. If you're avoiding the holiday restaurant crowds like we are and you're still not sure what to make for dinner I think this is a perfect choice. It is loaded with flavor and substance for the husband but little does he know that it has a lower calorie count for the woman. My philosophy is: save calories while eating the main dish so that you can enjoy more dessert! We all know that Valentines Day is one day when you must save room for the dessert!

Chicken Thighs in Red Wine Vinegar
Adapted from Gina's Skinny Recipes

• 8 lean chicken thighs, skin removed
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 cups fat free chicken broth
• 1 tbsp honey
• 4 small diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp butter
• ¾ cup thinly sliced purple onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp light sour cream

Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, honey, 1 cup of chicken broth and tomatoes. Boil about 5 minutes or until it reduces down to about 3/4 cup. Remove from heat.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat and add chicken. Cook on both sides, until brown, about 6-8 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and cook on low until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken back into the skillet with the onions and garlic, pour the sauce over the chicken and add the additional cup of broth. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes until tender. Add the sour cream the last minute of cooking. Before serving you may top your dish with fresh parsley if desired.

*I actually forgot to add the sour cream to this dish and it still tasted fabulous!

Carrot and Red Pepper Soup

"Have you eaten your vegetables today?"  I was very skeptical of this recipe when I first saw it. I do enjoy carrot soups but I've only ever tasted a recipe that included cream. I was also very hesitant about the orange juice (the original recipe included orange zest but I didn't want to go that far with the citrus flavor.) The reasons I did make this recipe is because: I had a lot of carrots in the fridge to eat,  Autumn is here and I love making soups in cooler weather,  I'm trying to eat more healthy, and most importantly I read on Just that Good's site that their toddlers at this soup right up!

Well, my husband and I were pleasantly surprised at the yummy taste. My kids' verdict: they ate it in a blink so I guess they enjoyed it as well.

Carrot and Red Pepper Soup
Altered by me from 'Blogging, it's what's for dinner'

2 T. butter or olive oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 c white rice
Sea salt and freshly milled pepper
2 T. parsley chopped or 1 T dried
3 T. dill chopped or 1 1/2 T. dried dill
Juice of 1 orange
6 cups water, chicken or basic vegetable stock

Melt the butter in a soup pot and add the bell pepper, onion, carrots, rice and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Cook over medium heat, covered until the onion has softened completely, about 10 minutes, stirring several times.*

Add a grind of pepper, the parsley, dill, orange juice and water/broth.*  Bring to a boil, then simmer, partially covered, until the rice is cooked, about 25 minutes. Cool briefly, then puree all but a cup or two of the soup and return it to the pot. Taste for salt, season with pepper, garnish and serve. This soup may be served hot as well as chilled.

*Jayne's Notes:
When sauteing the onion add more oil or butter if it gets too dry. I ended up adding a little of both for added flavor.) 
I used 4 cups broth and 2 cups water because I liked the slight chicken broth flavor in the soup.) 

Pasta with Zucchini and Toasted Almonds

Okay, so you may have your doubts about this recipe being bland but it is surprisingly flavorful! I even put Italian dressing on our dinner table with the plan of adding it to the kids' servings to spice it up but we all ate it plain. I don't know if it was the fresh grated pecorino Romano cheese on top or the mint and thyme from our garden or just the mix of all the fresh ingredients that gave this such a delicious flavor. I was also happy to find a good recipe that used cherry tomatoes. My six cherry tomato plants are all volunteers and they are regrettably my healthiest tomato plants in the entire garden. Unfortunately they are at this moment spoiling on the vine because I'm having a hard time eating them quick enough. If any of you have some yummy cherry tomato recipes (other than kabobs and green salads) let me know!

Pasta with Zucchini and Toasted Almonds
Recipe Courtesy of Cooking Light

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated linguine
• 1 1/2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
• 3 cups chopped zucchini (about 1 pound)
• 3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, divided
• 1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
• 3 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

1. Combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add 2 teaspoons oil, tossing to coat.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add garlic to pan; sauté 30 seconds. Add zucchini; sauté 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add broth; bring to a simmer. Stir in pasta and 1 1/2 tablespoons mint; toss well. Remove from heat; stir in tomato mixture. Place 1 1/2 cups pasta mixture in each of 4 bowls; top evenly with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons mint. Sprinkle each serving with 4 teaspoons cheese and 2 teaspoons almonds.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 344

Fat: 12.7g (sat 3.1g,mono 6.6g,poly 2g)

Protein: 14g

Carbohydrate: 45.5g

Fiber: 5.3g

Cholesterol: 58mg

Iron: 3.4mg

Sodium: 601mg

Calcium: 163mg

Feta-Stuffed Turkey Burgers

If you haven't noticed already, I'm rather drawn to ground turkey and these meat patties have a flavor that just makes my mouth water. We made this burger recipe the other night and with the feta filling and the yogurt/cucumber sauce it almost felt like I was eating a Greek burger if such a thing exists. I'm really trying to be more careful about what I eat and this dinner was very satisfying yet low-calorie! I loaded mine with plenty of lettuce and fresh garden tomatoes and ate it on a yummy flat-bread bun I found at Costco that was low calorie as well.

Feta-Stuffed Turkey Burgers
Recipe Courtesy of Cooking Light

• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 cup grated English cucumber
• 1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato
• 4 green leaf lettuce leaves
• 4 (2-ounce) Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns

1. Combine first 6 ingredients. Divide mixture into four portions. Indent center of each portion; place 1 1/2 tablespoons feta into each. Fold turkey mixture around cheese; shape each portion into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
2. Heat grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties; cook 5 minutes on each side.
3. Combine cucumber, yogurt, and mint in a small bowl. Arrange 1 turkey patty, 1 tomato slice, 1 lettuce leaf, and 2 tablespoons yogurt mixture on bottom half of each roll. Top with top halves of rolls.
Sautéed zucchini: Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 cups sliced zucchini and 2 minced garlic cloves; sauté 5 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 386

Fat: 13.7g (sat 4.5g,mono 4.3g,poly 3g)

Protein: 30.2g

Carbohydrate: 34g

Fiber: 2.3g

Cholesterol: 109mg

Iron: 3.9mg

Sodium: 897mg

Calcium: 198mg

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Photo courtesy of Cooling Light.com

We now live in California and it is so much fun stepping into the back yard to get produce. Our citrus tree collection includes 2 lemon, 2 grapefruit, 1 lime, 2 orange and 1 mandarin orange. Needless to say, fresh squeezed lemonade is now my daughters' favorite drink.  

We had this recipe for dinner the other night. It's definitely a low-fat recipe but the avocado salsa adds a lot of flavor. I even found myself eating the salsa as a topping to my white rice. The original recipe recommends serving with safron rice (pictures above) but I couldn't find my safron so instead I added chicken boullion, a squeeze of lime and fresh cilantro to the rice. This recipe is great with lime or you can substitute lemon if that's what is handy. Also, I used purple onion in the salsa since it adds color and a touch more flavor.  

Besides the big flavor of the finished dish the other big bonus to this dish is that you only marinade the chicken for 3 minutes! I love quick preparation meals!

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa 

(Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light magazine)

Chicken: 

2 T minced fresh cilantro

2 1/2 T fresh lime juice

1 1/2 T olive oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/4 t salt

cooking spray

Salsa:

1 c chopped tomato

2 T finely chopped onion

2 t fresh lime juice

1/4 t salt

1/8 t ground pepper

1 avocado, peeled and diced

To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 t salt. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. (I used our BBQ.) Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.

To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.

*Jayne's Notes: I thought it definitely needed more salt so that was added later once the food was served.

Vegetable Soup

This is one of our favorite soups. It is packed with flavor but the best part is that it's low calorie! (Zero points in the Weight Watchers program.) So for all of us beginning a new year with resolutions to be healthy this is a soup I highly recommend.

Weight Watchers Garden Vegetable Soup
2/3 cup sliced carrot
1/2 cup diced onion
2 garlic cloves
3 cups broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable)
1 1/2 cup diced green cabbage
1/2 cup green beans
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced zucchini

In a large saucepan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray (or use butter if you want to add fat) sauté carrot, onion and garlic over low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broth, cabbage, beans, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and salt; bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until beans are tender. Stir in zucchini and heat 3-4 minutes. Serve hot.

Jayne's Notes: Feel free to add extras of your favorite veggie. I often add extra carrots since this is the best way to get my kids to eat them. On nights when my husband wants a dinner with meat I have added cooked ground turkey and the flavors really blend well.