Grilled Spicy Lemon Chicken

I do the best I can without an actual "fire" grill. I use a grill pan and it doesn't always result in great grill marks, but it's still super easy. I have to give credit for this idea to my friend, Jess (thanks, Jess!). It's a great light, summery (and low-fat too!) way to prepare chicken. If you're looking for a way to spice up your next chicken dinner, definitely give this simple and versatile marinade a try!

Grilled Spicy Lemon Chicken
Source: adapted from my friend Jess

juice of 2 lemons
3 tsp EVOO
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper
1-2 tsp crushed garlic
a dash of dried oregano
season with salt and pepper
2-4 chicken breasts
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Combine all ingredients (except chicken) in a small bowl. Mix well with a whisk to help incorporate the oil. Transfer marinade and chicken to a large plastic baggie. Place in fridge to marinate for about 15-30 minutes. Grill or cook until no longer pink.

"mock" Chicken Marsala and Oven Roasted Broccoli

I'm not really one for making elaborate or fancy meals. In fact, I have nothing against cooking with condensed soup. I came up with this really simple, delicious and healthy dish that also comes together really quickly. And recently somebody posted on the WC board raving about this oven roasted broccoli recipe. I'm always looking for a new interesting way to cook broccoli and it fit the bill. I tried it once last week and am officially in love with it.


"mock" Chicken Marsala
Source: me

olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
1 can fat free, low-sodium chicken broth
1 can condensed golden mushroom soup
thin/angel hair spaghetti
salt and pepper to taste
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1. Set pot of water to boil for cooking pasta.
2. Heat pan and lightly coat bottom of pan with oil (I use my Misto sprayer). Add chicken and cook until lightly browned.
3. Add chicken broth and simmer while pasta is cooking.
4. While pasta is cooking, add condensed mushroom soup to pan, stir well and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until pasta is done.
5. Drain pasta and serve with chicken and sauce.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

Source: Alton Brown - Good Eats

1 pound broccoli, rinsed and trimmed (I just used one crown)

2 tablespoons olive oil (I just spray with Misto sprayer until lightly coated)

2 cloves garlic, minced (1 clove per crown)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup panko bread crumbs (I did not use)

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or sharp Cheddar
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1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Cut the broccoli florets into bite size pieces. Cut the stalk into 1/8-inch thick, round slices.

3. Place the broccoli into a mixing bowl and toss with the olive oil, garlic, kosher salt and pepper and set aside.
4. Spread the panko into a 13 by 9-inch metal cake pan and place into the oven for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted.

5. Remove the panko from the oven and add to the bowl with the broccoli mixture. Toss to combine.

6. Return the mixture to the cake pan, place in the oven and roast just until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 more minutes.

7. Remove from the oven, toss in the cheese and serve immediately.

My notes: Instead of cutting into bite size pieces and the stalk into rounds, I just cut into small spears. It just takes a little longer to roast.

Trader Joe's Eggplant Cutlets

These things are amazing!!!!!!! I don't really buy eggplant because I find the salting and removing moisture to be a pain in the butt. My Trader Joe's is not that close to my house, so I just recently started venturing and during my first trip I came across these frozen breaded eggplant cutlets and a lightbulb went off in my head.






So the first thing I decided to try was eggplant lasagna because I had some fat-free ricotta and some shredded mozzarella on hand from earlier in the week when I tried to make calzones (they're not in my blog for a reason, lol). This was absolutely delicious!!! And low-fat! I only used about a half cup of ricotta, a 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, and just a light sprinkling of parmesan/romano to make 2 servings. I used enough eggplant cutlets to make 2 layers and lightly fried them in a little EVOO. For someone who is a convenience cook (that's me, by the way) this totally worked. This will definitely be something I make on a regular basis when the hubby is on night work (cuz yeah, I married the kind of guy who hates vegetables).

Chocolate cures all....

Sometimes I just get a chocolate craving like none other. The only way to make it go away is to EAT some CHOCOLATE!

I came across this recipe in Cara's blog [http://carascravings.blogspot.com/2007/05/choco-gasm.html]

I'm pretty sure this recipe originated from another WC Nestie/Blogger, so if it's you, let me know and I'll credit you! Anyway, I knew immediately I had to try it.

I was home alone, my husband was working nights, and went to the grocery store specifically for the ingredients - the fabulous thing is that now that I have them, there's plenty to go around for at least another impromptu batch!

And so here is this most fabulous recipe!!

2 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp espresso powder

1 cup cocoa powder (I used regular ol' Hershey's)

3 large egg whites

2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Whisk together the sugar, salt, espresso powder and cocoa.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together the egg whites and the vanilla (I used my KA mixer on STIR).

3. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites and mix at low speed for 2 minutes (I stopped halfway thru to scrape the sides of the bowl). The batter will seem dry at first, but will become shiny and smooth as it mixes. The dough is not your typical cookie dough, but actually resembles store-bought cake frosting.

4. Cover and refrigerate the batter for 3 hours. This process can be sped up by placing in the freezer for 1 hour, and then in the fridge for 1 hour.

5. Preheat oven to 350. Grease or line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop dough in ping-pong sized balls onto baking sheet a few inches apart. I used my mechanical cookie scoop thingee - if you don't have one, make sure you grease whatever spoon you use.

6. Bake for 12 minutes, reversing pans halfway thru.

7. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

8. Enjoy the rich, decadent goodness.

About 100 calories and 2 g fat each

Yield: varies - I got about 12 cookies out of the batter.

bacon, Bacon, BACON!

Who doesn't love a BLT? Well, honestly, I never craved them until not too long ago. And, well, I'm not a fan of tomatoes. But I've learned to like them on my sandwiches. And the perfect time for a BLT is when is Jersey Tomato season! Oh, yeah, and I've been craving bacon all week. So I made extra last night with my jellyroll pancakes so that I could have my BLT tonight!

Eating alone...

So my husband works shift work. 2 weeks out of the month I'm eating dinner alone. And he doesn't eat leftovers so I can't make an actual meal and save some for him. So, I take this opportunity to make dinners that I normally wouldn't make with him around.

The other day I caught a craving for a cheap meal from my childhood... Jellyroll Pancakes! And since I can never fight my cravings, I decided to make it, along with some bacon. It's pretty simple and very filling.

JELLYROLL PANCAKES

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 egg (edit - Grandmom says it's 2 eggs for 1 cup of flour)

Jelly

(edit- Grandmom also says you need to add a splash of vanilla extract or orange juice - my mom must've forgot to tell me this part when I asked how to make them, but I think they're great without it, so don't sweat it if you forget or dont have it to use)

1. Heat a non-stick skillet (I used my square skillet with no sides for ease) over low-med heat.

2. Mix first 3 ingredients together.

3. When the pan is hot, ladle some batter onto the pan and spread into a thin pancake. These cook pretty quickly are not not to be browned. Flip after about 30-60 seconds (you'll notice steam begin to rise). Continue to cook other side.

4. Transfer to a plate.

5. Spread a small amount of jelly over the pancake and roll up. Serve :)

Makes about 6 pancakes

Serves 2-3

Don't be alarmed if your first one gets screwed up. Serve with plenty of breakfast meat!

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

I swear I didn't make up the name! I found this recipe in my most recent Woman's Day magazine. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to try it as my husband and I really do like paprika. Before I post the recipe, I will warn you that even though we are paprika fans, we felt the recipe called for too much paprika, for our tastes anyway. So, here it is!

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

Source: Woman's Day Magazine

4 each skinless chicken drumsticks and thighs

1 can low-sodium cream of mushroom soup

2 Tbsp paprika (I would definitely use only 1 Tbsp)

1/2 nonfat sour cream

1. Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. Stir soup and paprika in small bowl until blended. Spoon soup mixture over chicken to cover.

2. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove chicken with slotted spoon. Whisk sour cream into the cooking liquid. Serve sauce over chicken.

Makes 4 servings

297 calories

35 g protein

12 g carbs

2 g fiber

12 g fat

(does not include noodles)

We served this over whole wheat egg noodles. It was good, but we definitely would have enjoyed it more with less paprika. Also, I'm a breast kind of gal - I will definitely be using regular boneless, skinless chicken breasts next time.