making ingredients multitask

I am a firm believer in making prep work and ingredients go as far as possible. I often pick up six chicken breasts, marinate them for a few days in a Ziploc bag with olive oil, chopped garlic, fresh ground pepper, and kosher salt. I grill up the chicken, cut it all up into bite-sized pieces, and store it in the reefer for use in multiple recipes. Not starting from scratch for each meal also helps me resist eating out or eating junk. It's one of my ways to set myself up for success instead of setting myself up for failure. 

One of my go-to chicken dishes is this Greek-inspired concoction. Heat 5 ounces (about 170 calories) of grilled chicken breast in a sauté pan; I use a non-stick pan (I know, they are not good for us) with a little olive oil cooking spray (calories are negligible). I add a sliced zucchini (about 60 calories for two cups, which is a decent-sized zucchini), sautéing it quickly to get it tender, but still looking bright. (I cut the zucchini rounds in half to make them more bite-sized.) Add fresh ground pepper and kosher salt to taste, and sprinkle with a healthy dose of oregano. Top with 2 ounces of light feta cheese (80 calories). In under ten minutes you've got a flavorful plate full of food for just over 300 calories.

I rarely grill up a bunch of chicken and don't make some iteration of my "Chicken and Italian Sausage" recipe. This time I sautéed half a chopped sweet onion in one tablespoon of olive oil until translucent. I then added two teaspoons of fresh chopped garlic. I added 3 ounces of sliced Baby Bella mushrooms and a tablespoon of butter. I gave the mushrooms a few minutes to sauté and then added the chicken and Italian sausage, which were already grilled and cut. I gave all those ingredients a few minutes to mingle and then added 3 ounces of White Bordeaux (it was a savingnon blanc and semillion blend). Then I poured in one cup of vegetable broth, reduced heat very low, covered the pan, and let everything simmer very gently for 20 minutes or so. I steamed up about two cups of broccoli and added it close to serving time so it would hold onto its vitamins and bright color. The base in this case was angel hair pasta, which cooks in just 4 minutes, saving me propane and time and creating less steam and heat in the boat.

Here's the ingredient and calorie breakdown:

1 tbsp olive oil (120 calories)

Half a sweet onion, chopped (50 calories)

2 tsp garlic, chopped (10 calories)

3 ounces Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced (7 calories)

1 tbsp butter (100 calories)

12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled and cut (400 calories)

1 sweet Italian sausage, grilled and sliced (260 calories)

3 ounces white wine (I prefer sauvingon blanc or riesling for this) (75 calories)

1 cup vegetable broth (15 calories)

2 cups broccoli, steamed (60 calories)

8 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked and drained (800 calories)

Serves four; 475 calories per serving.

This one has nothing to do with my multitasking but the avocados I buy all ripen at the same time so needing to use one up, I made this delicious omelet. Two eggs beaten with fresh ground pepper and kosher salt. Once the omelet was ready to fill I added a quarter cup of reduced fat shredded mexi-cheese, a very small avocado (about three quarters of the size of a normal small one), and then topped it with a generous drizzle of Sriracha sauce. Yum! About 325 calories of healthy fat and protein to keep me full for breakfast.

adventures in the galley

Here's a twist on the classic caprese salad. I don't like tomatoes unless they are beaten into submission (i.e., pureed) so this is sans tomatoes and the protein is revved up with some chicken. A classic caprese is alternated slices of fresh mozzarella, fresh roma tomatoes, and basil leaves, and then the whole thing is drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Here I made a pile of chopped grilled chicken (which had been marinated for a few days in olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper) (5 oz is about 170 calories, I think I just put about 3 oz here), then I added two ounces of fresh mozzarella (170 calories), chopped fresh basil (the calories are so negligible they don't really matter), drizzled it with a tablespoon olive oil (120 calories), and then with a tablespoon of balsamic vinger (10 calories). I topped it off with fresh ground pepper and a bit of pink Himalayan salt. Yum!

Next up in making my grilled chicken multitask, chicken with Italian sausage, gemelli, and broccoli. I made four servings using one mild sweet Italian sausage, (that and the chicken both purchased from The Fresh Market), and ten ounces of grilled chicken, (about two breasts depending on how big they are). The anise in the sausage is key in getting the defining flavor for this very versatile combination. I sauteed onions and garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, added the grilled chicken and sausage, (already cut up into bite-sized pieces), then added a cup of vegetable broth, (I used Rapunzel powdered broth), fresh ground pepper, and kosher salt, and let them simmer together. Meanwhile, I boiled the water and cooked up about 8 ounces (dry) of gemelli pasta. The spiral in the gemelli is nice for grabbing onto sauces. Once the pasta was al dente and drained, I added it to the pan and stirred it in. I also added a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. I often make this with white wine, but didn't have any, so the vinegar added some needed sweetness. The combination of chicken with Italian sausage is very versatile. You can play around with the ingredients you happen to have and serve it with pasta, brown rice, risotto, or whatever mild starch suits your taste. To make it saucy I usually use vegetable broth and white white, but broth and Madeira or Marsala wine is also tasty. To jazz up the color and bulk up the volume with minimal calories I added a cup of lightly steamed broccoli to each serving.

Finally, I went really "iron chef" with what I had to work with and was thrilled with how well it turned out. I boiled up vegetable broth and mixed red and white quinoa. I like to make a few servings worth so I can have some on hand for random leftovers. Unless I'm making white basmati rice for curry, I always cook rice, quinoa, or cous cous with vegetable broth to give it flavor. While the quinoa was underway, I simmered haricot verts, i.e., snooty French string beans, in about a quarter cup of water in a saute pan. Once they were cooked but not overdone, I drained out the water, added a tablespoon of olive oil, and added three slices of julienned hard salami and a quarter of an orange bell pepper. Season to taste with a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Next up I mixed a can of garbanzo beans a/k/a chickpeas with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. I topped the haricot verts and garbanzos (1/3 of a can here) with an ounce of light feta cheese. (The dinner plate above was full and came in under 500 calories). The salami really gave the haricot verts some zip, and while bacon is classic and would also be delish, salami was a fast and simple option to pull out of the reefer. 

My fridge is a converted icebox and is very small and very unpredictable. It freezes things I don't want frozen (lettuce, yogurt...), doesn't chill other things enough, it's just a constant challenge. Thus, I have to work with small quantities of groceries and pick items that will survive the haphazard conditions aboard, rather than what I might prefer under the best of circumstances. But life is all about making the best of the unpredictable and unexpected, so just go for it and have some adventures in your galley.

easy chicken and spinach dishes

Sautéed baby spinach with garlic, avocado, and grilled chicken. Delish! All-in about 560 calories (6 oz baby spinach, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp garlic, half Haas avocado, 5 oz grilled chicken breast, salt and pepper to taste). It's just protein and healthy fats to keep you feeling sated. Because I had the chicken prepped in the fridge already, this dinner took all of 5 minutes to make. It isn't just easy for me to eat right, especially because I love to cook and to eat. It is very hard to make healthy portions for one and sometimes it makes me sad not to have someone to cook for, so I don't put the same effort into cooking for myself that I do for others (uh, yeah, I'm a stupid girl sometimes!).

If I could keep fresh (or frozen) veggies in my boat icebox-turned-fridge easily, I would definitely be getting more bright, colorful veggies and especially dark, leafy greens in my diet. But bagged baby spinach does do pretty well if I use it up quickly and I can easily eat a bag myself at any given meal. I just heat up a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or wok, sauté some chopped garlic in it, and then toss in half the bag, stir it as it cooks down, and then toss in the other half. I learned this super-quick, tasty technique when I was cooking Brazilian food all the time. Collard greens, couve in Portuguese, are very popular in Brazil, especially Minas Gerais. You lay all the big leaves flat and create a stack, then you roll them very tight, and slice from the end of the roll, making thin collard green "spaghetti." You heat olive oil in a large pot very hot, toss in the sliced collards, and then throw in salt to taste. Much healthier and nutritious than American southern style collards, that's for sure. While I skip slicing the spinach up, larger spinach leaves or other tougher greens will do well with that technique. The best thing about this side dish is you can have it ready in about 3 minutes! It only takes 4 ingredients and it's  packed full of nutrition. 

Here's another yummy chicken and spinach dish... I just sautéed up the spinach as usual, crumbled 2 ounces of light feta on top (half the calories but all the taste), and then topped it with the chopped grilled chicken. It's easy to add whatever other veggies you like; I can see going Greek with some oregano, red onion and, as one friend suggested, olives. If you come up with a good variation share it as a comment!

The other thing I like to have on hand for a quick and simple meal is grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast. If there is a Fresh Market near you, (I think they are along the US Eastern Seaboard from the mid-Atlantic to Florida), they have amazing plump chicken breasts on sale for just $2.99 per pound on Tuesdays. I generally buy two or three pairs of breasts and just have to separate them and trim only the slightest bit off (you will never want to eat Perdue or Tyson chicken again once you've had real, healthy stuff). I take a gallon Ziploc bag, add a few tablespoons of olive oil, lemon or lime juice if I have it, a couple tablespoons of chopped garlic, salt (pink Himalayan, sea, or Kosher), and fresh ground pepper. Then I put the chicken breasts in, zip the bag up, and massage the marinade all over to evenly coat the chicken. I just toss the bag in the fridge for one to three days and then grill it all up at once. Once it's grilled I chop it all up and either measure out 5 ounce portions or put it in a large container or Ziploc and measure out what I need during the week. The chicken is easy to heat up, or it's delicious cold with some tzatiki sauce, on a salad, or whatever. The options are only limited by your own palate and creativity.

garlic chicken with rice noodles

Here are the ingredients, clockwise from bottom left: butcher-wrapped chicken, Parmesan cheese, rice noodles, baby spinach, olive oil, pink salt, black pepper, and chopped garlic in the middle.

I picked up the fresh rice noodles at Trader Joe's. The appeal was that they cook in just 1.5 to 2 minutes. Especially in the winter, it helps to minimize the steam created in the boat--all that steam becomes condensation and can lead to mold. Thus, it is handy to have pastas on hand that cook quickly. These rice noodles are refrigerated, but each package comes with two smaller sealed bags of noodles, 6 ounces each. The noodles are very sticky, so I think they'd be very good with a lot of broth, some vegetables, and a few potstickers.

I'll be cooking lots of chicken this month since it is on sale for $2.99/lb. every Tuesday this month at The Fresh Market. I decided to try out the noodles with some chicken.

Garlic Chicken with Rice Noodles

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. olive oil (119 calories)
3 tsp. raw garlic (13 calories) 
8 oz. / .5 lb. / 224 g boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed (247 calories)
1 bag (about 3 cups) baby spinach (40 calories)
1 vegetable bullion cube (5 calories)
6 oz. rice noodles (320 calories)
7g Parmesan cheese, crumbled (28 calories)
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Total calories: 772
Calories per serving (serves 2): 386

Directions:

In a large sauté pan on medium heat, sauté chopped fresh garlic and cubed chicken in olive oil. Add salt (kosher, pink, or sea salt) and fresh ground pepper to taste. Add spinach, 1/3 of the bag at a time, until mostly wilted. Add 1 cup boiling water and vegetable buillion cube (or 1 cup vegetable stock). In a separate pot, boil water for the noodles. They do not need a lot of water so a small sauce pan will do. The noodles are extremely sticky, so as soon as they are done, drain them and add them to the chicken and stir in to distribute them evenly. Lower heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through. Much better served hot than cold! Best served in large pasta bowls. Top with a little crumbled Parmesan. Sorry the picture is blurry... the steam always does that to my photos!

red pepper and feta-stuffed chicken breasts

I recently had a friend over for dinner aboard the boat. He does not eat red meat, so my much-loved chicken and italian sausage was not a menu option. Therefore, I opted for red pepper and feta-stuffed chicken breasts accompanied by a white wine and parmesan risotto and fresh spinach sauteéd in olive oil and fresh garlic, with a touch of Kosher salt.

The chicken came from The Fresh Market; large, antibiotic-free, vegetarian fed. Here is my mise en place of crumbled feta, chopped red pepper, and chopped garlic, and then the breasts before they went in the oven.


The chicken breasts were large and much thicker at one end. I took the four breasts and created six servings by cutting the breasts in half and stacking the thinner ends, then taking the thick halves and slicing them horizontally for stuffing. I put a few tablespoons of olive oil in the baking dish, added a heaping tablespoon of garlic, fresh ground black pepper, and Kosher salt to taste. I dredged each piece of chicken in the oil and garlic marinade, then placed a spoonful each of red pepper and feta on the bottom six pieces of chicken, stacked the top pieces of chicken in place, and garnished each with a little more feta and red pepper. In my propane oven aboard, they were baked uncovered at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.

Here is the finished product. You can easily tell which side of the pan was adjacent to the gas flame.

Everything was so delicious I forgot to take a photograph before plating up our meal and forgot to take a photo of the plated dish. Sorry!

Here is a snap of the risotto in the works. It begins by sauteíng half a medium onion (chopped) in two tablespoons of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter. When the onions are translucent, add one cup of arborio rice and sauté for one or two minutes. Three cups of water are called for. The only rice I ever cook in water is white basmati. All other rice should be cooked with flavor. For risotto I use one cup of vegetarian vegetable broth and two cups of wine. I often use a dry Washington Riesling, but I am currently on a kick drinking a lovely Vinho Verde from Portugal, pictured below with the parmesan that is added at the end.


Once the liquid is added, stir the risotto constantly until it is thick and creamy and stir in the parmesan at the very end. I save some time by using my pressure cooker and putting it under pressure for 10 to 15 minutes.