Roasted Red Pepper Chicken

I think this is another miracle recipe where you can do anything you want to butcher it, yet it still tastes great! This meal was from, or at based off of A Piquillo Pepper Chicken with Spanish Rice from the Everyday with Rachael Ray mag. I say "based off of" because I did not make the spanish rice, I used roasted red peppers, I used white wine instead of sherry, I all but eliminated the butter, AND I used dried parsley. Yet, we loved it. Like a lot of R.R. recipes, this one works great as is, or as an idea to work with to your preferences and availability. I am going to just list the recipe as we had it below.

I am entering this in Eat Healthy: Protein Rich for its 14.5 g or protein per serving.

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken
4 servings
* 2 cups rice
*4 cups water
* 2 TBSP Olive Oil
*4 boneless, skinless chicken cutletts
* Salt and pepper
* 1 jar roasted red peppers, drained well and sliced
* 1/2 cup white wine
* 1/2 tablespoon butter
* 1TBSP dried parsley, divided
* A handful of sliced almonds, lightly toasted

Preparation

Cook rice with water to package instructions.

While the rice cooks, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Remove the chicken and reserve. Add the peppers to the pan and heat them through. Add the wine to the pan and reduce for a minute or two. Add the butter and half of the parsley to the skillet, then turn off the heat and stir to melt the butter.

Cut chicken into strips and place atop rice. Spoon the peppers and sauce over chicken. Add the remaining parsley and almonds on top.

Shrimp Saganaki

Wow. So considering that I have MANY notes on this recipe about what I had to change and how i potentially butchered it, this dish came out spectacularly. It is shrimp baked with tomatoes and cheese in a Greek style. Yum-O! So good! I served with orzo and grilled, greek spiced squash. All around phenomenal. I am submitting this healthy dish to Eat Healthy: Protein Rich for its 31g of protein.Here's the fun part, the many things I changed. I recommend trying it the original way if you can, but my way (noted in parenthesis) is easier and still great. I used cooked frozen shrimp instead of fresh, uncooked shrimp. I used goat cheese instead of feta. I used canned diced tomatoes instead of chopped tomatoes. Still, this saganaki somehow survived in great shape.
Shrimp Saganaki
serves 6
1/4 cup olive oil plus oil for drizzling
1/2 cup diced onion
salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1tsp oregano plus extra for sprinkling
1 cup diced, peeled, seeded tomatoes (instructions below)
1/4 cup white wine
1 28oz can chopped (used diced) tomatoes with juice
parsley
1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled, deveined (recipe says to keep tail on, but this makes it messier, just take the tail off too) (I used cooked, still frozen shrimp. Just rinse with enough water to seperate, but use still frozen.)
3/4 cup diced feta (used goat cheese)

To Peel Tomatoes
Bring pot of water to boil. Core and lightly score tomato skin in quarters. Place scored tomato in boiling water for 30 sec. Remove and place in ice water. Using a paring knife, carefully pull off skin.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat 1/4 cup oil in large pan over med heat. Add onion and pinch of salt. Cover and cook, stirring occaisoonally for 8 min. Add garlic and saute for another min. Stir in oregano and pinch of salt. Add diced tomatoes and wine and simmer for 3 min.
2. Stir in canned otmatoes and juice, raise heat to medium high and again bring to simmer. Simmer 6 min and then fold in parsley. Season with salt and pepper, noting that cheese will add saltiness.
3. Spoon just enough tomato sauce into an oven safe, round pan or 9x13 baking dish to cover the bottom. Working from outside in, make concentric circles of shrimp (place tail to head, just touching). Spoon remaining sauce over top. Sprinkle cheese on top, drizzle with olive oil and oregano.
4. Bake for 20 min or until hot and bubbling with golden brown cheese.

Greek Squash
1 squash
olive oil
greek seasoning
Combine greek seasoning and oil. Slice squash into rounds. Brush oil onto the squash. Grill squash until tender.

Tzatziki Chicken

I was super impressed with this meal! It was so easy to put together, was really healthy and everyone really enjoyed it and said I should make it again. Sounds like a success to me!

When I say healthy, I mean it! Low fat chicken, low fat yogurt, spinach, and whole wheat pita scream "feel free to eat more! I'm good for you!" I am also entering this recipe in Eat Healthy: Protein rich for its 25g of protein.

Tzatziki Chicken
serves 4

1/2 cucumber, seeded then grated
1/2 tsp salt
4oz plain low fat yogurt
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1tsp dry mint
4 chicken cutlets
pinch of greek seasoning
4 whole wheat pitas
baby spinach

1. Sprinkle the grated cucumber with the salt. Let set for 10 min, drain, mix with yogurt, lemon juice and mint.
2. Season chicken with greek seasoning. Grill until cooked through. Wait a minute and then slice
3. Cut Pitas in half and open each half up. Insert spinach into each 1/2 pita, spread with tzatziki sauce and top with chicken strips.

Harlequin Chicken

I know you all have probably been through this before. You have your dinner (or whatever) planned, and it just falls through. So you reschedule, and it still falls through. And the cycle is repeated for, oh, about 5 more times before you finally say “forget it. I am making this dinner that serves 4 for just myself or else it will NEVER be made cuz it is clearly cursed.”

And so I made a half batch of harlequin chicken, and it really should not have been cursed, because it was great! It was filling, healthy, delightful to smell and just as good to taste. It had a great pan sauce from when you sauté chicken and peppers and then add tomatoes and their juices to the hot pan. The sauce isn’t heavy or creamy, just juicy, tangy and chicken-y. Fabulous.

I would definitely recommend serving this with some whole wheat bread to sop up the juices, and a salad could be nice too. I am entering this dish into Eat Healthy-Protein Rich. It can be on the table in about 35 minutes and has 12g of protein by itself and 17g of protein when served with whole wheat bread. Enjoy.

Harlequin Chicken

Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or cutlets depending on how hungry you are)

1 onion, halved

1 each, red, yellow and green bell pepper

1 TBSP vegetable oil

14 oz can diced tomatoes

2 TBSP fresh parsley (or about 2 tsp dried parsley)

Salt and pepper

1. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Thinly slice onion. Halve and seed the peppers and cut into small diamond shapes.

2. Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the chicken and onion and stir fry quickly until golden. Add the bell peppers, cook for 2-3 minutes, then stir in the diced tomatoes and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Cover tightly and simmer for 15 minutes, until the chicken and vegetables are tender.