Week 5 Recipe 4 - Catching Up!

Made a second recipe this week to try and catch up. Needs a few refinements - mainly due to my cooking skills - but I think it will make it into the rotation. My chicken never really browned and I think the spinach should thaw a bit first even though it doesn't say to. Maybe that is a known thing cooks leave out of recipes? I would also add more garlic and maybe lemon juice to add more flavor. Otherwise, we liked it and it was super filling with plenty of leftovers.

Spinach Chicken Piccata
(on the healthier side; from the Detroit Free Press a few months back)
Serves: 4/Preparation time: 10 minutes/Total time: 30 minutes

1 to 1 1/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped garlic or to taste
1 package (12 ounces) frozen leaf spinach
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
2 cups grated zucchini, optional
1 cup fat-free milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
4 cups cooked whole wheat penne pasta
1 tablespoon capers, drained, rinsed well
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Set aside.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add the chicken cubes and cook until lightly browned and no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle flour over the chicken, stir it in and cook about 1 minute. Add the garlic, spinach, mushrooms, and, if using, the zucchini.
Continue cooking until the spinach is wilted and mushrooms are partially cooked. Add the milk and simmer until the sauce thickens, stirring periodically. Stir in the lemon juice and simmer about 5 minutes.
Place 1 cup cooked penne pasta in a serving dish and top with the chicken mixture. Sprinkle each serving with a few capers and top each with about 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese.

From Elaine Stewart, Wixom.
Tested by Susan M. Selasky in the Free Press Test Kitchen.
579 calories (18% from fat), 12 grams fat (3 grams sat. fat), 65 grams carbohydrates, 54 grams protein, 560 mg sodium, 103 mg cholesterol, 9 grams fiber.

Week 5 Recipe 3

Wasabi Chicken With Gingered Spinach-Apple Slaw

Made this new recipe for dinner tonight! That's right - on a Monday! However, I'm week five recipe three. Not so good. I'll get with this self-imposed challenge eventually. In my defense, it's been 85+ degrees out most days and our AC is broken, so cooking meals that aren't super quick hasn't been too appealing. But I digress ...

Interesting coating for chicken. The wasabi peas we bought weren't overly spicy - may buy a hotter version next time. Otherwise, it is pretty plain. I ended up putting Bull-Dog Vegetable & Fruit Tonkatsu Sauce on it and mixing it with the Zataran's fried rice I made for the side.

Didn't like the dressing for the slaw, although this may be because I had to use white wine vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar. May just look for a pre-made ginger dressing.

Sounds like I'm giving a bad review but I will try it one more time with some changes as it was super easy and different.

Coming This Week - Two New Recipes!

The ingredients for two new recipes - a wasabi pea coated chicken and a healthy chicken piccata - are in the refrigerator. Now I just need the temp to drop a bit so I can stand over the stove!


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