Healthy Chicken Salad

 This chicken salad is a healthier version of the classic. It is inspired from a Barefoot Contessa recipe my mother-in-law gave  me (she makes the BEST chicken salad). But I also was influenced by a chicken salad sandwich I used to get at Dos Gringos back in DC. I lightened the recipe up and it is so great without any mayo! You can just serve it as is, with some greens on the side (arugula is a nice contrast), or put it in a roll-up. Eat it guilt free.

Makes 10 - 1/2 cup servings
WW = 3 points

Miso Chili-garlic Summer Choi and Chicken

This stir-fry can be whipped up fast. I recommend cooking the couscous (or other grain) before beginning to cook the meat and veggies. Also, do all the chopping and make the sauce before you begin to stir-fry so everything can just be thrown together. It is an easy week night meal.

 
Serves 4.
WW = 9 points per serving (with couscous)
5 points per serving (without couscous)

WOW it has been months since I have posted anything to my site! I have a ton of old posts that were started that I have been meaning to upload. My body has been out of commission like this blog. Recovering from surgery is allowing me some quality time with my couch, computer and most importantly my husband. So here are some old posts...

I made this very flavorful, straightforward dish. It consists of chicken breast, dipped in egg and panko, sauteed until brown and then baked. It is served with orzo (stirred with parmesan and olive oil) and arugula salad (with salt, pepper, lemon, and parmesan). Usually I change recipes to fit my liking but I didn't change this one much. What I did change about this was that I added less capers, used thinly pounded chicken breasts, and left out the olive oil from the salad.

Check out the original recipe here from The Tasteful Life.

Mustard-Pretzle Crusted Chicken

KALE
2 heads kale, cleaned, rough stems removed, and chopped
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch sea salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper
1 t red wine vinegar

1. Boil water in a large pot. Add kale and simmer until just wilted. Rinse in cold water in a colander.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add shallot and cook for a few minutes until clear. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for another minute.
3. Return kale to the pan and heat up. Once hot, toss in red wine vinegar, sea salt and black pepper to taste.

CHICKEN
1 cup pretzels
1/8 c whole grain mustard
1 T brown spicy mustard
1 t red wine vinegar
1/8 cup water
1/8 c olive oil
pinch salt and pepper
4 thin chicken breasts or 2 whole breasts cut in half

1. In a food processor chop the pretzels until they are fine crumbs.
2. Place pretzel crumbs in a bowl and put aside.
3. Add mustards, oil, water and vinegar to the food processor and pulse until combined.
4. Pour half sauce into bowl and reserve rest.
5. Dip chicken in the sauce and then dredge in the pretzel crumbs.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake the chicken for 20+ minutes until no longer pink in the center.

Baked Garlic Chicken served with Bacon Mashed Potatoes and Beet-Arugula Salad

This chicken recipe I got from Marc's mom. She made it one night with baked potatoes and I nearly died. It was amazing. So after raving about it, she gave marc and I the spices so I could make it. So sweet! Like most recipes, this was told to me verbally so I'm sure that I don't make it exactly the same way...which is probably why it never turns out as good as when she makes it.

Tonight I decided that I wanted to use up some of the random things in my fridge like basil, heavy cream and bacon, soooo.....I made rather unhealthy mashed potatoes to go with the meal. I also made a beet-arugula salad. But other than the potatoes, the meal is really healthy. Serious food for fall!

This dish serves about 4.

Chicken in a Sage-Marjoram-Leek Cream Sauce

Here is another Jamie Oliver inspired recipe, however, I basically just highjacked the ingredients and then modified them to my own tastes. I did not follow his cooking methods at all because, well that's what I like to do with recipes!

Chicken Peanut Curry

I had a craving for curry and the drea was coming over for dinner. This was my first experience actually attempting to follow a recipe for chicken curry. I must say, it was a pretty good one. It was inspired from the following site.

It is relatively, easy. I will definitely make it again and next time might even try substituting half the chicken broth for coconut milk.

Lemon-Thyme Chicken with Kale Chips and simple glazed carrots

This chicken dish is crazy good, pretty easy and relatively healthy too. The flavor is very rich. I served it with glazed carrots (see below) and Kale Chips (see previous post) because I had already eaten enough carbs for the day but I would also recommend serving it with a side of potatoes or rice to dip in the leftover sauce. The best part about it is that you can basically make it with things you probably already have in the house.