Chicken Cacciatore

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

This recipe is also courtesy of Ellie Kriger, RD of Food Network. I made this recipe last night and my husband and I LOVED it!! Next time I plan to try substituting some of the red pepper with green pepper for more color. But over all the flavor was phenomenal and it was fairly easy to make. Once again I have included the nutritional analysis courtesy of NutritionData.com. Below is the recipe. View it on Ellie's page here.

4 skinless chicken breasts (I used frozen skinless, chicken breasts)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice, chopped and juice reserved
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes or more, to taste (my husband and I felt like 1/8 tsp was plenty)


Directions
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a saute pan over moderately high heat. Brown the chicken on both sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Reduce the heat to moderate. Add the onion and pepper, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to brown. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes and juice, oregano, red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and simmer the mixture covered for 10 minutes. Return the chicken breasts to the pan and simmer, covered, until the chicken is just done, about 20 minutes longer.


Nutritional Analysis
Serving Size 1/4 of recipe (430g)
Servings per recipe: 4
Amount per serving:
Calories: 347
Calories from Fat: 50
Total Fat: 6g
Saturated Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 137 mg
Sodium 228 mg
Total Carbohydrate 10g
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Sugars 5g
Protein 57g

You and Me Chicken Pot Pies

This recipe was created by Ellie Krieger, RD of Food Network. She hosts her own show "Healthy Appetites". When you get a chance, visit her page on the Food Network website. She's got lots of recipes and videos with more recipes.

So far I've tried 2 and they were both yummy!! Click here to see the recipe in it's original format on her page. Below you'll find the recipe the way I did it.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks (I used frozen)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 medium onion, chopped (her recipe calls for leeks - I like the taste of onion so I opted for onion)
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium potatoes cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (I used fresh)
2 cloves garlic, minced (a garlic press makes this part SUPER easy!)
1 1/2 cups low-fat milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (I used unbleached)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (her recipe calls for peas - I opted for peas and carrots for more color)
1 tablespoon dried parsley (she uses fresh...)
1 tsp ground thyme (she uses fresh...)
3 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Directions
1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 4 individual-sized baking dishes with cooking spray. (I ended up with enough ingredients for 5 - later when you see my nutritional analysis, the recipe was analzyed for 5 servings.)
2.) Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few turns of pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, turning once. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
3.) Add 2 more teaspoons of the oil, the onion, and the celery to the pan and cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes, green beans, garlic, and remaining salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes.
4.) Add the milk to the pan. Stir the flour into the chicken broth (I used a wisk) until dissolved and add to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the reserved chicken, peas and carrots, parsley, and thyme. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dishes.
5.) Put the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil into a small bowl. Unroll the phyllo dough and cut it into quarters. Place a quarter sheet on top of each baking dish and brush with olive oil. Repeat with remaining 4 baking dishes. Tuck the edges of the phyllo into the dish rim. Top each pie with Parmesan.
6.) Place on a baking sheet and bake until the filling is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

I don't even like chicken pot pie, and I found this wonderful! My husband prefers his vegetables a little more soft than they turned out in this recipe, so you may want to cook them longer if your family prefers softer veggies.

Below is the nutritional analysis (provided by NutritionData.com).  I was pretty accurate in my estimate of the fat content. I estimated 10 grams of fat per pie.

Serving Size: 1/5 of recipe (602 g)
Servings per Recipe: 5
Amount per Serving:
Calories: 490
Calories from fat: 95
Total Fat 11g
Saturated Fat 3 g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 115 mg
Sodium 769 mg
Total Carbohydrate 44 g
Dietary Fiber 7 g
Sugars 6 g
Protein 55 g

Let's compare that to a traditional homemade chicken pot pie:
Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe (404 g)
Servings per Recipe: 6
Amount per Serving:
Calories: 696
Calories from fat: 371
Total Fat 42 g
Saturated Fat 21 g
Trans Fat 1g
Cholesterol 192 mg
Sodium 1960 mg
Total Carbohydrate 46 g
Dietary Fiber 4 g
Sugars 8 g
Protein 34 g

I'll let you do the math. :)

New Recipes

I've been searching for new recipes to try lately. I was browsing the food network and ran across Ellie Krieger's page. She's a Registered Dietitian and works for the Food Network. Her show is called "Healthy Appetites". She has some great stuff. I found a few yummy recipes I'm going to be trying in the next few weeks and months so stay tuned for my reviews.