Poached Chicken and Vegetables

OK , true confession here…..there’s serious healthy eating going on at my house.  I’ve gotten to a certain age and I really want to stay healthy and be fit because I don’t want to feel like I’m of a certain age.  That means I try and spend a fair amount of time at the gym or out on the trails by my house and I’ve also recently  really cleaned up my eating.

I’ve always tried to eat on the healthy side, but I knew I could do better, so I’ve done some research to see how I could improve.  I started by talking to my daughter, Kelly, who’s been eating really clean for about the last year and then I’ve also done some reading.  What I’ve discovered is that healthy fats (and that includes butter) and protein should make up the bulk of my diet and carbs should be the smallest portion.  In fact, the carbs I eat should mostly be from vegetables and fruits with very few grains or starchy vegetables.  The breakdown is 40% protein, 40% fat and 20% carbs.

The challenge for me (at least one of the challenges) is creating interesting recipes that follow this formula.  Kelly is fine with eating basically the same foods everyday, but if I don’t have interesting foods and variety, I’m going to have a difficult time sticking with this as a long term eating plan.

Which leads me to this delicious chicken recipe.  It fits the plan perfectly with lots of lean protein from the chicken, lots of veggies and healthy fats from olive oil and butter from grassfed cows. Lemon juice and fresh herbs gives this dish amazing bright, fresh flavor and the butter adds just enough richness, so that you’ll want to spoon up every last bit of the broth.

 

Poached Chicken and Vegetables

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium carrot, julienned or finely chopped
• 1/2 medium zucchini, julienned or finely chopped
• 1/2 bell pepper, julienned or finely chopped
• 3 oz shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp fresh dill, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp butter

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add vegetables and stir in thyme, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.

Saute until veggies are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Stir in wine, bring to a bubble and let cook for 1 minute.

Stir in chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Add chicken to pan in a single layer, cover pan and reduce heat to low.

Poached chicken for 20 minutes, turning chicken over for the last 5 minutes.

Remove chicken from pan, cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

Stir in lemon juice, dill, parsley  1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp and butter, stirring continuously until butter is melted.

To serve, place each chicken breast in a shallow bowl.  Top with some of the vegetables and spoon some of the poaching over each breast.

ENJOY!

 

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The Country Cook