My Meals #2

On a cooking spree this weekend...

First, I made Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes, adapted from Oxmoor House (whatever that is, I just found the recipe on myrecipes.com).

Adapted Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 tablespoon honey

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

Balsamic vinaigrette salad spritzer (such as Wish-Bone)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; place tomato mixture on a foil-lined jelly-roll pan. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until tomato skins burst and begin to wrinkle, stirring once. Transfer tomatoes to a bowl, scraping juices into bowl. Stir 1/4 teaspoon salt into tomato mixture.

3. I chose to bake the chicken breasts, covered in the oven, instead of pounding and sauteeing.

4. Place chicken on individual plates; coat each breast half with 2 to 3 sprays of balsamic spritzer. Spoon tomatoes evenly over chicken. 

I forgot to put balsamic vinegar on each chicken, I'll try it when I heat it up, but I thought the taste was already good!  I also created 5 servings by portioning off a couple oz of each breast to make a 5th serving.  I added a 1/4 cup of quinoa and a serving of roasted zucchini/eggplant/redpepper.  I would probably add some spinach or arugula when I heat it up. 

Total for meal = 330cal (200 for chicken and tomato, 50 for roasted veggies and 80 for the quinoa) I figured calories based on the actual products and quantities that I used.  Each meal cost about $3.13 (lots of fresh veggies).

Second, I made a Beef Tagine with Butternut Squash from Cooking Light.  This one was not as successful.  Still okay, but not going to make it a bunch.  The flavor is too strong for me and the beef cut I picked turned out tough when cooked in this method. 

Adapted Recipe...

Yield: 4 servings (I made 5 servings)

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (don't have, don't like, used a bit of nutmeg instead.)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (1-pound) beef shoulder roast or petite tender roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes  (Couldn't find anything labeled "roast" so I bought what I always buy... london broil.  I think it's too lean for stewing though.)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 shallots, quartered (used 3)

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 pound) (tried to find the precut, but unsuccessful.)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro  (forgot to add my frozen cilantro, will add when I reheat.)

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add beef; toss well to coat.

2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef and shallots; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Add squash; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until squash is tender. Sprinkle with cilantro.

I packaged with a 1/4 cup of quinoa and a serving of green beans.  The total calories count for the meal is 360cal.  The stem was 250, quinoa 80 and green beans 30.  Each meal cost about $2.70.

This morning I made Spicy Basque-style Chicken from Cooking Light. I really liked this one, though I changed the recipe quite a bit.

Adapted recipe...

Yield: 4 servings

1 teaspoon smoked paprika (too much paprika after the tagine, so I used ancho chile pepper)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast tenders (I just chopped the leftover chicken breasts into large chunks, had about a pound.)

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic (used frozen)

1/4 cup sliced green olives

2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (Didn't read well, only used one can, but I liked it.  I think two cans might be too much...)

1/4 cup finely chopped prosciutto (forgot to buy.)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (will maybe add frozen cilantro or basil when I eat it.)

Combine paprika and pepper; sprinkle evenly over chicken. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds. Turn chicken over. Add olives and tomatoes to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes.

Remove chicken from pan. (Didn't do this, but then I didn't have as much liquid to reduce.) Increase heat to medium-high; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with prosciutto and parsley.

I added a 75 calories serving of frozen brown rice and a serving of green beans.  Total calorie count 330cal (chicken mixture = 190, rice = 75, beans = 35).  Each meal cost just under $2.

Done for now and definitely need to cancel a BMD box or two... There's a bunch of meals in the outside freezer too!