Chicken Alfredo

I love cream sauces, but try to stay away from them as they are generally full of fat. But in the September/October 2010 Clean Eating issue there was a recipe for Alfredo Cream Sauce, so I decided to give it a shot.

2 handfuls of whole wheat pasta (I used spirals)
1 chicken breast
1.5 cups non-fat milk
3 tsp arrowroot
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper

Cook the pasta according to the directions and grill the chicken (I did mine on the stovetop on medium heat). When the chicken is about halfway done, start the sauce. Whisk together the milk and the arrowroot and warm it over medium heat until it starts to thicken. It took me about 5 minutes or so. Then turn the heat to medium low, add in the nutmeg and the pepper and stir to combine. Add the parmesan cheese and continue stirring until it is mostly melted. Add the yogurt and continue stirring for 1-2 minutes more until everything is smooth. By this time the chicken should be done. You can either add the chicken into the sauce, or put the chicken on top of the pasta. Also, you can stir the sauce and the pasta together or you can pour the sauce over the pasta.

I had some trouble finding arrowroot, so the first time I made this I used cornstarch instead. I like it a little better with the arrowroot, but the difference is minimal. It works just fine with cornstarch. although you may need to adjust the amount a little bit. This recipe starts out a bit oddly, since the milk and the arrowroot frothed up as I stirred it. But as soon as I added the nutmeg it calmed right down. Which brings me to my next comment...I never knew that nutmeg was the flavor in Alfredo sauce!

Rating - 4.5/5
Why? This tastes pretty close to the real thing, in my opinion, although the texture is just a little different. Good with chicken, and would also be really good with broccoli.

Baked Cornbread

Remember that chili from the last post? This is the perfect accompaniment! This recipe is adapted from my mom's Jungle Camp Cookbook.

1 cup whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups cornmeal
1.5 cups milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup applesauce

Fold the ingredients together just until blended. Pour into a oiled 9x9 pan, and bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until slightly brown.

Rating: 4.5/5
Why? This is pretty good cornbread, and has been cleaned up quite a bit from the original recipe, which called for oil in place of applesauce, white flour in place of whole wheat, and triple the amount of salt. The original recipe also was designed to be baked in a cast-iron frying pan, but I have never managed to cook it that way without burning it.

November Chili

Living in the Pacific Northwest, we either have absolutely glorious Novembers, full of crisp mornings and flaming yellow leaves, or we have dreary, sodden, dripping days of rain. Apparently, this year it's our turn to have a dreary November, and there is nothing better to ward off those days than slow-cooked chili. This recipe is adapted from one off of allrecipes.com.

1/2 bag of mixed dried beans from the back of the cupboard
2 cans of low-sodium black beans
2 cans of organic tomato soup
6 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 medium sweet onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb low-fat ground turkey, cooked
2 Tlbs ish of chili powder
1 Tlbs basil
1 Tlbs oregano
2 Tlbs red wine vinegar

Soak the dried beans overnight, covering them in at least an inch of water.

In a large pot, combine all the ingredients. Add more chili powder if you want it to be more intense. Bring it to a boil over medium or medium-low heat, then turn down to low and simmer for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

This recipe is infinitely malleable. I also call it "end-of-the-month-chili" since you can throw leftovers in there too - like rice, peas, broccoli, whatever. The original recipe called for 1 can of crushed tomatoes, but I just got regular tomatoes instead, and added the tomato soup since I happened to have it on hand and wanted to adjust the consistency of the soup.

Rating: 5/5
Why? There is nothing better than opening the door to the smell of chili after a long, cold day. This recipe is amazing, and the red wine vinegar totally makes it. I also recommend replacing the red wine vinegar with cider vinegar, as that tastes pretty good too!

Poppyseed Chicken

This is the family recipe for a close friend of mine but the original recipe was something that could only be eaten by people with excessively low cholesterol levels, as it was somewhat unhealthy, to put it mildly. I have been thinking about the recipe a lot lately, so decided to play with it and see what happened. The original recipe is from the Danley Family.

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/8 cup olive oil
1 Tlbs butter, melted
1/8 tsp ground mustard
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp tarragon
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp thyme
2 Tlbs poppy seeds (approximately)

Mix the shredded chicken, yogurt, chicken broth, and mozzarella cheese, then put them in a 9x9 pan. In a small bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients, except for the poppy seeds. Spread the bread crumb mixture evenly over the chicken mixture. Then sprinkle the poppy seeds over the top of the bread crumbs - as thick as you want. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

This looks a little odd, but it is goooooood, and really comforting. Just to show you how much I have changed the recipe, the original recipe called for a cup of sour cream, a sleeve of Ritz crackers, and a stick of butter. Yeurgh. But deeeelicious. My upgrades don't taste exactly the same, but it is close enough to make this occasionally and still not die of a stroke immediately afterwards.

Rating: 4.5/5
Why? I put too much oil in my version, although I reduced the amount when I wrote it above. And nothing quite replaces the taste of the Ritz, but it is still pretty good.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins

Growing up, I was not a huge fan of pumpkin, and I still look askance at the gelatinous goop that comes out of cans, but I stumbled across a recipe for pumpkin puree and it looked so good that I bought a sugar pumpkin and gave it a shot. It was super easy and the puree is this bright, beautiful orange color that calls to me. Everything I put it into turns out tasting like autumn, including these muffins. The original recipe was from allrecipes.com.

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup raw sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

Mix the canola oil and the oatmeal together and let it sit for 5-10 minutes while you do the next steps. In another bowl, thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the eggs, pumpkin puree, and oil/oatmeal mixture. FOLD the ingredients together JUST until mixed. Spray oil into the muffin cups and then flour the cups as well....or use cupcake liners. Fill the muffin cups with batter to 1/4 inch below the top, then bake in a 350 oven for 18 minutes.

The original recipe called for raisins and walnuts, but I don't like those, so I left them out. It also called for 1/2 cup of honey instead of sugar, but I was out of that, so I used sugar instead. It seemed like a lot of sugar, so I cut the sugar in half and the muffins were still plenty sweet, in my opinion. I would also have preferred to use applesauce in place of the oil, but I was out of that too. (Thank goodness payday is tomorrow!)

Rating - 5/5
Why? Pumpkin and spice and everything nice, that's what these muffins are made of.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

This is the best recipe in the History of Time. I am not going to put it here, because the original site has beautiful photography and I followed her recipe exactly. Seriously. Click here. It will Change Your Life. It is like fall in a little twisted bun. Sooooo good.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Creamy Shrimp and Bacon

I have modified this recipe quite a lot from the original. It is really filling, but takes a little prep to make. The original recipe is from Real Simple.

1 cup brown rice
1 cup water
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 slices turkey bacon, cooked
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 cups milk
1.5 Tlbs whole wheat or rice flour
1 lb medium-large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups of corn (can be fresh or frozen)

Cook the rice in the water and chicken broth. Chop the bacon into small pieces. Heat a nonstick pan with a little bit of olive oil and saute the onion until soft. Add the rice vinegar and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the milk and flour and bring to a simmer. Add the shrimp, bacon, and corn and add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5-7 minutes until the shrimp is thoroughly cooked and the sauce has thickened. Serve it over the rice.

The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of wine instead of vinegar and 1/4 cup heavy cream instead of milk. To make it healthier, I use turkey bacon, vinegar (because I don't have any wine), and nonfat milk. I also prefer it to be creamier, which is why I use so much more milk. I also bake the bacon ahead of time and freeze it to use in recipes like this one, but you could also use fresh cooked bacon.

Rating: 4/5
Why? I don't like to peel shrimp. =)