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Posts Tagged ‘carrot’

Kitchen Pantry Crock Pot Chicken Thighs

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , , on November 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

If you know me at all, you know Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  This year, since Halloween was on a Sunday, I managed to find a way a way to have three different costumes, yet completely forget to eat.  One of the ingenuities of a crock pot is that it’s really easy to throw whatever you want inside of it and it will most probably turn out okay.  This is the result of tossing together some leftovers with some chicken legs that were on sale at Key Food.  To make this slightly healthier, you could remove the skin, but I was way too lazy this time, so I took it off while eating.  When making this from your pantry, root vegetables, mushrooms and carrots all hold up really well in the slow cooker. Any liquid will truly do, but I suggest low sodium and mixing different liquids for fun.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 5  chicken thighs
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon rosemary
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 1/2 pound small red potatoes, chopped
  • 2 cups chicken stock, low sodium
  • Half a light beer
  • Splash of sherry
  • Black pepper to taste

Throw the aromatics and onion into the pot.

Then the carrots and potatoes.

Don’t forget the chicken,

then some chicken stock and a splash of sherry, followed by the lone half a can of beer in my fridge.  Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8, then enjoy!  I forgot to take pictures of the end product, but instead I’ll give you this.

Have a wonderful secret pop star and silent film star November.

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Flounder En Papillote

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , , on October 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Alright ladies and gents, it’s time to get real.  My absolute favorite holiday is coming up and it’s important that I spend as little on food as possible to have more money to spend on a Halloween costume.  Now, as I make the terribly hard decision between being Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana this year, I came across a great sale on flounder at Fresh Direct .  I’ve always been pretty afraid to cook fish in the apartment, knowing that it might make the entire apartment smell awful for days, but I was promised that cooking a lighter fish in the oven would not have a chance of smelling.  This recipe is a hodge podge of stuff I had in the apartment and luckily the fish did not smell one bit.  Use the freshest fish possible and be sure to rinse and pat dry the fillet before cooking.

Ingredients:

  • 1 flounder fillet, around 6 ounces (any flaky, low scent, white fish will work)
  • 1 tablespoon light butter
  • 1 parsnip
  • 1 carrot
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 pinch garlic powder
  • 1 pinch onion powder
  • 1 pinch rosemary
  • 1 pinch thyme
  • 1 pinch black pepper

Rinse and pat dry the fillet.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and chop the carrot and parsnips.  Place on a large sheet pan and spray down with Pam. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the veggies are tender.  Cut a large piece of tin foil or parchment paper, about a square foot.  Spray down the tin foil with Pam.  Place the piece of fish in the middle and cover with the spices and veggies.  Fold up the sides of the tin foil into a pouch and put onto a sheet pan. Bake for 10-13 minutes, until the fish is white throughout and flakes with a fork. Open and enjoy!!!  The entire pouch is around 200 calories.

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Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , , , , on September 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

After going on two vacations and thus, needing a detox, I wanted to make something filling, yet low calorie to bring to work to eat for lunch.  Now since I am not famous and do not get to claim “exhaustion” after too many vacations and getting fat from them and then get to hide away in a rehab facility, my low-cal cooking will have to do.  I had no desire to slave over a stove in the last days of summer–which I swear, late September is still summer as long as it’s warm out!–so I wanted to make something in the crock pot.  I purposely chose these vegetables knowing that they were all filling and that the different colors help provide as many vitamins as possible.  I’m known for having a heavy hand with the spice, so if you like things less spicy, feel free to drop the levels.  This will also make your apartment smell like curry.  Forever.  No, it never goes away.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 of a 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 7 ounces carrots, chopped
  • 8 ounces parsnips, chopped
  • 6 ounces green beans, chopped
  • 14 ounces potatoes, chopped
  • 1 onion (around 4 ounces) chopped
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes, around 14 ounces
  • 14 ounces of veggie broth
  • 4 tablespoons curry powder
  • 2 tablespoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Put all the ingredients in a slow cooker, stir, then cook on high for 4 1/2 hours. Enjoy!

Makes about 4 pounds of curry, at around 250 calories a pound!

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Moo Shu Pork, Sorta

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , , , , , on March 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

I have a pretty high, undying love for Fresh Direct.  They have this sweet section with one click recipes, calorie counts and all.  Since I started a new job this week (new suits, two Blackberries, loss of all street cred…), I needed something quick and easy to make.  This recipe is delicious, easy, and fast.  The longest part is the chopping, and if you have a mandoline your life will be a lot easier.  You can make this with pork, chicken, or just veggies if you like. 

Moo Shu Lettuce Wraps, adapted from Fresh Direct

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 cups sliced mushrooms
  • 2 chicken breasts, cut into very thin strips
  • 3 cups shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
  • 2 matchstick-cut carrots
  • 1/2 sliced red bell pepper
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons Hoisin sauce, or to taste
  • 1 small head Boston or Bibb lettuce, leaves separated and core discarded

In a wok or large skillet over high heat, add oil. Saute the mushrooms for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add chicken,

 

cabbage,

carrots, bell pepper, and scallions and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, or until tender.

Add Hoisin sauce and stir to combine. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until vegetables and chicken are cooked through. If sauce is too thick, add 1 tablespoon water.

Serve wrapped in lettuce leaves.  Makes 4 servings at around 200 calories each.

I had a pretty emotional moment when making this recipe.  It was the first time I ever saw the nutrition facts for Hoisin, and I was floored.  It basically has 4 times the calories of soy sauce, and a crapload of sugar.  Hot flashes, images of drunken, Asian, buffet eating while globbing the sauce on my fried scallion pancake-style Moo Shu…  Oh God, I can feel my behind beginning to emulate Kim Kardashian, and not in a good way.

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Slow Cooker Spiced Moroccan Chicken

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , , on March 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Moroccan food is one of those things I was never really was introduced to until college.  There is this awesome restaurant called Nomad in the East Village that has some of the best tagines I’ve ever had.  The true pit of doom in Moroccan food is the couscous.  It, like rice, can be very high calorie in high doses and should be appended to meals carefully.  However, those sweet little nuggets of ricey pasta are hard to resist, hence why I tried to make my own portion controlled Moroccan at home.

Adapted From http://www.yumsugar.com/Slow-Cooker-Recipe-Spiced-Chicken-Stew-Carrots-7215623

You will probably see this vat of minced garlic in my recipes for the next three years.  I purchased it from Fresh Direct for 3 bucks, thinking I was getting overcharged for a tiny container.  Now I have enough minced garlic to ward off every vampire on the 7 continents.

  • 2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
  • 1 whole chicken, deconstructed bone in and skinless (breasts, thighs, drumsticks, wings)
  • 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • Coarse salt and ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
  • Couscous, for serving (optional)

Place carrots in slow cooker. In a bowl, toss together chicken, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; add to slow cooker. Cover, and cook on high, 4 hours (or on low, 8 hours), adding raisins 15 minutes before cooking is done.


Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken and carrots to a dish (remove cinnamon stick); top with cilantro. Season cooking liquid with salt and pepper; spoon over chicken. Serve with couscous, if desired.

I suggest making 1/2 a cup of couscous, which will end up being 150 calories per person for normal whole wheat couscous.  The chicken itself is around 40 calories an ounce, sans bones.

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Chicken En Papillote, Metal Style

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , , , , on February 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

This dish is magic.  I’ve read a lot about cooking chicken in tin foil and throwing in a bunch of vegetables, but I couldn’t really find a recipe that I actually wanted to follow.  Therefore, I resulted to the lazy way out and just chopped up what I had in my fridge–and magic.  Incredibly healthy and delicious magic.  I feel like I should say decadent, because I’ve been watching the Food Network for an hour and all Sandra Lee says about her food is that it’s “decadent”, even though she never actually tastes any of the main courses that she makes.  So this is decadent, sorta.  Like 250-300 calories for an actually filling meal with barely any fat decadent.  I win.

I love parsnips.  If carrots and potatoes made sweet love and had a child, it would be the parsnip.  The parsnip of love.  I like that.

Ingredients:

  • 3 chicken breasts (around 6-7 ounces each before cooking, cooking down to about 5 ounces each)
  • 1/2 cup baby carrots
  • 2 parsnips
  • 1 large, or two small zucchini
  • 3 pinches (around 1 -1 1/2 tablespoons) of dried rosemary
  • 3 pinches (around 1-1 1/2 tablespoons) of dried thyme
  • 1 scant tablespoon of paprika
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons light butter (Mine has 45 calories a tablespoon.)
  • 3 full-sized scallions (I guess that’s what you call them.  Who knows?  Just 3 of those stick onion things.)
  • Olive oil Pam
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Rinse and trim three chicken breasts. 

Salt and pepper each breast to taste.  (I mostly like this because it looks pretty after cooking).

Peel and chop 2 parsnips.

Chop the baby carrots in half.

Slice the zucchini and cut each circle into quarters.

Chop the scallions.

Spray a very large piece of foil with Pam.  Put one chicken breast in the middle.  Cover with 1/3 of the veggies.

Add one chopped scallion and a pinch more salt and pepper.

Dot with 1/2 tablespoon of butter.

Combine 1 pinch of each thyme and rosemary and 1/3 of the paprika. 

Sprinkle on the chicken breast.

Close the tin foil into a pouch, and repeat for the other two chicken breasts.

Place on a pan and into the oven.  Cook for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Open the packet and serve!  Each serving is around 250-300 calories, depending upon the size of the chicken breast and amount of veggies.

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Sweet Potato and Carrot Puree

Posted in Sides (For the High Cal Right Brain, tagged , on December 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

I loooveeee Thanksgiving.

The Table.

The Bird.

The Gravy.

Mashed Potatoes.  (Ahh, the benefits of an immersion blender!)

The desserts!!

Did I mention I was five pounds heavier the next day?

However, this year, we were asked to bring a side dish and we brought an easy, sweet, Fall side dish–sweet potato and carrot puree.  The only health benefit in this after the many additions to the carrots and sweet potatoes is really the vitamin A.  It’s a true indulgence.  Little Mommies and I made it two ways, one slightly lower fat than the other. 

 

I love the color of this when it’s done.  The vibrant orange makes you think it’s almost healthy.  Almost.

Ingredients:

The puree may be made using the low fat ingredients listed in italics.

  • 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 ½ cups water
  • 4 tablespoons butter or light butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 can (2 pounds, 8 ounces) canned yams in syrup, drained
  • ½ cup sour cream or reduced fat sour cream
  • ¼ cup heavy cream or fat free half and half
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon or to taste

This is when you are finally at the age to put your parents to work.  It’s AWESOME. 

In medium saucepan combine carrots, water, butter and salt and pepper to taste.

It smells amazing once the water boils down.  I don’t understand how people ever lived without butter.  I would live IN butter.

Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, until water has evaporated and carrots sizzle in butter, about 30 minutes.

In food processor, (or in large bowl with potato masher) combine carrots and remaining ingredients. Process or mash until very smooth. Add additional nutmeg, cinnamon, salt or pepper to taste.  Transfer puree to casserole dish (Puree may be made to this point up to one day ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.) and bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes until hot. Puree may also be reheated in microwave.  If desired, sprinkle with cinnamon before serving.

Makes 8 servings

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