Thursday, January 31, 2008

Malaysian Chicken Pizza

Ingredients
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
Cooking spray
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat, reduced-sodium Swiss cheese (such as Alpine Lace)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 pilsbury pizza crust
1/4 cup chopped green onions


Preparation
Preheat oven to whatever the pizza crust says.
Combine first 8 ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add chicken, and sauté 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.

Pour rice vinegar mixture into pan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook mixture 6 minutes or until slightly thickened. Return chicken to pan; cook 1 minute or until chicken is done. (Mixture will be consistency of thick syrup.)

Sprinkle cheeses over prepared crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border, and top with chicken mixture. Bake for 12-18 minutes on bottom rack in oven or until crust looks done. Sprinkle with green onions. Place pizza on a cutting board; let stand 5 minutes.

Yield
6 servings

Balsamic Glazed Chicken

Cooking spray
1 1/4 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 chicken breasts
1 head of broccoli cut into florettes
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup diagonally sliced green onions


Preparation
Place a grill pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Sprinkle pepper and salt over chicken. Place chicken in grill pan; cook until done. Remove from heat.
Combine broth, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Throw in broccoli at the end and heat through. Spoon glaze over chicken; top with green onions. We served this over rice

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 breast and 1 tablespoon glaze)

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Asian BBQ Chicken

MMMM...another 2 person meal. I let Jared do it on the Foreman (I hate it- but it made him feel manly)

Ingredients
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 chicken breasts


Preparation
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; add chicken. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 4 hours, turning occasionally.

Remove chicken from bag.

Place chicken on grill until done in the center.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Sesame Orange Shrimp

I'm trying to do better by cooking a little more healthy and in smaller portions. So. this made 2 medium sized portions...

Ingredients

1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons peanut butter (I use crunchy for the texture)
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons fresh garlic
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
1 cup instant rice (or noodles)
1 cup sugar snap peas (you can also add whatever veggies you have here.. broccoli, carrots etc)
1/2 pounds shrimp (chicken or beef would also be really good!)
1 tablespoon sesame oil


Preparation
Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl.
Cook rice according to package directions (I always throw out the package: for minute rice it's 1 cup rice 1 cup water covered in the microwave for 5 minutes.)

Brush shrimp with 1 T sesame oil, and saute until cooked. Add the sugar snap peas to heat through

Mix the shrimp and peas with the rice and add the sauce mixture until it is flavorful enough for you. I didn't need all of the sauce but Jared added more to his so see how you like it.