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Roasted Chicken Breast and Broccoli with a White Balsamic Mustard Sauce

February 15, 2012 By 2 Comments

Trying to eat low carb can really be a challenge when you’re a die hard pasta freak, but it helps to keep things interesting with fresh vegetables tossed with delightful sauces.  This one is super fast and easy and it tasted like you’re doing something bad.

  • six boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • three heads of broccoli, florets only
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 large shallot minced
  • dijon mustard
  • whole grain mustard
  • 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • safflower oil

Preheat the oven to 400 – heat a saute pan on medium heat.  Add about a tablespoon of safflower oil and when it ribbons, add the chicken, breast side down.  Allow to cook for a few minutes, until you’ve got a golden brown crust of sorts. Flip and do the same on the other side.  Do this in batches if necessary, don’t overcrowd the pan.

roast chicken broccoli shallot sauce 4 Roasted Chicken Breast and Broccoli with a White Balsamic Mustard Sauce

Meanwhile, on a sheetpan, place the broccoli florets, the chopped garlic a big pinch of salt and a big glub of olive oil onto the pan.  Using clean hands, toss the broccoli, garlic, salt and oil.  Set aside.

When the chicken has been browned on both sides, put the breasts on a foil lined baking sheet and put the chicken and the broccoli in the oven.  Set your time for 20 minutes.

When there’s about 5 minutes left, heat your saute pan back up.  When it’s hot, add the shallots and saute for a minute or two until softened.

roast chicken broccoli shallot sauce 2 Roasted Chicken Breast and Broccoli with a White Balsamic Mustard Sauce

Add the white balsamic vinegar and cook and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan.  When the vinegar reduces slightly, add a big spoonful of the dijon mustard, a big spoonful of the whole grain mustard and the butter

roast chicken broccoli shallot sauce 5 Roasted Chicken Breast and Broccoli with a White Balsamic Mustard Sauce

Whisk until it combines, then take  the pan off the heat

Take the broccoli and the chicken out of the oven

roast chicken broccoli shallot sauce 3 Roasted Chicken Breast and Broccoli with a White Balsamic Mustard Sauce

Plate a piece of chicken and a generous serving of broccoli and then spoon the sauce over everything.

roast chicken broccoli shallot sauce 1 Roasted Chicken Breast and Broccoli with a White Balsamic Mustard Sauce

Tangy and sweet with the earthy broccoli and the almost crusted chicken.  You can’t believe this is low carb and ready in less than 40 minutes, including prep time!

Serves six.

 



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Grilled Flank Steak with Wilted Oriental Lettuce in a Ginger, Garlic, Soy Sauce

February 13, 2012 By 6 Comments

Last week I got a pound of oriental lettuce from the co-op.  I had never heard of it, and had no idea what to expect.  When I picked it up, I took a leaf and ate it, right out of the bag and really wasn’t sure that I wanted to eat a salad made of it.  It’s a little tough to eat raw, but I wasn’t sure that it would hold up to heat. I put off making it as long as I could, but last night I was making grilled flank steak (local, pasture raised, no chemical) and a salad and I thought I’d try wilting the lettuce. If it was awful, we’d still have the tossed salad to enjoy, right?

Anyway – this stuff was a pain. I soaked it, then rinsed it and there was really quite a bit of it. So I had to cook it in batches. Here’s what we did:

  • 8 cloves of garlic, divided
  • about 2 table spoons of freshly grated ginger
  • soy sauce
  • rice wine vinegar
  • hoisin
  • honey
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • safflower, vegetable, or any light, neutral oil
  • lettuce, tomato, red onion, cucumber and anything else you like, salad
  • steak
  • about a lb. of oriental lettuce (or whatever green you like), washed, but don’t dry it – the water that’s left will help to steam it

In a small bowl, combine about 1/3 cup of vinegar with 2/3 cup oil, a little bit of the garlic and ginger, a big squeeze of honey, the lemon juice and about a tablespoon of hoisin sauce, whisk to combine.  The measurements here aren’t that important. Experiment with it and find your perfect recipe. Mine changes every time I make it. Set aside.

Coat your grill pan with oil, or cooking spray and preheat it. When it’s hot, add the steak and let it cook to your desired temperature.  I like mine rare to medium rare – I turn it a couple of times during the cooking to get those beautiful grill marks.

oriental lettuce 4 Grilled Flank Steak with Wilted Oriental Lettuce in a Ginger, Garlic, Soy Sauce

Heat a large pot – I should have used the pasta pot, I wouldn’t have had to cook it in bunches… Add about 2 tablespoons of oil, when that ribbons add the rest of the garlic and ginger and saute for a minute.

oriental lettuce 3 Grilled Flank Steak with Wilted Oriental Lettuce in a Ginger, Garlic, Soy Sauce

Add as many of the greens as will fit, drizzle soy sauce over the top to taste and then cover to steam.

oriental lettuce 2 Grilled Flank Steak with Wilted Oriental Lettuce in a Ginger, Garlic, Soy Sauce

After about 5 minutes, check it to see if they’re wilted enough.  You don’t want to cook these as long as collards, as they’re more tender, so when they just start to wilt, transfer them to a bowl and cover with foil – they’ll continue to cook and free you up to get the rest of the meal ready (or to cook the second batch of greens if you didn’t use a big enough pot like me)

I put a little of the greens, a piece of steak, and a pile of salad on the plate, drizzled the dressing all over it and then proceeded to devour the whole thing.

oriental lettuce 1 Grilled Flank Steak with Wilted Oriental Lettuce in a Ginger, Garlic, Soy Sauce

I didn’t have much hope for the greens, they resembled lettuce in a way that I didn’t think would stand up to the heat, but I have to say, they were delicious. Next time, I think i’ll chop them before cooking and add some sort of heat, either with red pepper flakes or fresh pepper. The steak was absolutely wonderful.  This local bred, local fed, farm produces the best steaks I’ve ever had.  We’re eating less red meat because the cost is higher, but it’s worth every penny and the salad was sweet and crunchy and a perfect balance to the greens.



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Sautéed Chicken Breast with a Fresh Tomato and Artichoke Heart Sauce

February 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I picked up 3 lbs. of farm fresh tomatoes today and when I got home, I realized that i still had four of them left from last week.  I knew I needed to use them so I decided to make a fresh tomato sauce. I happened to have 2 boxes of frozen artichoke hearts, so they got added as well. Add a side salad and you have a very satisfying and delicious healthy, lower carb meal. The measurement aren’t very important and you could upsize or downsize this as you see fit.

  • 1 medium shallot chopped
  • 3 chicken breasts
  • vegetable oil
  • 2 pkg. frozen artichoke hearts, prepared via stove top or microwave cooking directions and set aside
  • 4 large tomatoes chopped
  • Sea (or Kosher) salt

fresh tomato and artichoke heart sauce 5 Sautéed Chicken Breast with a Fresh Tomato and Artichoke Heart Sauce

Preheat the oven for 400.  Heat a saute pan to med/high heat – add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil and when it ribbons, place the breasts, good side down into the pan.  You get the best brown on the first side, so I always like to cook the presenatation side first.

fresh tomato and artichoke heart sauce 4 Sautéed Chicken Breast with a Fresh Tomato and Artichoke Heart Sauce

After about 4-5 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts, flip and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a foil lined sheet and put in the oven for 20 minutes.

About 5 minutes before the chicken is done, heat the same saute pan to med/high heat.  Add about a tablespoon more of the vegetable oil and then the shallot, and cook for a couple of minutes until it softens.

fresh tomato and artichoke heart sauce 3 Sautéed Chicken Breast with a Fresh Tomato and Artichoke Heart Sauce

Add the tomatoes and a very big pinch of salt and cook the tomatoes down – they’ll start to release all their juice and soften. Don’t forget to scrape the chicken bits off the bottom of the pan at this point, they’ll come right up and add tons of flavor.

fresh tomato and artichoke heart sauce 2 Sautéed Chicken Breast with a Fresh Tomato and Artichoke Heart Sauce

Add the artichoke hearts and saute until everything is hot.

Plate a chicken breast and spoon the sauce over the top.  Grind a little black pepper over everything.

fresh tomato and artichoke heart sauce 1 Sautéed Chicken Breast with a Fresh Tomato and Artichoke Heart Sauce

Fresh and delicious – do not try to skip the salting step, it makes all the difference.  This was so easy and good and I could think of a million variations.  Maybe some parsley and lemon, or basil and garlic, or black olives and capers.  Tossed into some pasta would be wonderful…You could really eat this over fish too – Endless possibilities.



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Mustard Roasted Snapper and Oven Roasted Broccoli Greens

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

So, I went to get my fish for the weekend and my eggs and my co-op share and I wanted to make something like this recipe for mustard roasted fish from Ina Garten, but I also had broccoli greens and I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with them.  I searched for some ideas and found and this recipe for roasting broccoli greens.

Of course, I wanted them to tie together somehow, so this is what I did:

  • 2 large red snapper filets
  • Broccoli greens (or any kind of greens, I think I had 1.5 lbs.)
  • about 3 tablespoons of dijon mustard
  • about 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
  • about 3 tablespoons of sour cream – I had no creme fraiche and didn’t feel like going out.
  • soy sauce
  • sesame oil
  • olive oil
  • 1/2 large shallot, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic chopped

Preheat the oven to 425.  Wash your greens thouroghly.  These can be really dirty, so I soak, then rinse each leaf seperately to make sure they’re clean. Lay them out in a roasting dish – I needed two.

roasted red snapper and broccoli greens 1 Mustard Roasted Snapper and Oven Roasted Broccoli Greens

Sprinkle the garlic over the greens, then drizzle them with sesame oil and then a healthy glub of olive oil and soy sauce.  I didn’t really toss them, but I did move some of the leaves around so that the oil and garlic could drip down.

Put them in the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes.

roasted red snapper and broccoli greens 2 Mustard Roasted Snapper and Oven Roasted Broccoli Greens

On a foil lined sheet pan, layout the fish.

roasted red snapper and broccoli greens 3 Mustard Roasted Snapper and Oven Roasted Broccoli Greens

Liberally salt and pepper the filets.

Combine the mustards, about a tablespoon of soy sauce, and the shallot, stir to combine and then spoon over the fish making sure to cover it really well.

roasted red snapper and broccoli greens 4 Mustard Roasted Snapper and Oven Roasted Broccoli Greens

Check on the greens and if they’re starting to look cooked and even crunchy, put the fish in and cook for about 10-12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily in the thickest part of the filet.

Plate a pile of the greens and lay a half of each filet on top.

roasted red snapper and broccoli greens 5 Mustard Roasted Snapper and Oven Roasted Broccoli Greens

The fish was so good that by the time I took this picture, my children had almost finished theirs!  They were so excited about how tasty it was.  Each bite was perfect… the tangy mustards, the sour cream and the little bite of shallot was so satisfying and delicious!

We’re still working on the love for greens in my house.  These were interesting.  Some were almost like chips, and others tasted like collards. I think I would chop them instead of leaving the leaves whole next time.  Really quite tasty, but definitely a bitter green – I was expecting more of a spring green. We’re going to work on the greens a bit, but I know we’re going to eat this mustard roasted fish quite often!

Serves 4.



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Steelhead Trout with Lemon Butter Sauce with Capers and Garlic

January 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In our effort to get more fish into our diets, we have obviously needed to broaden our horizons as far as types of fish that I cook. We’ll eat anything, but I don’t know how to cook it best… yet. So today when I went to our local fish market – I saw what I thought was salmon and decided to get some.  I was quickly informed that the fish in question was not salmon at all, but steelhead trout, which I had never heard of.

If you have a good fish monger (which I do), they’ll be happy to tell you about the fish, what to expect, how to cook it – and I rely on this information quite a bit now that we’re trying for three fish dinners a week.  She told me that I could cook the fish any way that I would cook salmon, or trout – so I brought it home and this is what I did.

  • One large filet of trout (mine was 1.57 lbs.)
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 jar of balsamic capers (you could use regular, they would be fine)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Heat a saute pan on med/high heat.  Add the olive oil and when it shimmers, add the butter.  When the butter is melted, add the garlic and saute and toss until you can smell the garlic – about 2-3 minutes.  Add the capers, toss and take off the heat.  Set aside.

steelhead trout 2 Steelhead Trout with Lemon Butter Sauce with Capers and Garlic

Put your fish on a cutting board, big enough to accomodate it.

steelhead trout 1 Steelhead Trout with Lemon Butter Sauce with Capers and Garlic

Portion into four pieces.

Cut four pieces of aluminum foil, big enough to put the portion into, with room to seal the top.

Lay a portion of the fish onto the foil. Brush with the butter mixture and then spoon some of the garlic and capers on top.

steelhead trout 3 Steelhead Trout with Lemon Butter Sauce with Capers and Garlic

Pull up the sides of the packet and roll the top and sides to seal it so the fish will steam and the sauce doesn’t leak and place on a sheet pan.

Cook for 20 minutes or until fish is flaky.

steelhead trout 4 Steelhead Trout with Lemon Butter Sauce with Capers and Garlic

Carefully remove the fish from the packets – every single one lifted away from the skin, leaving it behind – pour the remaining sauce over the fish.

I served this with a tossed salad dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette to carry the flavors of the capers.

steelhead trout 5 Steelhead Trout with Lemon Butter Sauce with Capers and Garlic

This was so good.  I would have thought it was salmon if I didn’t already know it wasn’t. A little less expensive than salmon and not so overfished, I know that we’ll be having this a lot! I can’t wait to try it with Asian flavors.



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Filed Under: All, Easy Dinner, Fish, Healthy, Lowcarb, Recipes Tagged With: , , ,

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