Red Wine Vinegar Chicken

Posted: July 27, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

 

This is the worst picture of the best dish you will ever eat.  To top it off it is easy to make.  Don’t be shocked by the amount of vinegar, just go with it.  The acid breaks down the chicken and gives it a tang that is addicting.  You can make it with the skin on if you are a person who does not have to watch your figure, but honestly this version is so good you won’t even miss the skin.

 

 

10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

10 minced garlic cloves

1 cup of red wine vinegar

1/2 cup of chicken stock

1 can of chopped tomatoes

Handful of fresh thyme- tied with a kitchen string

4 bay leaves

Salt & pepper

Pam

 

 

Heat a Dutch oven on the stove on medium high heat. (That’s a heavy cast iron pan with a tall straight sides and a lid.  I use a Le Cruset.) Spray the inside of the pot with Pam and add half the chicken thighs in one layer.

 

Cook for about 4 minutes; you just want them to get a little color.  Flip them over and repeat on the other side.  Remove those thighs from the pan and keep on a plate on the side.  The chicken is not cooked through yet.  Spray the pot with more Pam and cook the other half of the chicken the same way.

 

After you have cooked all the chicken and it is out of the pot, add the garlic to the pan and cook for one minute, stirring often.  Add your vinegar, keeping your face away from the pot when you do it so you don’t choke on the acidic cloud you will create.  Add the tomatoes, stock, herbs and chicken back in the pot.

 

Cover and bring the contents to a boil and then reduce to simmer for about 10 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pot the best you can, leaving everything else in there.  Bring the liquid back up to a boil and reduce the sauce with the lid off.  I like to mash it all down with a potato masher to break up the tomatoes.  It will take about 15 minutes to reduce it to a sauce like consistency.

 

Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

The Healthy is Hidden in it Chili

Posted: July 12, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Chili is a great way to make not just a low fat dish, but one that has a lot of veggies that you would not even know are in there that add fiber and bulk without adding many calories.

3 onions chopped

5 cloves of garlic minced

2 lbs of 96 % ground beef or ground turkey breast

1 Green pepper chopped

5 cups of shredded squash (I used 2 zucchini and 1 yellow squash)

2 shredded Carrots

3 hot green peppers chopped

½ cup Chili powder

2 T. ground Cumin

1 T. smoked Paprika

2 15 oz. cans of chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup of liquid – wine, beer, chicken broth or water

1 can of red kidney beans

9 packets of Splenda

1 T. Red wine vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Pam

In a large stockpot on a medium high heat, spray with Pam and add onions and garlic.  Cook for 3 minutes stirring every once in a while.  Add the meat and chop it up with a spoon as you cook it until it is browned.  Add all the peppers, squash and carrots.  Stir and cook for another 3 minutes.  Add all the spices and the canned tomatoes.  Add the liquid and bring boil and simmer for 20 minutes making sure

there is a little liquid in the pot.  Add the beans, Splenda and vinegar and cook a few more minutes.

Baked Stuffed Zucchini

Posted: June 7, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

The Garden is in full squash production.  Here is a great way to use the zucchini you should have picked two days ago, but you did not see them under that giant leaf until they got just so big.

 

4 large zucchini – or six smaller ones

2 15 Oz. cans stewed tomatoes

1 large sweet onion chopped

2 T. Pesto – or 20 basil leaves chopped, and 2 cloves of garlic minced

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and Pepper

Pam  (of course)

 

Preheat the oven to 425º

 

In a saucepan put the tomatoes and the onion and bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer and cook until the onion is translucent, about 20 minutes.

 

Cut the ends of the Zucchini and slice them down the center lengthwise.  Scoop the seeded middle out of the squash digging it out as an American Indian would have dug out a wooded canoe.

 

When the tomatoes are done remove the pan from the heat and add the pesto and the Parmesan cheese and mix well.

 

Spray an oblong pan with Pam.  Fill each zucchini canoe with the tomato mixture and place in oblong pan.  After you have filled all the zucchini sprinkle salt and pepper on each one.

 

Add a cup of water to the pan without pouring on the zucchini canoes.  Cover the pan with foil, sealing it as best you can.

 

Carefully place in the oven so as not to make the canoes float around and turn upside down.

 

Cook for 45 minutes.  Then remove the foil and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.  The zucchini should be fork tender.

 

4 servings as a main dish or 8 as a side dish