Make my favorite dinner healthy please!

baileysmom4

I love chicken flamingo from Pasta house. Below is the recipe. Can anyone come up with a lighter version? LOL notice first ingredient is half a stick of butter!!!! yikes!

YIELD: 4 SERVINGS

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup white wine

1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli florets

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 6 ounces each; see note)

About 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

About 1 cup Italian-seasoned dry bread crumbs

1 tablespoon diced prosciutto

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup shredded provolone

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1. Prepare the sauce. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour to make a roux. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes or until roux foams. Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine broth and lemon juice; bring to a boil. Whisk in roux. Remove from heat and add wine. Continue to whisk until sauce is smooth and silky. Refrigerate sauce if not using right away.

3. When ready to cook the chicken, preheat a grill or broiler. If using a grill, also preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

4. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add broccoli; cook just until bright green and tender-crisp. Plunge broccoli into ice water until cool, then drain and pat dry.

5. Use a meat mallet to flatten chicken to a uniform thickness (1/2 to 3/4 inch). Coat chicken with olive oil, then dredge both sides in bread crumbs.

6. Grill or broil chicken about 4 minutes per side, to an internal temperature of 170 degrees. (Insert thermometer horizontally for an accurate reading.) If using the broiler, set oven at 450 degrees when you remove the chicken.

7. Pour sauce into a large skillet. Add prosciutto, red pepper flakes and garlic; bring to a boil. Add broccoli and mushrooms; cook until sauce thickens and reduces by about a third.

8. Mix cheeses together. Place cooked chicken on a shallow baking pan. Top each piece with 1/2 cup cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, about 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to serving plates.

9. Use a slotted spoon to evenly distribute broccoli and mushrooms over chicken. Pour on remaining sauce to taste; serve immediately.

Note: Most skinless, boneless chicken breast halves sold in local markets are 8 to 10 ounces. If using that size, increase the amount of sauce and remaining ingredients by about a fourth.

Per serving: 694 calories; 36g fat (47 percent calories from fat); 17.5g saturated fat; 162mg cholesterol; 55.5g protein; 32g carbohydrate; 4g sugar; 2.5g fiber; 1,565mg sodium; 520mg calcium; 580mg potassium.

MorgueBabe

Sounds delicious!

I use Smart Balance w Flax (instead of butter) It has less fat and calories. I only use it because I am allergic to dairy.

You could use a low carb or whole wheat flour?

You could use a 50/50 mix of full fat fat free cheese (fat free cheese tastes like crap, and full fat is too many calories so do a 50/50 mix?)

Honestly for all it has going in it, it's not that bad of a calorie/fat count.


You could bake it instead of doing it in butter or use pam ...


That's all I got.

trentwiggly

Actually, the butter spread over four servings is just a tblspoon per serving...Not horrible, IMHO. But since you are making a roux with it you could just make an olive oil roux (for the omega3s) or just use an equivalent amount of broth and add the flour to it cold, making a slurry then add that to your stuff.

Personally, I'd eliminate the cheese, sounds like it is just melted over the chicken and you have sauce too..so melty cheese seems like overkill. Or you could sub parmagianno regianno which is lower in fat (I think) and you could use way less and get more flavor.

Hope somebody has some more ideas for you!

melindasuefritz

694 cals no thanks

rebbylicious

um... Butter is GOOD fat.

Try changing your flour to Sprouted Flour or Spelt flour - if the four is just to thicken the sauce try arrowroot (way less than this recipe calls for)

Make sure you are using organic low sodium chicken broth

Make sure your cheeses are Organic- preferably raw

And as far as the bread crumbs.. That seems like the worst culprit other than the flour. I would frankly find a gluten free bread that you could crumb up, and add your favorite herbs (dried garlic powder, oregano, marjoram, basil) would be a great chicken italian blend. There have got to be some healthy "carb free" options for the bread crumbs. I would google that.

rebbylicious

When I look at this recipe altogether I think you could make a less thickened version of this , with less chicken (cut into small Chinese food size pieces ,) and make it like a sauce chicken thing that you serve over cauliflower. If you use the same "Flavors" who cares what it looks like.

cmeade20

Maybe try cutting the cheese from 1 cup to half a cup each. Both cheeses have strong flavors you could probably use half a s much and still have a very flavorful dish.

WendyBlendy

Use chicken broth instead of white wine.

hsmaldo

I agree with the others as far as the broth instead of wine and halving the cheese, but cut the amount of bread crumbs in half or omit all together.

alderman59

Cut the recipe in half and consider it 3-4 servings. A 6 oz. chicken breast is a lot for one serving. Then eat a big side salad with no dressing.

neandermagnon

Actually, the butter spread over four servings is just a tblspoon per serving...Not horrible, IMHO. But since you are making a roux with it you could just make an olive oil roux (for the omega3s) or just use an equivalent amount of broth and add the flour to it cold, making a slurry then add that to your stuff.

Personally, I'd eliminate the cheese, sounds like it is just melted over the chicken and you have sauce too..so melty cheese seems like overkill. Or you could sub parmagianno regianno which is lower in fat (I think) and you could use way less and get more flavor.

Hope somebody has some more ideas for you!

sorry nothing to add to the thread, just wanted to say I totally love your ticker :drinker:

sullus

In a lot of recipes that call for butter, I'll do a 50-50 split of butter and olive oil. You get the butter flavor, but alter the fat profile in the dish towards (arguably) healthier.

trud72

why use the olive oil? dry fry.
instead of cheese have you tried something like cornflakes or bread crumbs? :bigsmile:

KimberlyDCZ

:flowerforyou: Just eat it as is and enjoy it!

Oftentimes reduced fat products aren't as good for you as you think because they replace the fat with other bad stuff like sugar to make it taste better. Just make sure you only enjoy one portion, save the rest for another time, or share with family or coworkers! :happy:

Denise_Valentine

I would suggest a low sodium broth and use a cornstarch slurry (water and cornstarch) to thicken the sauce instead of the flour/butter roux. also you could try using egg to coat the chicken before you bread it.

lisiloulah

The butter and flour are used to thicken the sauce - I usually replace this with Corn Flour (mixed with a little cold water to prevent lumps). So easy and no butter in sight! My dad has been doing this for years when making sauces, not even for health/ diet reasons; just because it's quicker and easier than making roux!

baileysmom4

Thanks for all the ideas!!!! I know they don't put that much cheese on the dish in the restaurant so I know that would be the first thing to go. I also think the chicken is grilled with the breadcrumbs and that is my favorite part! LOL So I think instead of cooking the chicken in olive oil, I would try to grill it. Never grilled anything with bread crumbs on it though. sounds weird but it tastes awesome. Will let you know what I come up with when I make it.

Ok, rereading the recipe, they do grill the chicken but I can't find mention of the olive oil at all. I've read thru it twice now! Should have read it before I copied and pasted.

sullus

The butter and flour are used to thicken the sauce - I usually replace this with Corn Flour (mixed with a little cold water to prevent lumps). So easy and no butter in sight! My dad has been doing this for years when making sauces, not even for health/ diet reasons; just because it's quicker and easier than making roux!

Sometimes this causes mouthfeel issues. Cornstarch slurry seems to form a little bit more of a gelatinous sauce (think chinese takeout sweet and sour sauce), wheras the roux will give you a consistency more like brown gravy. This may or may not be significant to you.

sullus

Thanks for all the ideas!!!! I know they don't put that much cheese on the dish in the restaurant so I know that would be the first thing to go. I also think the chicken is grilled with the breadcrumbs and that is my favorite part! LOL So I think instead of cooking the chicken in olive oil, I would try to grill it. Never grilled anything with bread crumbs on it though. sounds weird but it tastes awesome. Will let you know what I come up with when I make it.

Ok, rereading the recipe, they do grill the chicken but I can't find mention of the olive oil at all. I've read thru it twice now! Should have read it before I copied and pasted.

If you have concerns about grilling with breadcrumbs, use the broiler in your oven. (at the end of the day, a broiler is just an upside-down grill). It also has the benefit of being more controllable and predictable than a grill.

thrld

Title: Fat-Free Or Oil-Free Roux
Yield: 1 Servings

Ingredients

1 c all-purpose white or whole-wheat fl our

Instructions

Spread flour about I inch thick across the bottom of an iron pot, baking pan or cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for I to 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally, being sure to stir in the flour from along the edges and corners. Cook until light brown or darker. When water is added, it will darken even more. Remove the amount of flour your recipe calls for to make a roux. Store the rest in zippered plastic bags for future recipes. To the portion using, slowly stir in an equal amount of cold water and form a smooth paste. Stir this paste gradually into the simmering stock, soup, gumbo, etc. Cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Recipe by: River Road III, p. 266

jim9097

Have you thought about just dropping the roue, and switching to fat free cheese. The assumption is you are using the butter and flour as a thickening agent. Cook the veggies and meat, then add the wine and let it cook down. At this point it would not be the same dish, but I believe it would still be good.

If you goal is to keep it as close as possible, then I would just suggest as others have: change the butter to olive oil, or use a yogurt based butter, and again change the cheese to fat free.

But honestly not sure what you are trying to improve on here, that looks like a pretty healthy recipe. I think many people forget that fat is also essential to your diet, just stay away from Trans Fats.

Dragonwolf

The butter and flour are used to thicken the sauce - I usually replace this with Corn Flour (mixed with a little cold water to prevent lumps). So easy and no butter in sight! My dad has been doing this for years when making sauces, not even for health/ diet reasons; just because it's quicker and easier than making roux!

Sometimes this causes mouthfeel issues. Cornstarch slurry seems to form a little bit more of a gelatinous sauce (think chinese takeout sweet and sour sauce), wheras the roux will give you a consistency more like brown gravy. This may or may not be significant to you.

Xanthan Gum might be another option. Add it a half teaspoon at a time until you get the gravy texture.

If you have concerns about grilling with breadcrumbs, use the broiler in your oven. (at the end of the day, a broiler is just an upside-down grill). It also has the benefit of being more controllable and predictable than a grill.

Eh, that depends on your oven/stove unit. Many are as simple as "off" or "Hell", or maybe have a "Sahara Desert" setting before "Hell". Not much in the way of control there. The major benefit is no worry about breadcrumbs falling into the fire.

Another option may be to get a grilling pan. You can pick one up at places like Kroger this time of year. It's basically a skillet with holes all through it. It's great to have, anyway, since you can use it to grill all sorts of stuff that would normally fall through the grates.

Also, if you broil, make sure you use a pan that's built specifically for broiling. Otherwise, you'll probably ruin whatever it is you try to use.

jagh09

Try low fat cheese, and less of it. They call for 1 cup each, maybe cut that back to 1/2 cup each? You can reduce the oils/fats you use as well, and use chicken broth instead. It sounds tasty! Have a smaller portion and eat more broccoli with it!

Dragonwolf

But honestly not sure what you are trying to improve on here, that looks like a pretty healthy recipe. I think many people forget that fat is also essential to your diet, just stay away from Trans Fats.

I agree. It looks like it's supposed to be an "all-in-one" dish. It's got meat, fats, and veggies all in it. ~600 calories is about right for a full (albeit large for some) meal.

johnny059qn

It's your favorite recipe. Eat it as is.

Smaller portion perhaps.

Eat it on a hard work out day.

cut back during the day to save calories

It's not like you are eating this every day. Make it special.

I like a big greasy cheeseburger. (say, it isn't so) I only have one if I've ridden over 60 miles on my bike. I always run a surplus of calories on my longer rides any way.

...just some ideas.

You probably would not like the taste of a recipe make over.

devil_in_a_blue_dress

Um, I am mostly commenting for the recipe you listed -- I don't see anything horribly wrong with it. As others have suggested, use broth for the wine. This will sounds odd, but use beef broth in it's place. Yes, with the chicken broth in a chicken dish. If you've ever had a really good wedding soup and couldn't figure out why it was so good -- it's probably because they mixed beef and chicken stock. My suggestion would be to use 1 cup of a more pungent cheese that melts similar to those listed - like an aged Gruyere. Aside from that -- the butter olive oil don't seem excessive for 4 people -- my dinners usually include similar amounts daily.

Inshape13

You can sub the butter with Land o Lakes Light Canola Butter and half the calories there and you can basically use cornflakes in place of some of the bread crumbs and half the calories there too....just add in the Italian herbs to adjust to taste. I would think to use a slurry as well and to sub in parmessan to reduce the calories or just to reduce the cheese in general and put it on top to get the flavor and not the calories.