Scallopini de Pollo

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken Breast -thinly sliced
1 Lemon - juice
salt
pepper
bread crumbs - seasoned if you prefer
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine - dry
2 Tbsp Capers (ore more if you like)
2 Tbsp butter

Method:
Pound out chicken breast to make thin (or buy the thinly sliced) and brush with lemon juice.  Salt and pepper and then dredge in bread crumbs. 

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat cook chicken thoroughly.   About 2-4 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of your chicken.  Remove from pan.

In the same pan, add broth and wine stirring constantly - get the bits off the bottom the pan.  Add butter and capers and then remove from heat. 

Serve over angel hair pasta and spoon sauce over chicken.  Also serve with a vegetable.  A good pairing would be any of the following: broccoli, green beans, Brussels sprouts.

For a healthy anti-inflammatory addition - sprinkle with parsley.  

Lemony Chicken Pasta

Lemon Chicken Bowtie Pasta

Ingredients:

Chicken tenders
1 lb. Bowties
Olive Oil ~ 2.5 Tbsp
4 Cloves Garlic
Paprika ~ 2 tsp
Salt
Pepper
Juice of 1.5 lemons
Parmesan Cheese
Optional: Red pepper flakes or chili powder

Method:

Salt and pepper chicken and cook through.  When done, cut chicken into bite size pieces.

Cooks pasta, drain set aside.

In pasta pot - pour oil a few turns of the pan and  add garlic and paprika - when garlic starts to turn fragrant remove from heat and stir in pasta - combine well. Salt and pepper to taste.  Add chili powder or some red pepper flakes for a hint of heat.  Grate some parmesan cheese and stir everything together.  When cheese is melted, squeeze in the juice of 1.5 lemons or more if you prefer.  At this point you can add the chicken - give it a taste to adjust seasonings and serve!

Optional garnish:

Parsley - while it doesn't do much to change the flavor it packs a lot of nutrients.  Very anti-inflammatory!

Additional parmesan cheese.

Pepper flakes or chili powder help to boost the metabolism, has cardiovascular benefits, helps fight free radicals, boosts immunity and much more!


I served with a side of roasted broccoli because I can't have a meal without a vegetable.

Fried Rice with Tofu and Chicken

Tonight I made fried rice for dinner. Since I had a turkey burger for lunch and had a steak taco for dinner last night, I opted for tofu and mushrooms and made chicken for Matt's rice. I've made my own fried rice before so this was not experimental. It's really fast, easy and yummy!

Ingredients:
Boil in a bag brown rice 
Sesame oil...roughly 1 tbsp
2 eggs
2 chopped green onion (whites and green)
Vegetable Mixture...peas and carrots
Braggs Liquid Amino Acids (optional)
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar

Protein source-optional
I used firm tofu (pressed) and mushrooms
Chicken 

Here we go:

Mix soy sauce and rice vinegar in bowl and set aside.  I used approximately 1/4 cup soy and 1 tsp vinegar. You can add more or less depending on your taste buds.

Spray skillet with nonstick spray. Whisk two eggs with about 1/2 teaspoon of water and cook in skillet like you would an omelet. Flip and cook the other side; when done remove and slice or chop int small bits and set aside.

Spray tofu with Braggs for some flavor and add to skillet. I don't mind if the tofu or mushrooms touch the chicken so I cooked them and the pan together. When cooked through, remove from pan and set aside.  

Add frozen vegetables and green onion -cook for about two minutes. 

Now, create a space in the middle of the pan, add sesame oil and give it a quick stir. Then add rice and cooked egg into pan. If you are using all one protein you can add it back into the pan, as well. Since I was using chicken and tofu, I chose to add them to each serving after they were plated. 

Turn up the heat to medium high, give everything a quick stir and add in the soy sauce vinegar mixture.  I will usually let the rice sit for a minute or two, stir, and let it sit again.  This gets portions of the rice really crispy. Just make sure you don't let it sit for too long and burn. 

Dish out and serve! Probably makes 4 standard size portions but I halted it with Matt and we each ate the entire thing with no left overs. Add additional sauce if you wish.

Note: While in a hurry I grabbed a Trader Joes brand of  frozen vegetable mix of peas, carrots, and cauliflower in butter sauce. I was a little nervous it would change the taste but it worked out perfectly fine. I used half of the bag.

Experiment: "Ranch Dressing" Eat to Live Style

My plan is to get in a ton of salads and raw veggies next week. Unfortunately I get tired of vinagrette dressing. Plus it's still so much oil - which I'm trying to stay away from. So let's give this "ranch" dressing with cashews a shot.

I made a small portion because the cashews from Good Foods Co-op were sooooo good that I didn't want to waste them if this didn't turn out.

1/2 cup unsalted cashews
3/8 cup almond milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried basil

Blend  the first four ingredients until you have a smooth creamy texture. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until incorporated.  Final product:

Verdict on taste? Still out. It is in the fridge.