Low-Fat Chicken Salad

Chicken salad is one of my all time go to meals and since I leave in warm climate, it is a refreshing meal to fix for lunch or anytime. I poach the chicken breasts which keeps it moist and juicy, so you'll need less dressing to stick to the salad. This recipe will make 3 servings but you can double the recipe to make more. I like to put the chicken salad on a bed of romaine lettuce.

Ingredients:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups water
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup red seedless grapes, sliced in half
1/3 cup roughly chopped walnuts, toasted (take small saute pan and toast until fragrant about 4 minutes)
Romaine lettuce

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in a medium pot and add water, make sure the water covers the chicken. Add the seasoning, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low to simmer, partly cover for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and allow chicken to stay in the hot water for 20 minutes. Remove from water and take two forks and shred the chicken and set aside.

In a large bowl add mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, honey, salt and pepper. Stir with a whisk to combine. Add the chicken, celery, grapes, walnuts. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve on a bed of romaine lettuce. Enjoy!

Vegetable Pizza with Feta Cheese

It's Friday night and it is time for pizza. So, I decided to make a vegetable pizza. It is low in calories and it has good nutrition. I used already sliced crimini mushrooms that have an earthy flavor and firmer texture almost like a meat. Mushrooms are very low in sodium and fat and excellent source of potassium which makes this vegetable heart healthy. I added grape tomatoes and red onion both are rich in antioxidants and they are an anti- inflammatory food that help the immune system fight infection. I used fresh pizza dough from the grocery store to save time in preparing the pizza. The dough needs to be at room temperature before shaping. It will take 2 hours to get to room temperature.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound bag fresh pizza dough
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 pound fresh crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
6 fresh basil leaves, torn
salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces feta cheese, cubed

Directions:

Preheat oven 475 degrees. Take a cookie sheet and spread 1 tablespoon of yellow cornmeal on sheet to prevent the pizza from sticking.

In a medium non-stick pan, on medium heat put oil in pan and saute onions about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and salt, pepper, thyme and cook about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, spinach, basil, and salt and pepper and cook about 3 minutes. Set aside.

On a floured surface, with a rolling pin roll dough out until all the air bubbles are out and it does not have to be perfectly round. My dough ended up kind of oval shape. Put dough on prepared cookie sheet and drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and take a pastry brush and brush the oil all over the dough. The oil will prevent the dough from getting soggy from the vegetables. Pour the vegetable mixture on top of the dough and spread it out with a spoon. Sprinkle the feta cubes all over the vegetables.

Bake 475 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into desired pieces. Enjoy!

Romaine Salad with Fresh Corn and Goat Cheese Dressing

Spring is a good season for fresh corn that you can buy at the farmers market for a small price. The farmers market is a good place to buy fresh vegetables and fruits for a low cost and you don't have to deal with a middle man like the grocery store where the vegetables and fruits would have to travel a long way on a truck that might take a few days to get to their destination. So, the freshness is just not the same and the price could be higher. 

Fresh corn has a good source of nutritional value like vitamin B1 (thiamin) that maintains the memory, good dietary fiber, folate that is a B vitamin which is heart healthy, vitamin c, and  B5 (pantothenic acid) which helps when you are under stress it helps support the function of the adrenal glands.

I have a  recipe for a light Spring salad that can be made with raw fresh corn and the taste of the sweet corn makes the salad mouth watering. You have to take the kernels off the cob in a bowl with a knife and set aside which is pictured below. This recipe will serve 4 people.

Ingredients:

Salad:

2 ears of fresh corn, remove corn from cob
2 Romaine Hearts, cut bite size pieces
2 carrots, sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
4 pitted Medjool Dates, sliced
1 cup chick peas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped (in a small pan on low cook walnuts about 5 to 7 minutes, until fragrant)

Dressing:

4 ounces goat cheese, softened
2 tablespoons low- fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon agave nectar or honey
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

In a large bowl put chopped romaine, add carrots, dates, chick peas, tomatoes, walnuts, and corn.

For the dressing put all ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth and pour over salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!