Crazy good dish!!

Today has been an interesting day and ended quite well because I received my Feb Birchbox and my AdvoCare Distributor Kit, yippee!  Yes, I am now selling AdvoCare and have my own site so check it out.

Tonight I wanted to play around with a dish I found that peaked my interest called Creamy Lemon-Pepper Orzo with Grilled Chicken.  All I can say is that this dish is amazingly delicious and is not bad for you at all; it is bursting with flavor and is a hearty dish.  Originally the recipe called for chicken thighs which is dark meat and fattier; I ran it through my recipe analyzer and the numbers were so much higher than what was stated.  ALSO, this recipe states it is 4 servings; THERE IS NO WAY!  This made SO much food and could easily feed 8.  So here is my tweaked version:

Ingredients:


2 oz Fage 0% Yogurt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup orzo
1 cup Fresh Frozen Petite Peas
Juice & zest of 1 lemon
2 ounces finely crumbled goat cheese
4 Tbs chopped fresh basil
1 Tbs chopped parsley

If you're wondering what Orzo is, it is a pasta that looks like rice kernels.  Most of the times you will find it packaged in a small box; however, the occasional bag is out there.

Whisk together the yogurt, 2 tsp of oil, garlic, lemon juice and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper in a bowl until well combined.

Should look like this

Heat remaining oil in your pan on medium-high heat; sprinkle your chicken with the remaining salt, pepper, garlic powder & paprika.  Sear the chicken on each side for approximately 5 min; lower heat to medium, cover with the lid and cook for approx 15 min or until cooked through.

In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your orzo according to the package directions, stir in the peas at the last minute of cooking.  Drain the orzo & peas & reserve 1 cu of the cooking liquid.  Return to pot, and pour in your yogurt mixture along with the goat cheese, 3 Tbs of fresh basil and at least 3/4 cup of the pasta water until combined.  Transfer to a platter or dish.

Starting to come together quite nicely

Slice up the chicken and mix into the pasta.  Sprinkle with the lemon zest, remaining basil and parsley and serve.

YUMMY!

As previously stated, this dish can easily feed 8 along with a nice salad so here are the states for 8 servings:

Calories:  257

Fat: 7.1

Cholesterol 63mg

Sodium 593 mg

Carbs 20.0 g

Fiber 2.0 g

Sugar 2.7 g

Protein 27.4 g

Additionally, you can substitute tarragon for the basil if you like or you can add to the dish as well.  I think rosemary would do very well in this dish as well especially in the cooking process for the chicken.

Chris was very pleased with the dish.  It has a rich creaminess to it and a good tang from the lemon zest as well.  It is hard to believe that the dish is rather healthy, even the Fat content is below the recommended for the calories involved. 

I have been asked so many times how you calculate Total Fat for your calories so I will break it down:

Calories x 30% / 9 = Total Fat

Example:  Let's take a dish, or product for that matter, that has 450 calories.  So you multiply that 450 by 30% which equals 135.  Now, take that 135 and divide by 9 and you have 15.  This is the Total Fat in which you should NOT pass for that dish/product/item.  Anything below that is great.  Also remember that some items will have a higher fat content than is recommended, but you must keep in mind that there are good fats such as those found in salmon, nuts & peanut butter just to name a few.

I hope that you enjoy this dish and the little bit of info I provided this evening.  I'm off to go work on my AdvoCare site so until next time, Happy Eating!!