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Serve hot or at room temperature garnished with additional lime zest.

Nutritional Analysis: 302 calories, FAT 11 g, PROTEIN 44 g, CARB 3 g, FIBER .25 g, CHOL 119 mg, IRON 2 mg, SODIUM 656 mg, CALC 33 mg

Cooking Lesson

Sometimes half the battle is won by patience. Just let the chicken swim along in this aromatic marinade, and the flavor will be so much better.

Menu Suggestion

You can afford a sweet temptation with this meal. Buy or make sugar-free meringue shells and serve alongside ½ cup of berries. You’ll only have added 3.5 grams of carbohydrates with the meringues and 5 grams or so with ½ cup of raspberries or strawberries.

Szechuan Peanut Chicken

Despite the convention that says you have to serve this chicken atop rice, we find it’s terrific served in a rimmed soup bowl as a one-dish dinner.

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (10 ounces total), split and pounded to ¼-inch thickness

1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

SEASONING SAUCE

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon peanut oil

4 medium dried red cayenne peppers

½ green bell pepper, julienned

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal

¼ cup roasted peanuts

1 scallion, green and white parts, chopped

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and place in a glass bowl. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce and cornstarch into a smooth paste and combine with the chicken. Stir to coat all the pieces, then cover and set aside for 10 minutes.

Whisk all the ingredients for the seasoning sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

Preheat a wok or large skillet, then add the oil. Stir-fry the dried red peppers until blackened, about 1 minute. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry until the chicken begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the green pepper and celery and stir-fry until crunchy, no more than 2 minutes.

Add the seasoning sauce and stir until thickened and hot—just 1 minute or so. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanuts and scallions. Mix together then divide between two rimmed soup bowls.

Nutritional Analysis: 439 calories, FAT 22 g, PROTEIN 46 g, CARB 13 g, FIBER 2 g, CHOL 119 mg, IRON 2 mg, SODIUM 951 mg, CAL 48 mg

Cooking Lesson

You’ll notice there is a spoonful of sugar in the sauce. Sometimes, nothing else will do. And the damage to the total number of carbohydrate grams in the dish is minimal, nothing like the real thing.

Gin-and-Orange-Juice-Soaked Chicken with Onions

Hard day at the office? Start the chicken marinating, then drink a shot of that gin yourself. Sometimes it’s worth it.

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Marinating time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 to 20 minutes

2 teaspoons fresh or frozen orange juice

2 tablespoons gin

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons peanut oil

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (10 ounces total), split and pounded to ¼-inch thickness

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

In a bowl or resealable plastic bag, combine the orange juice, gin, oregano, red pepper, salt, and 1 tablespoon oil. Add the chicken breasts and onions and set the mixture aside to marinate, covered or sealed, about 10 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the remaining tablespoon of peanut oil. Lift the chicken from the marinade and pat dry, reserving the marinade and onions. Place the breasts in the hot skillet, smooth side down. Cook about 7 minutes, then turn and cook for 3 more minutes on the second side. Add the reserved marinade and onions to the pan. The gin and orange juice mixture will steam through the seared meat. Cook, turning the chicken once or twice more, until the onions are brown, heaping them atop the chicken as they begin to color. By this point the chicken will be cooked through and the sauce nearly evaporated. (Cut into the thickest part of the chicken to check: it