Chicken breast meal on bed of baby spinach is fast, flavorful
Tender chicken coated with French herbes de Provence and served over a bed of baby spinach salad is a simple and fast dish. Here’s the trick to keeping boneless skinless chicken breasts juicy and tender. Saute the breasts until they are about three-quarters done, and then cover the pan and set it aside to finish cooking in their own heat.
Herbes de Provence is a mixture of dried herbs that are grown in the South of France. The assortment usually contains marjoram, rosemary, sage, summer savory, thyme and lavender. It can be found in some supermarkets. If difficult to find, use equal amounts of dried sage and thyme for the recipe.
Helpful hints:
■ Regular spinach can be used if baby leaves are unavailable.
Countdown: Shopping list:
To buy: 3/4 pound bone- less, skinless chicken breast, 1 bottle Herbes de Provence, 1 bag washed, ready-to eat baby spinach, 1 jar roasted red pepper and 1can reduced-so- dium chicken peas.
Staples: olive oil, reducedfat oil and vinegar dressing, salt and black peppercorns. 3/4 pound boneless, skinless
chicken breast 4 tablespoons Herbes de
Provence
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground
black pepper
Remove visible fat from chicken breasts and rub with Herbes de Provence making sure to coat both sides. Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Saute 4 minutes. Turn and saute 4 minutes. Remove from heat, cover with a lid and let sit 10 minutes. A meat thermometer should read 165 degrees.
Slice chicken into strips and arrange on salad. Spoon pan juices over chicken.
Yield 2 servings.
Per serving: 262 calories (32 percent from fat), 9.4 g fat (1.8 g saturated, 3.4 g monounsaturated), 126 mg cholesterol, 38.8 g protein, 3.8 g carbohydrates, 2.4 g fiber, 84 mg sodium. 6 washed, ready-to
eat baby spinach
1/2 cup drained, sliced
roasted red pepper 1 1/2-cups reduced-sodium, drained and rinsed canned chickpeas 4 tablespoons reduced-fat
oil and dressing
Divide spinach leaves between 2 dinner plates.
Add the roasted red pepper slices and chickpeas to the spinach. Sprinkle the dressing on top.
Yield 2 servings.
Per serving: 302 calories (17 percent from fat), 5.7 g fat (0.6 g saturated, 1.6 g monounsaturated), 2 mg cholesterol, 15.9 g protein, 47.6 g carbohydrates, 14.4 g fiber, 360 mg sodium.
By Jill Wendholt Silva
The dilemma that makes fried spud lovers break out in a cold, clammy sweat?
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But, hey, if you’re trying to shore up your waistline after too many tots and fries, the only answer to the question is give me The Kansas City Star’s Crispy Cauliflower Bites, please!
In fact, these crispy ovenbaked morsels made in a mini muffin tin are so reminiscent of tater tots you might not even miss the tater — especially if you dunk them in ketchup.
Preparation tips: If cauliflower feels like it has a lot of liquid after process- ing, place cauliflower in a kitchen towel and squeeze away excess liquid.
Riced cauliflower is now available as either fresh or frozen at many grocery stores and it is great to use in this recipe. For best results, choose a riced cauliflower with kernels similar in size to rice. For this recipe, we tested it with riced cauli- flower from Trader Joes.
Makes 24 cauliflower bites
Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 medium head cauliflower 2/3 cup shredded cheddar
cheese 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
cheese
1/4 cup
flour or flour 2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
flakes
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray mini muffin tin generously with nonstick cooking spray.
Remove the leaves from the cauliflower. You can use the inner core for this recipe. Coarsely chop the cauliflower and place in the work bowl of a food processor with the steel chopping blade. Pulse the food processor until the cauliflower is finely chopped. Do not over process or the cauliflower will turn into a puree.
Place the finely chopped cauliflower into a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir to blend well. Place a rounded tablespoon of the mixture into each mini muffin well. Pat down to form a nugget. Bake uncovered 15 minutes. Carefully turn each cauliflower bite over and continue to bake for 12 to 15 additional minutes or until bites are crispy brown on both sides.
Serve hot or warm for best flavor.
Per bite (recipe makes 24): 30 calories (percent of calories from fat, 56), 2 g protein, 1 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 2 g fat (1 g saturated), 22 mg cholesterol, 86 mg sodium.