recipe

Recipe: “Famous” Lemon Chicken

I originally pulled this rom Jillian Michaels Master Your Metabolism Cookbook, and have tweaked it over the years. Whenever I make this, it is always loved. So yummy and delicious. Plus pretty darn easy to make.

INGREDIENTS:

The Sauce:

1 tsp. lemon zest

Juice of a lemon

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or oregano

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced (make life easy and get this pre-minced! I just squeeze it out)

Salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

The Chicken:

6 (4 to 5 ounce ) boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/4 pitted kalamata olives, halved OR – if you do not like olives, like myself – use capers. Couple tablespoons.

To prepare the dressing:

Whisk together the lemon zest and juice, the basil, honey, mustard, garlic and salt and pepper. Whisking constantly, add the olive oil in a slow stream. Set aside.

To prepare chicken:

It is best to POUND the chicken breasts so they are all the same thickness. I sometimes don’t have time for this and things seem just as tasty but if I can I do it. Or, buy those thin-sliced chicken breasts. Other than that, just place the chicken breasts in a plastic bag, poured the half the dressing over them, and allowed them to marinate for a few hours. Sometimes I only do 30 minutes depending on how much time I have. So 30 mins to 3 hours!

If using a gas or charcoal grill, spray the grill with olive oil spray and prepare a medium hot grill.

Discard the marinade and grill the chicken until it is opaque in the center, 5 to 6 minutes per side.

Place the chicken on platter and drizzle with the remaining dressing.

This chicken is AMAZING and we always love it, and guests always want the recipe! Give it a try.

Turkey Meatball Soup

Turkey Meatball Soup (We got two meals out of this)

INGREDIENTS:

1 TBSP. olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped (I hate celery, I used a dash of celery seed instead)
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp. fennel seed
1 can petite diced tomatoes
5 cups chicken stock (I used 4 as that is what size I had)
1 lb. ground turkey
Handful of parsley, chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (I used the low fat stuff)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pinch nutmeg
4 handfuls fresh spinach (I used an entire container of the organic stuff in the plastic bin)
Salt & Pepper to taste
For Spice if you want: a few dashes of Tobasco or Red Pepper Flakes – this is what we did.

1. Heat a large pot to medium heat and add olive oil. Sautee the carrots, celery, onion, and fennel seed until onion is a light golden brown. Add the diced tomatoes and chicken stock, then turn up the heat and bring the soup to a slow boil.

2. While the stock is coming to a boil, mix ground turkey, egg, parmesan cheese, garlic, and nutmeg together. Roll into about 20 balls and drop into the soup – a note here: I would roll them into much smaller balls. It is a little boring, but I wound up chopping the meatballs into quarters as I ate it.

Wait until you have all the meatballs rolled out before you drop them into the soup and try to add them all quickly so they all cook at the same rate. Cook the meatballs in the soup while it simmers for about 10-15 minutes. Add the spinach and cook for an additional 10 minutes!

It will smell, and TASTE amazing, and best part is super low in calories carbs and high in protein!

Nutrition: 256 calories, 26 g protein, 11 g carbs, 12 g fat, 4 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 832 mg sodium

Adapted from Muscle and Fitness Hers magazine, and given to me by Sara B.!

20110825-080502.jpg