Unfried Chicken & Idaho Oven Fries

My parents got a hold of my May/June issue of Weight Watchers magazine and saw these recipes. They were really excited about trying them. I was really proud of them because they usually stick to fad dieting and they don't typically care for altering recipes to make them healthy. The stepdad acted like he didn't care for it but I think he really did. The chicken could have used a little more seasoning, but it still tasted good. Nice and crunchy, and still juicy. Both my mom, my husband, and I liked it.

Unfried Chicken

1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 large egg whites
1 1/3 cup corn flake crumbs (It took almost a whole box of flakes to make 1 1/3 cups of crumbs!)
4 chicken drumsticks, skinned (about 1 lb)
4 chicken thighs, skinned (about 1 lb)
1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
1/4 cup fat free buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large shallow baking pan with foil. Place a wire rack on the pan and spray with cooking spray.

Put the flour on a plate. Lightly beat the egg whites in a shallow dish. Put the crumbs on a separate plate. Mix the chicken, salt, and pepper in a bowl; stir in the buttermilk. Dip the chicken, 1 piece at a time, in the the flour, then the eggs, then the crumbs.

Put the chicken on the rack and lightly spray with cooking spray. Bake until golden brown and cook through, about 45 minutes. Do not turn.

1 serving = 1 leg or thigh @ 7 points.

331 calories, 9 g fat, 29 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 33 g protein

Idaho Oven Fries

4 Idaho potatoes, scrubbed
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup ketchup

Place a rack in the lowest position in the oven. Preheat to 450 degrees F.

Cut each potato lengthwise into 8 wedges. Toss the potatoes with the oil on a heavy rimmed baking sheet and arrange each one, flat side down, in a single layer.

Bake without turning until the bottoms are deep golden and crisp, about 20 minutes; flip the potatoes onto the other flat side. Bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, serve with ketchup.

1 serving = 8 fries + 2 Tbsp ketchup @ 3 points

166 cals, 4 g fat, 32 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein

Greek night!

I saw a recipe for a Greek salad that I wanted to try. I figured that I could just grill up some chicken and throw it in a pita with some tzatziki sauce to go with it. Nothing fancy. Only I didn't know how to make tzatziki sauce.

I asked around and Marion, Kate, and Kyra were able to help me. I gathered the necessary ingredients:



0% Fage (I only used one container)
Lemon
Fresh dill
Cucumber (I used half for this and the other half for the Greek salad)
Garlic (not pictured)
Olive oil (not pictured)
Salt
Pepper

First I peeled the cuke and then scooped out the seeds. I did not buy a seedless cucumber because this one was HUGE and only 54 cents. Then I got out my trusty Microplane. I have three Microplanes. I have the long skinny one that you always see them using on the cooking shows. And I have this one and another one like it. This one is the Medium Ribbon Grater. The other one is a zester that works much like the long skinny one only it is like a paddle like the one pictured. The paddle shaped ones have this apparatus that you can slide onto it with a little cubby for the food you're grating and a cover for that. It's so you can grate the food all the way to the bottom without adding zest of finger to your recipe (gross, I know...sorry!).



After all that, place all the grated cucumber on some coffee filters. This is to get all the moisture out. If you don't have coffee filters, here are some other options: fine mesh seive, cheesecloth, or a paper towel even. You can also sprinkle the cucumber with some salt to get the moisture to drain faster, but I find that cucumber drains really fast anyways. I had to switch filters out for fresh ones every few minutes because they'd get soaked. I used 6 filters, 2 at a time. I set the filter over a measuring cup because I'm a nerd and I wanted to know how much liquid would come out of half of a large cucumber. You know, for when I make a recipe that calls for cucumber juice. (By the way it was about 1/4 cup. I knew you wanted to know).



Chop up some dill. Place the cucumber, dill, salt, pepper, about a clove of minced garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, and the juice of half a lemon in a mini food chopper (or a bowl and use an immersion blender) and pulse until it's all blended up. Mix in the Fage and stir it all until blended.

And that's it. You've got tzatziki!



Here's the Greek salad. The recipe is from Weight Watchers. It was pretty good. I might make it again.



Chopped Greek Salad

POINTS® Value: 3
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 15 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
2 tbsp water
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
3 tbsp dill, or mint, fresh, chopped
3 tbsp scallion(s), sliced
1 1/2 cup(s) tomato(es), ripe, diced (about 7 small tomatoes)
1 1/2 cup(s) cucumber(s), diced, seedless (about 1/2 large cucumber)
8 medium olive(s), Kalamata, pitted, chopped
6 cup(s) lettuce, Romaine, shredded
1/4 cup(s) crumbled feta cheese

Instructions
In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, water, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper until blended; stir in dill and scallions. Add tomatoes, cucumber and olives; toss to mix and coat.

Place 1 1/2 cups of lettuce on each of 4 salad plates; top each with about 3/4 cup of tomato mixture and then 1 tablespoon of feta. Spoon any dressing left in bottom of bowl over salads. Yields 1 salad per serving.



For the chicken pita, I just grilled up some chicken breast, sliced it and stuffed it in a pita with tomatoes and tzatziki.

Chicken Jambalaya

Jambalaya. Say it with me now! Jam-ba-lay-a. It's just a fun word to say. And yes, I am a nerd. Thanks for asking.


I was kinda thinking this recipe wouldn't turn out very well because they never really do for me. But I tried it anyways. It turned out delicious AND I even took a bunch of pictures so I can walk you through some steps. You're welcome.



First I seasoned some chicken with salt and pepper and grilled it up. Then cut it into chunks. I used salt and pepper, you can use whatever you like. Also, cook the chicken however you like. The grill is the most convenient for me.



While the chicken was on the grill, I diced up some turkey summer sausage (Oscar Mayer makes one that I think is just yummy).



I also diced up one large onion, one green bell pepper, and a big stalk of celery. This is referred to as the "holy trinity" in Cajun cooking. If you switch out the pepper for some carrot and you want to be all fancy and impress your friends, you can call that a "mire poix" (pronounce it 'meer pwa').



I sprayed a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and cooked up the sausage over high heat. Then I added the trinity and sauteed that until tender. Turn down the heat and add some seasonings (thyme, cayenne, salt, pepper) and minced garlic. I actually used chile powder instead of cayenne pepper and sage instead of thyme. I didn't have what was called for so I winged (a word?) it. Yeah, I'm brave like that. Probably why I have so many disasters... Let that cook up a bit, stirring it often because you don't want to burn the garlic. If you burn the garlic it'll make the whole dish taste kinda icky. And that goes for all food, not just this. Then you're gonna add in the chicken, broth, tomatoes, and a cup of white rice. Yes, those are off brand tomatoes. And that's instant rice. Stop judging me.




Then you just bring it up to a simmer, cover it, and let it cook for about 20 minutes. It's so very tasty. I even ate the chicken out of it. I usually pick out the chicken because I am not a huge fan. But it was good in this. The husband hasn't tried it yet because he had a work thing this evening. But he's on his way home now to check it out.

Here's the recipe. It's from Weight Watchers.

Chicken Jambalaya


POINTS® Value: 7
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 25 min
Cooking Time: 30 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy


Ingredients

1 spray(s) cooking spray
2 1/2 oz raw turkey sausage, chopped
1 large onion(s), chopped
1 medium celery, stalk, chopped
1 small green pepper(s), chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, ground
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
2 medium chicken breast, cooked, skinless, cubed (about 2 cups)
28 oz canned tomatoes, whole, plum, peeled with juice
2 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth
1 cup(s) uncooked white rice, long-grain

Instructions
Coat a large, nonstick saucepan with cooking spray. Over high heat, sauté sausage until crispy on edges. Add onion, celery and green pepper; sauté until tender.

Reduce heat and stir in cayenne, thyme, salt, pepper and garlic; sauté until garlic is fragrant.

Stir in chicken, tomatoes, broth and rice. Bring to a simmer, cover and let cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving.