Light chicken pot pie with lots of veggies

This better be the last winter meal I make before it gets warm! Here is a lighter take on chicken pot pie – still creamy and delicious but without the heavy cream and pie crust. You’ll need:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 1/2 c chicken stock
• 1 1/2 c milk (I used 2%)
• 3-4 TBS butter
• Heaping 1/2 c flour
• 2 parsnips
• 3-4 carrots
• 1 medium/large head of broccoli
• 1/2 onion
• 4-5 big stems of kale
• 3/4 c frozen cut green beans
• 3/4 c panko bread crumbs
• Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
• Salt, pepper and nutmeg

Boil the chicken thighs; shred and set aside. Cut the carrots into smaller-than-bitesize pieces, saute with chopped onions and olive oil. Cut up broccoli, parsnips (same size as carrots), and shred the kale. Cook the carrots and onions for about 15 minutes covered. Add parsnips, kale, broccoli, and green beans and cook until all veggies are tender – about another 10-15 minutes.

Mmm veggies

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add flour and whisk. It will get too clumpy to stir; at that point add the milk and stir vigorously until combined. When it gets thick, add the broth and whisk to combine. Continue to simmer on low for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally – it will become the consistency of a thick gravy. Remove from heat and whisk in salt and pepper to taste; add nutmeg. I used as much nutmeg as in this picture, twice – I grind the nutmeg right into the pot so it’s hard to measure, but I would estimate about 1 1/2 teaspoons.

Freshly ground nutmeg!

Combine the chicken, flour mixture, and veggies and mix until all ingredients are well-coated. Spray a casserole or 13x9 glass pan with olive oil. Chop the parsley and mix with the breadcrumbs; spread over the top. Bake covered with tin foil on 350 for 15 minutes, uncovered for 10, and broil for just a minute or two at the end to crisp the breadcrumbs. Serve!

Divided into 4 (big!) servings, this only comes out to about 475 calories per serving.

Veggie lasagna: kale, eggplant and broccoli

I really wanted lasagna for dinner but didn’t want to make a separate vegetable, so I threw them all in, substituting 2 layers of noodles with eggplant. I have looked in every store that I frequent (including Whole Foods, which I did not actually enter and don’t actually frequent, but David tells me they don’t have it) for whole wheat lasagna noodles. No dice, so I just used Barillo. Amazon has a couple of different brands which I am going to try.

You’ll need:

• 2 cups finely chopped broccoli
• 2-3 handfuls kale, also finely chopped
• 1 large eggplant
• 1 cup fat free Trader Joe’s cottage cheese
• 15 oz fat free ricotta
• 1 egg
• 1 jar of RAO’s homemade tomato basil sauce (more if you want sauce for serving)
• 12 oz bag Trader Joe’s shredded low fat mozzarella
• 6 no-boil lasagna noodles (I used Barillo)

Slice 6 pieces of the eggplant lengthwise, about 1/4” thick, and broil on both sides for 3-5 minutes each. Set aside.

Finely chop the broccoli and kale and sauté in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil, uncovered, until a little crispy.

Broccoli and kale before cooking – shrinks down a lot when done.

Whisk the egg in a small mixing bowl, add ricotta and cottage cheese and mix well.

I used a lasagna pan; this many layers and ingredients would probably be too much for a 13x9 pan. Drizzle a little sauce on the bottom of the pan and place 3 noodles on top. Spoon about 1/4 of the ricotta mixture in dollops onto the noodles, followed by a thin layer of mozzarella.

Cover with 3 slices of eggplant, perpendicular to the noodles if there’s space (I fit 2 that way), followed by another 1/4 of the ricotta mixture. Spoon more sauce in dollops, then sprinkle the broccoli/kale mixture in an even layer. Cover with a thin layer of mozzarella, and three more noodles.

The rest of the layers are the same portions, and I did them in this order: Ricotta, sauce, eggplant, ricotta, mozzarella, noodles, sauce, remainder of the mozzarella.

Cover and bake on 350 for 25 minutes, uncover and bake for another 10, let stand for about 10 minutes before serving!

Divided into 6 (BIG) servings, this only comes out to about 340 calories per serving!

Creamy broccoli, cheese and chicken soup

I AM OUT OF BACON. This never happens. I don’t know how it happened. If I had bacon, I would have started by cutting up 3 strips and cooking them in the bottom of the soup pan for about 10 minutes, then adding the rest of the ingredients.

You will need:

• 3 strips of bacon IF YOU HAVE ANY
• Half of a large (sweet) onion
• 3.75 lbs of broccoli, chopped
• 3/4 lb yellow potato
• 4 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
• 1 cup of 2% or whole milk, or an additional cup of broth
• 1 3/4 cups low fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 – 1 1/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp onion powder
• Salt and pepper

Potatoes, onions, broth, missing bacon

Start by cutting up the bacon and cooking it in the soup pot for about 10 minutes. Roughly chop the potatoes and onion and add to the pot. Add the broth and turn the stove to medium high. Chop the broccoli into small enough pieces so they all fit and add to the pot, plus a couple pinches of salt on top. The broth should cover the potatoes, but not the broccoli – it will get steamed by the broth. Cover and continue cooking on medium high for 10 minutes, turn down to low and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the broccoli is soft.

Meanwhile, cook the chicken (I just boil it) and chop finely. You can do bite sized pieces but I like small pieces. Set aside.

Finely chopped chicken

Remove soup pot from heat. Blend using an immersion blender or a food processor. If you’re using an immersion blender, you kind of have to work from the top and push down. It blends eventually. Add the cup of milk and blend. Add nutmeg, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add the chicken and cook uncovered on low for 10 more minutes. At this point, it would probably be ready to eat, but David was not home yet so I let it cook on very low, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.

Makes 5 good sized servings, at only about 425 calories each.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I will start by saying this cannot be compared to actual pizza. However, if you crave pizza like I do, this is a really good weekday substitute and you are eating tons of veggies!

You will need:

• 2 heads of cauliflower
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 tsp salt
• Lots of shredded mozzarella cheese (TJ’s light mozzarella has the lowest calories)
• Pizza sauce 
• Toppings – I did one turkey pepperoni and red onions, and one veggie with red peppers, red onions, and black olives

Processed cauliflower with cheese and eggs

Cut the cauliflower into big chunks (one head at a time) and blend in the food processor. It will come out looking sort of like dry grits. Microwave for 7 or 8 minutes, until softened. At this point, a lot of the things I read say to put the mush into a dishtowel and wring the water out. That sounded annoying, so I did not do it. 

Beat the 2 eggs and pour into the cauliflower pulp, along with 2 cups of mozzarella and salt, mix well. Spray a sheet of parchment paper with oil, and place on a baking sheet. Working in chunks, either with your hands or a rubber spatula, spread the cauliflower out to about a 10-inch circle that is about 1/4 inch thick. Don’t make it any thicker or it will be too mushy.

Precooked

Cooked - edges are browned

 When I do this the next time, I will cook it on higher heat to begin with. What I did was cook the crusts for 10 minutes on 350, flipped them (this was not easy) and cooked them for a total of about 20 more minutes on 400. If I was going to do it again, I would cook them on 400 for 20 minutes, and try putting them on a cookie rack (still on the parchment paper) for the second 10 minutes to see if it cooked the other side a little more. I stopped baking them when the edges got dark – I probably could have left them in even longer to see if they toughened up more, but I was hungry.

Spread sauce on the cooked crust; I like a lot of sauce but too much will make it mushy. Add cheese and toppings. As far as I can tell, there is no such thing as too much cheese. If using veggies, cut them up pretty small, otherwise it will be too heavy.

Bake until cheese is melted – about 10 minutes on 350. Eat one million pieces!

Chicken and Potato Chowder

All good soups start with bacon! You’ll need:

• 3 strips (I used center cut) bacon
• 1/2 medium sized white onion
• 1 1/2 - 2 TBS butter
• 1/4 cup plus 1 TBS flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup whole or 2% milk
• 3-4 cups chopped yukon gold potatoes
• 1 lb chicken (I use boneless skinless thighs), chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Bay leaf
• Nutmeg

Cut the bacon into small (slightly bigger than bacon bit size) pieces with kitchen scissors into a soup pot. Cook on medium for a few minutes until it starts sizzling. Meanwhile, dice the onion and add to the bacon. Cook for a few more minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the butter (unless you’re using full fat bacon, in which case you probably won’t need the butter) and stir until melted. Add the flour and whisk until combined. It kind of looks like a congealed mess at this point but that’s ok. Continue to cook while whisking for a couple more minutes, but don’t let it burn.

This is how much nutmeg to use.

Add the chicken broth and whisk until smooth; add the milk and whisk to combine. Add diced potatoes, chicken, salt and pepper, nutmeg and a bay leaf. I forgot to measure how much nutmeg I put in, so I took a photo before I stirred it. Go easy on the salt until you taste it later, especially if you used full sodium stock.

Simmer for 1 – 1 1/2 hours on low, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Don’t sit reading your kindle and drinking wine and forget about it! Once the chicken is cooked, taste it to see if you need more salt and pepper. Add the frozen corn and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool for about 10 minutes before you serve.

This did not make as much soup as I was hoping (I like leftovers), next time I would probably double it. It made 2 big servings which we ate for dinner, plus one smaller leftover serving.

Since there are no veggies in this, I made a mixed green salad with shaved asiago, grape tomatoes, and lemon honey dressing. I forgot to measure exactly how much of everything I used in the dressing, but it was good. Approximately, it was the juice of one lemon, a heaping teaspoon of honey (thank you Bridget and Aaron) and probably 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil. Shake well!

Based on rough calculations dividing it into 3 servings, this is about 530 calories per bowl. You could skip the bacon (which would be crazy), use a lower-fat milk (I did whole), and/or use boneless skinless chicken breast, all of which would lower the calorie count a bit. Still, at 530 calories it is very filling, and still far less than a chowder you would get at a restaurant. Serve with red wine!

Light Creamy Chicken, Broccoli, and Corn Soup

All of a sudden it got freezing, so I wanted soup. I hate the cold, but I do love soup. This is a creamy broth but without the heavy cream, making it a much healthier, lower calorie and fat alternative.

You will need:

• 3 TBS butter
• 3 TBS flour
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp tarragon
• 4 cups (low sodium) chicken broth
• 3/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
• 1 1/2 c gold potatoes, chopped
• 1-2 heads of broccoli, chopped
• 1 1/2 c frozen sweet corn
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
• Salt to taste

Melt the butter in a soup pot; I used a 5 quart. Start the chicken to boil in a separate saucepan. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and whisk until all lumps are broken up. Continue to simmer, whisking constantly, for about 3 minutes. Usually I recommend being lazy and not actually whisking the whole time, but it’s important that you do, otherwise it will burn and stick.

Butter and flour while simmering -
looks very thin.

Slowly add 2 cups of the chicken broth, plus the milk, and whisk. Add the shallots, bay leaf, and potatoes; turn to medium low and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes – until the potatoes are cooked and the broth has thickened. Remove from stove, take out the bay leaf, and use an immersion blender (possibly the best kitchen tool ever) or a food processor to blend.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove from saucepan, save the broth to add to your dog’s food, and coarsely chop or pull apart the meat. Add to the blended broth.

Put the soup back on the stove on medium low, add the last 2 cups of broth, salt to taste, and mix thoroughly. Add the broccoli and corn – the measurements above are about what I used; they are not exact and I basically just cram as much in as I can for the amount of broth that I have.

Add 2 tsp of nutmeg, 1 tsp of tarragon, stir and taste. You might need a little more salt also.

Cook uncovered for another 15-20 minutes on medium low stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is soft but not falling apart. The raw broccoli thins the broth a bit, sautéing it first would probably fix this, I just didn’t feel like taking the extra step. Serve and enjoy!

This makes about 4 servings; each serving is just over 400 calories. Not bad for a cream soup and filling enough for dinner!

Easy at-work lunch: chicken avocado wrap

I have hated wraps since I was in college, when they first got popular. I don’t know why, maybe the smell of the on-campus delis that served them — I could not stand that smell. I also hate that they are marketed as healthy, because usually the tortillas have one million calories and aren’t any better for you than regular bread. The tortillas I use are 80 calories each, and they hold plenty of stuff:

I used:

• Perdue pre-cooked chicken bites, southwestern flavor — about 1/3 of the package
• 1/2 red pepper, sliced and roasted
• 1/4 avocado, sliced
• 2 TBS hummus
• 1/4 cucumber, sliced vertically into thin strips
• About 1/8 block of Trader Joe’s low fat feta cheese

I roasted the red peppers and sliced the cucumbers the night before, and heated the red peppers up with the chicken in the toaster oven before putting it together. A microwave would work, or you could just have the whole thing cold. I spread the hummus on the tortilla first, then piled everything else on top. I was also going to add arugula but ran out of room; as it was I ate it more like a giant taco than a wrap. It came out to about 415 calories total; if you left the hummus out or just used less, it would be less than 400. Or you could leave out the avocado, but that would be crazy. All of my coworkers were jealous!