The High-Protein Cookbook - Linda West Eckhardt [38]
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1 cup chopped tomato
2 tablespoons drained capers
¼ cup dry red wine
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and onion. Cook and stir until it begins to turn golden, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic. While they are cooking, place the chicken thighs on a piece of wax paper. In a small bowl, mix the curry, pepper, salt, allspice, and red pepper flakes. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken pieces, then brown them in the skillet, pushing the onions to the sides. After you have turned the chicken once, add the tomato and capers. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, then add the wine, bay leaf, and thyme. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, about 20 minutes.
Serve sprinkled with chives.
Nutritional Analysis: 420 calories, FAT 21 g, PROTEIN 40 g, CARB 14 g, FIBER 3 g, CHOL 135 mg, IRON 3 mg, SODIUM 623 mg, CALC 89 mg
Cooking Lesson
If you wish to guarantee that chicken will cook evenly, pound each chicken piece between sheets of wax paper, using the bottom of a glass or a mallet, until it is even. It need not necessarily be thin, simply of a uniform thickness.
Smoky Mustard Greens Soup
Soups not only provide satisfying meals, they also convey tremendous health benefits when laced with greens. Use flavorful low-fat turkey sausages, and you slash the fat grams as well as the carbs. Got a big family? Double or quadruple this recipe measure for measure and feed the multitudes. All you need is a bigger pot.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
8 ounces low-fat Italian sweet chicken or turkey sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 slices bacon, chopped
¼ cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 cup canned tomatoes with their juices, chopped
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
4 cups fresh mustard greens, washed, center ribs removed, greens chopped
Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and bacon and cook, stirring, until they brown, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and garlic about halfway through and cook and stir until the onion begins to brown. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, and salt and pepper and cook about 10 minutes. Add the mustard greens and simmer the soup just long enough to wilt the greens, no more than 3 to 5 minutes; they should still be bright green and tender. Serve immediately.
Nutritional Analysis: 234 calories, FAT 15 g, PROTEIN 20 g, CARB 7 g, FIBER 3 g, CHOL 56 mg, IRON 2 mg, SODIUM 988 mg, CALC 100 mg
Health Benefit
Eat yourself silly with this soup. You’ll be getting 124 percent of the RDA for vitamin A as well as 157 percent for vitamin C, not to mention 26 percent for iron. It’s all those greens combined with tomatoes and onion.
Sweet Chicken Sausage Tagine
The Moroccan tagine, rich and colorful, is named for the pot in which its cooked. You can successfully duplicate this dish by cooking it in a porcelain-clad cast-iron baker (such as Le Creuset) or another large heavy stewpan. The blend of fresh vegetables with crunchy almonds, sweet raisins, and sausage makes for a satisfying dinner. Prep the vegetables while you brown the sausages. For those who aren’t counting carbs, serve this stew over a bed of couscous. Half a cup of couscous yields 100 calories and 20 carbohydrate grams.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
8 ounces low-fat Italian sweet chicken or turkey sausage, cut into bite-size pieces
2 teaspoons olive oil
¼ cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ cup chopped canned tomatoes with their juices
2 cups (15½-ounce can) low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon slivered almonds
1 teaspoon raisins
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon saffron threads
¼ cup fresh or frozen green beans cut into 2-inch lengths
¼ cup 1-inch pieces of red bell pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon