Chicken Cabbage Curry

Yum

I've never met a curry I didn't like. Indian, Thai, Japanese, Burmese, British - I love them all. But here's the thing - I rarely make curry for myself. It's true! It is one of those dishes that I LOVE but that I typically enjoy while dining out.

Admittedly, curries are very simple and straightforward to make...as long as you have a good curry paste. As you know (if you know me), I don't like buying pre-made foods. I always prefer to make things from scratch. Curry paste is certainly one of those ingredients I have historically shied away from. I know what it takes to make a curry paste from scratch and it is no cake walk!

Last year in May, 2016, I was traveling through Thailand. While in Bangkok, I took a cooking class and learned how to make a curry paste. Let me tell you, that curry paste was hands down the best I've ever tasted! Partially because it truly was delicious, but also because it was a labor of love to make it. While it was great to have this experience...I don't have time to casually make a curry paste on a Tuesday night after work. Ya feel me?

Luckily for you and me, there are store bought options for when we don't have time to break out the mortar and pestle and make our own. I really like the Simply Asia Thai Red Curry Paste. The ingredient list is simple: red chili peppers, garlic, lemongrass, Thai ginger, shallot, Kaffir lime and spice. If you look at the photo above from when I made my own curry paste in Thailand, it is spot on!

To make things even easier, this is a crockpot meal! I used the 'Slow Cooker' function on my Gourmia Smart Pot Multicooker (or Instant Pot) which I believe equates to the HIGH function on a traditional slow cooker. I wanted to lighten up this dish so this isn't quite as thick and creamy as a typical curry, but I find it just as delicious. This is great eaten straight from the slow cooker, but I think the flavors develop even more as leftovers eaten in the days following. If you want to keep this low carb like I show in the photos, pair your Chicken Cabbage Curry with Cauliflower Rice (recipe coming soon!) or whatever rice you like.

Chicken Cabbage Curry

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yellow onion, sliced
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 4 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 cup coconut milk (canned, full fat)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 large boneless chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes (1.5 lb)
• 4 cup purple cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup carrots, shredded

Directions:

In Slow Cooker (or the 'Slow Cooker' option on Smartpot, InstantPot, etc.)

1. In the pot of your cooker, combine onion, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, tomato paste, curry paste, coconut milk and broth. Stir to combine. Add chicken and mix to completely coat the cubes. 
2. Set slow cooker to HIGH setting and cook chicken curry for 2 hours. 
3. After two hours, chicken should start to pull apart. Add cabbage and carrots and stir into curry so that it is well incorporated. Place lid back on cooker and continue to cook for another hour. 
4. Serve with cauliflower rice or rice of your choice, garnish with fresh basil.

Nutritional Information (1/6th of recipe):

250 calories - 27 g Protein, 11.5 g Carbohydrates, 11 g Fat

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yum

Here we are, 3 weeks into 2017, and I am just now getting around to posting my first recipe for the New Year. Where has the time gone?! Even though I haven't been posting any new recipes, that certainly does not mean I haven't been cooking up a storm. 

If you follow me on Instagram (which if you aren't, you should be!) you know that I'm in love with my Gourmia Smartpot 8-in-1 Programmable Multi-Function Pressure Cooker, Steamer, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Cooking Pot. Like...obsessed. While InstantPot is the big rage as far as brand names go, I believe my Gourmia is just as wonderful and actually has more functions in my particular model than most InstantPot models. However, I digress. 

I've been trying out anything and everything with my new Gourmia including pork roasts, shredded chicken, beef roast, and surprisingly the one thing I haven't quite nailed down...rice. Go figure. It has been a bit chilly in San Francisco and I've been craving a warm, comforting soup. 

Growing up, I have vivid memories of the Tortilla Soup from Burrito Joe's, a local fast casual Mexican restaurant. My mom and I LOVE this soup. One year a Cincinnati cookbook was released that compiled popular recipes from the most well known restaurants throughout the city and the Tortilla Soup was in there! I remember getting that for my mom and we made the soup right away. Luckily my mom still has that cookbook from the early 2000s so I had her email me the recipe. 

This tortilla soup is unique because it is creamy thanks to a generous amount of sour cream. While sour cream is delicious, I am trying to get back into a healthy eating pattern following the holidays. I adapted this soup to be friendlier on the diet, added a few of my own flavors AND made it in my new pressure cooker! I've substituted nonfat Greek yogurt for the sour cream, which reduced the fat and adds more protein. You'll also notice that there are no fried tortilla strips on top. I've opted to omit the fried strips and instead I've addded tortilla strips into the soup while it cooks. This makes the soup thicker and still give it that hint of tortilla flavor throughout the soup. I hope you love this soup as much as I do!

(Fear not, if you have yet to get your Smartpot, which I reaalllly recommend you consider purchasing, I have also given you a version of the recipe for stovetop.)

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

 Inspried by Burrito Joe's Chicken Tortilla Soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes Pressure Cooker, 50-60 min Stove Top

Servings: Approx. 9 cups of soup

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup green bell pepper, diced
• 2/3 cup yellow onion, diced
• 1 jalapeño, diced - you can lessen this amount or omit depending on your desired level of spice!
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp chile powder
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups crushed canned tomatoes
• 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 2 corn tortillas, thinly sliced into strips
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1-1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

Directions:

In Pressure Cooker (Smartpot, InstantPot, etc.)

1. Using the 'Sauté' function, heat olive oil in pressure cooker and add bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, garlic and spices. Sauté for 3 minutes.
2. Turn off the pot, add chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, chicken breast and tortillas. Give this a good stir and secure the pressure cooker lid. Using the 'Manual' function, cook at high pressure for 7 minutes. Note: it takes a few minutes for the pressure to build in the cooker before the timer actually begins. 
3. Once the high pressure cooking is complete, allow it to naturally release for 15 minutes before flipping the quick release. 
4. In a small bowl whisk the yogurt with 1 cup of the hot soup. Add this mixture back into the pot and whisk to fully incorporate. Add lime juice and cilantro, giving the soup one more good stir, and serve.  

 On Stove Top

1. In a large pot over medium high heat, heat olive oil and add bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, garlic and spices. Sauté for 3 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. 
3. Add crushed tomatoes and tortillas, simmer for another 15 minutes. 
4. Add chicken breast and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
5. In a small bowl whisk the yogurt with 1 cup of the hot soup. Add this mixture back into the pot and whisk to fully incorporate. Add lime juice and cilantro, giving the soup one more good stir, and serve. 

Nutritional Information (1 cup soup):

136 calories - 15 g Protein, 14 g Carbohydrates, 2.5 g Fat

Super Bowl Snacks: Healthy Eats for the Big Game!

Avid football fan or not, I'm going to bet you have a Super Bowl Party to attend this weekend. And let's be honest, unless you are a fan of the two teams playing, this Sunday is much more a gathering for good food, ranking your favorite commercials during the Super Bowl and of course, watching the Halftime Performance. 

Worried about how you are going to stay on track with healthy alternatives during Gametime? Fear not, My Engineered Nutrition is to the rescue! I've gather my FAVORITE healthy recipes perfect for watching Big Game. You'll be a hit at your Super Bowl Party if you bring one of these dishes...and no one will be the wiser that it's healthy!

APPETIZERS

Brussels Sprout Chips

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

Gametime Guacamole

Avocado Lime Dressing

MAINS

Buffalo Chili

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Bison Sliders

BBQ Chicken Pizza on Cauliflower Crust

Slow Cooker Carnitas

Greek Lemon Chicken

Yum

Looking for a simple, healthy and flavorful weeknight dinner? Yes? You've landed on the perfect recipe for just that!

If you are like me you are in need of a shake up from your usual baked chicken. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I crave really basic baked chicken, but most times I want loves of flavor.

This dish really couldn't get any easier to make. The marinade is just FOUR ingredients. That's it. Combine those together and just add chicken. Letting this marinate overnight allows the flavors to really develop in the chicken. The result is incredibly moist and zesty lemon chicken. 

The kalamata olives are the perfect complement to the lemon and fresh oregano. To really tie things all together I recommend garnishing with a sprinkle of feta cheese. The perfect combination of Greek flavors, delivered in a quick and easy weeknight dinner!

Greek Lemon Chicken

Prep Time: 10 minutes + Marinate Time (at least 30 min, up to 24 hrs) 

Bake Time: 30-40 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients: 

• 4 small chicken breasts, roughly 36 oz total weight
• 1-1/2 lemons, juiced
• 1-1/2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped  
• 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt + Pepper
• 10 kalamata olives, sliced in half
• 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced into 4 rounds and then cut in half

Optional Garnish

• Feta cheese
• Fresh dill

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl or Ziploc bag combine lemon juice, garlic, oregano, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and add chicken breasts. Seal Ziploc bag or cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap and return to refrigerator to marinate. This can be done for as little as 30 minutes or can marinate overnight. The longer the marinating time, the better the flavor!
2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove chicken from refrigerator and arrange breasts in a baking dish. Discard remaining marinade, we don't want a lot of excess liquid in the dish with the chicken while baking. Sprinkle olives on top of chicken and arrange lemon slices, 2 halves per chicken breast. 
3. Bake at 375°F for 30-40 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 155°F. I highly recommend investing in an instant read thermometer (like I explain here!) so that you never overcook your meats again.
4. Once baked through, remove from oven and transfer to plates. Garnish with a sprinkle of feta cheese or fresh dill.

Nutritional Information (1 serving, roughly 5 oz cooked):

210 calories - 38g Protein, 1g Carbohydrates, 5.8g Fat

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

Yum

If someone were to ask me "what is the first food that comes to mind when you think of football", my answer without hesitation would be BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS. They just go with football like peanut butter and jelly. Wings, a basket of fries and beer - doesn't exactly scream "healthy choices", right? 

While wings are great, I wanted to shake things up a bit and create a healthy alternative to the Gametime food we know and love. Why not combine buffalo chicken AND nachos?! These nachos have all the flavor elements you'd have with wings and a basket of fries...just in nacho form.

 I'm using my Perfectly Baked Sweet Potato Chips as the base to this nacho creation. Because they are so crisp and perfectly baked, they stand up to the test of acting as nachos. Next, they are topped with shredded chicken that I've slow cooked with Frank's Hot Sauce (yes, 2 ingredients - does it get any easier?) and a goat cheese ranch dressing that is bomb dot com. 

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients: 

Sweet Potato Chips

• 1 recipe of Baked Sweet Potato Chips (4 servings) 

Buffalo Chicken (this will make more than you need for the nachos) 

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup Frank's Hot Sauce

Goat Cheese Ranch Dressing

• 2 oz goat cheese  
• 2-4 tbsp light coconut milk (or milk of your choice)
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder  
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper  

For nacho assembly: 

• 4 servings Sweet Potato Chips
• 1 cup Buffalo Chicken  
•  Goat Cheese Dressing 
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Start by making the Buffalo Chicken. Place chicken breasts in crock pot and coat with buffalo hot sauce. Allow to cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
2. During the last hour of the chicken cooking, prepare your sweet potato chips by following the instructions in my previous post.  
3. Also while the chicken is cooking, prepare the goat cheese ranch dressing. In a bowl, combine all ingredients and mix until a creamy dressing consistency is reached. I recommend to start by adding only 2 tbsp of milk. Check consistency - if it is too thick add more milk, tbsp by tbsp, until your desired consistency is met.
4. Once chicken has cooked, shred chicken with forks within the crockpot. Mix chicken with the sauce within the crockpot - we don't want to drain this! 
5. To assemble, on a parchment lined baking sheet arrange sweet potato chips. Top with 1 cup of shredded chicken. Next, drizzle ranch dressing over chicken and finish with scallions and cilantro.  

Nutritional Information (1 serving) 

200 calories - 15.5 g Protein, 21.5 g Carbohydrates, 6 g Fat