Eat Better Week: Portabella Mushroom Chicken & Roasted Cauliflower

It's day 3 of Eat Better Week and in case you're on the verge of cooking burn out, don't fret! Some weeks by the time Wednesday rolls around, I've all but had it with cooking, keeping my apartment in order, hanging up my clothes, and doing the dishes. That's where this super simple chicken recipe comes in (along with the remembrance of The Biggest Loser from the previous night...if that's not enough to get you going, I'm not sure what is...). And my favorite part? Almost every ingredient in this recipe can be found at any given time in my refrigerator or pantry, making this chicken dish a staple in my weekly meal plans. Though the side dish often varies between rice, green vegetables, sweet potatoes, or essentially anything I can find around the tiny kitchen, this week I served it up with a side of roasted cauliflower with parmesean cheese. And in case you're wondering, the veggie part wasn't mushy and undesirable...it was actually quite tender and tasty to boot. Roasting is really the only way to consume vegetables in my opinion (that is, unless you're dousing them in melted cheese but therefore removing any health value they brought to the proverbial table), so see below for a quick and easy tutorial that's pretty much interchangeable with most raw vegetables. Let's get right down to it, shall we?

Glazed Portabella Mushroom Chicken
1 lb chicken tenderloins (or thin sliced breast if you prefer)
1 pkg baby portabella mushrooms (I found these at my local grocer, but button mushrooms will work just fine)
1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp balsamic vinaigrette
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic, minced (this is where the jarred kind comes in really handy!)
olive oil
kosher salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

In a mixing bowl, whisk together soy sauce, balsamic vinaigrette, mustard, honey, garlic, salt and pepper.

Toss chicken in mixture and set aside. Meanwhile, wash, de-stem and slice mushrooms. In large skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add chicken to pan, pouring all of the leftover marinade over the top (note: you may want to break out the splatter screen here). Cook for 3 minutes or until bottom of chicken starts to brown. Turn the chicken and add in mushrooms, which will quickly shrink down once coated with some of the marinade in the pan (though they may be a bit unruly when first added to the pan).

Cook until chicken is cooked through, the juices run clear, and the mushrooms are soft. That's it...it's that simple.

Roasted Cauliflower
1 head cauliflower
olive oil
parmesean cheese
kosher salt
cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Break down cauliflower into florets and rinse. In mixing bowl, drizzle cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Next, line a baking sheet with foil (remember that clean up in a snap? Once you go foil, you won't go back) and spread cauliflower out on sheet. Sprinkle with parmesean cheese. Roast for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, toss cauliflower and add a bit more parmesean.

Continue roasting 10 minutes more or until you're satisfied with the desired crispiness.
Put 'em together on a pretty plate and here's what you get...

Oh, I almost forgot to mention...since this meal can seem a little...brown (and I like my dishes to be multicolored)...you can always fix that by adding some fresh herbs on top. Since this was a last minute dish and I had no fresh herbs to speak of, I sprinkled on some dried parsley for a similar, if not perfect, effect.

So there you have it. One more fabulous, healthy and delicious meal to add to your repetoire. What do you think? Do you have another super easy, quick chicken recipe? How do you prepare your vegetables so that they're not only edible, but actually covetable?

PS - In case you missed days 1 and 2 of Eat Better Week, check out the recipes for Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges and Turkey Pasta Mash Up.

Eat Better Week: Rubbing Elbows

It's day numero dos of Eat Better Week and today we're serving up a simple one pot dinner starring one of my favorite healthy ingredients, ground turkey. This turkey-pasta-veggie combo is versatile, easy to cook, and tasty to boot.

I dug up this Rachael Ray recipe a few months ago while trying to find a way to devour the ground turkey sitting in my freezer. Though I'm so not a fan of hers, this one intrigued me. I decided to give it a try, but I bumped up the flavor and aesthetics by adding asparagus (my favorite green vegetable) and by substituting cream of chicken soup for regular ol' chicken broth. And despite the extreme healthfulness in this dish, Shaun took one bite and sang my praises for whipping up a delectable meal for two (this was also followed by a request to add this recipe to my permanent collection...he also had no idea that it was made entirely of healthy ingredients). And if that's not enough to convince you, one more reason to love this recipe is for the usage of elbow pasta. Doesn't it just remind you of childhood? It makes me think of macaroni and cheese and instantly brings me back to the house I grew up in.

Side note: RR calls this goulash, but it's really nothing of the sort. Traditional goulash is more like a beef stew and less like the sophisticated Hamburger Helper that this recipe tends to emulate.

Turkey Pasta Mash Up
*Adapted from Rachael Ray
1 box elbow macaroni (whole wheat is best, if you can find it)
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 lb ground white turkey
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced (I use the jarred kind to make this even easier)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 bundle asparagus, chopped
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
black pepper
1 can fat free cream of chicken soup
2 tbsp reduced fat sour cream

Cook elbow pasta according to package directions. Chop and wash vegetables.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and butter or margarine. Add ground turkey and season with Lawry's seasoning salt, breaking it up as it cooks. After 2-3 minutes, add garlic, onions, red peppers, asparagus, paprika, cumin, and black pepper, cooking for 5-6 minutes until vegetables are softened.

Add cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Stir in elbows (you probably won't use the entire box of pasta here as it makes a lot of food. Add as much as you like, and save the rest for another meal...a quick tomato and pasta dish perhaps?).  Let cook for a few minutes more. Adjust seasonings, add salt to taste and prepare yourself for a boatload of praise and a few day's worth of leftovers.

The result? A delicious, hearty, comfort food that's winter-friendly and healthy to boot. What do you think? Is there anything else that you like to use ground turkey for? Do you harbor a secret elbow pasta crush? Are there any other foods that hearken you back to your childhood?

PS - If you missed Day One of Eat Better Week, you can check it out here...spicy sweet potato wedges!

Eat Better Week: Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges

So it's officially back in the swing of things. We're into 2010 and I, for one, am thrilled and excited for the possibilities that lie ahead in the coming year. First on my list, however, is the post-holiday detox. While I may have (waaaayyy) over-indulged over the holiday, contrary to popular belief, I don't actually eat that way all the time. The truth of the matter is that while it seems like I eat pastrami sandwiches and chocolate and cupcakes all day long...well...I don't. (Not regularly anyway). Don't get me wrong, I have been known to eat rice pudding til my heart's content or crash a fancy pizza joint, but on a regular, day-to-day basis, I try to keep my diet (mostly) free of the not-so-good for you foods. It just might not seem that way since, let's face it, the delicious, indulgent foods are way more interesting to eat and, in turn, write and read about.

But it's back to reality and that means healthier foods. Sure, there's the liquid diets, the low-carbs, the low-fats. I, for one, do not believe that just because something tastes delicious means that it must be packed with calories. In fact, I bet there are lots of ways to eat better without sacrificing taste. So this week at Between JC & Manhattan, it's Eat Better Week and we'll be bringing you some ideas and tips for cutting the fat out of your life...literally. Each night this week, I'm going to try my hardest to put together meals that are tasty but still on track to shed some holiday poundage. Sound good? 

First up in this week to better eating: fabulous, spicy sweet potato wedges. Don't be deterred by the name, these taters are anything but actually spicy. Instead, they're a mouth-watering mix of a sweet and savory coating on a roasted sweet potato wedge. I tried this recipe after reading about it at Real Simple and even served it at my holiday cocktail party where it got rave reviews. Since Shaun was freezing at the Jets game and I was on my own for dinner, I cut down the recipe for a 1-2 person serving. Let's check it out, shall we?

Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges

Adapted from Real Simple

1 sweet potato, skin on or off, cut into wedges

1 1/2 tsp olive oil 

1 tbsp brown sugar (or brown sugar substitute, like Splenda brown sugar, but use less than real brown sugar...it's super sweet!)

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut potatoes to desired wedgeness (it's a technical term).

In mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, brown sugar, nutmeg, kosher salt, cumin, and cinnamon. 

Add sweet potato wedges and toss to coat. On a foil-lined baking sheet (trust me on the foil-lining, it makes clean up a snap), spread out wedges. Roast in oven for 25 minutes, then turn them and continue roasting 10 minutes more. For a crispier wedge, roast even longer until desired texture is reached. As always, serve on a pretty plate for even more pizzaz. 

The result? A sweet 'n savory (not so much spicy, but I suppose you could add in a pinch of cayenne pepper to get that effect) potato wedge, without its fried, greasy counterparts. Try this for a change from your usual baked potato and I promise, you won't be disappointed! It's simple, quick and delicious to boot.

So that's the first recipe in the series. Now I want to know from all of you - how do you cope with holiday detox? Do you start training for a marathon? Eat only fruits and veggies? Crash diet? Stop eating altogether for a few days? Please share your thoughts with me and others on how you get it done. I, for one, could use the motivation and tips to keep me going!