It’s been a crazy few weeks
and I have not published a recipe in almost three weeks – shame on me!
Here’s a great recipe that can be dressed up
for a “special” Shabbat or Chag meal, plated and presented to each guest or
served anytime you want to “do something different with your chicken"! The
colors of the vegetables and the tenderness of the chicken make it a special treat!
Yochi's Chicken in Parchment Packages
Ingredients:
·
Chicken
quarter, skinless and halved. One quarter chicken per diner.
·
Vegetables, thickly sliced:
o
Onions
o
Carrots
o
Peppers
o
Onions (red or white)
o
Zucchini
o
Mushrooms
·
Spices:
o
Garlic (freshly chopped or minced)
o
Paprika
o
Freshly ground pepper
o
Freshly chopped parsley/dill and/or basil
·
Parchment paper – one piece per portion
·
PAM spray
·
Optional: Balsamic vinegar or wine
What to do:
· Remove
the skin from the chicken quarter. You
can cut the leg from the thigh if you wish, to shorten the baking time (by a
bit). You can make this dish with
chicken breasts or the top quarter of the chicken and get the same wonderful
results.
Each parchment package will contain a quarter
chicken and several slices of each vegetable.
· Slice
the vegetables into roughly the same size and shape. I like thickly sliced vegetables, so that the
cooked vegetables are still a bit crunchy and not too soft and wilted.
· I
do not recommend using eggplant, spinach, or even cauliflower; as I believe these
vegetables can be too bitter for this delicately spiced dish.
· Take out enough parchment paper
sheets to match the number of diners.
· Prepare a baking tray that is
long and wide enough to comfortably fit the number of parchment paper packages
you will make. If your tray is not big
enough, cook these portions in two or more batches.
Cover the baking tray, so it does not get dirty and also to make
your clean-up quick and easy. I always
cover my baking tray witha layer of tin foil and then on top of that I place parchment paper. This double-protects the trays and I can re-use
the tin foil to cover my dish later on.
· On a clean surface, set up all
your ingredients: parchment paper, chicken, vegetables and spices.
· Place a quarter chicken in the
middle of the parchment paper, pile an equal amount of vegetables on each piece
of chicken. These piles should not be too high or it may tear the paper or not
allow the chicken to cook properly.
· Sprinkle with spices, PAM and Balsamic
vinegar or wine (optional).
· Fold the paper over the chicken
and vegetables:
o
First fold the left and right-hand sides.
o
Then fold the bottom half up and then the top half down over the
bottom half.
I used to tie string around the packages – but there is no
need to! If you close the packages and
place then correctly, they will bake just fine without the string.
· Simply and carefully place the
chicken packages on the prepared baking tray with the FOLD SIDE DOWN.
·
Bake in a preheated oven to 180°C for about 45-55 minutes. Baking time may vary
according to oven.
· How do you check if the chicken packages are done? You
can carefully open a package and then insert a fork into the chicken at its thickest point. If the juices that flow from the chicken are
CLEAR, then the chicken is done. If they
are pink, the chicken still needs to be cooked a bit longer.
I have a very hot oven, so many times I
will cook chicken or meat for a bit less time than is called for and I
then let the chicken or meat sit in the closed oven for another half an hour or
so. The converse is also true, if I am
afraid of burning or drying something out – I will take it out of the oven immediately
– since it will continue to cook in the oven even when it is turned off.
Portion size:
One wrapped chicken quarter and vegetables is one portion
size.
How to store:
In the fridge, like any other
perishable.
Be’Tay a’Von!
Good Snacking
Choices
You know that we always
talk about good and bad choices. In
life, as in eating, there are good and bad choices. Sometimes there are only bad choices and really
bad choices. Sometimes the choices are obvious;
sometimes there are only subtle differences between the choices.
Snacking
So let's talk about snacking. You may note that I am not using the word “nosh”,
which in my book is always ends badly. Noshing
has no good value. Let's cut the word
from our vocabulary and use the word “snack”.
Let's think and calculate
snacks as PART OF THE MEAL – yes, you heard it here first (!), treat snacking
as part of your meal. This part of the
meal is eaten and enjoyed a few hours after the meal, but I really believe
that by taking the negativity out of the concept and out of the word, we will
do ourselves a world of good.
Good Snacks
Do I really have to list
'good' snacks? Yes!
·
fruits
·
vegetables
·
a portion of high fiber cereal
·
a no-bread sandwich (I’ll talk about that later in this article)
So choose your poison: sweet? salty?
chewy? crispy?
The key to success is to work
within the confines of your craving. Don't
wait for your next meal, give yourself a small amount now, relax and go
from there.
Several good
tips:
Fruit and
vegetables
Always keep on-hand snacks
that are cut, peeled and ready-to-eat, like fruits and vegetables.
If fruits and vegetables
are as easy and accessible as snacks (packaged and ready to eat) - you will eat
them! Do I have to tell you to NOT BUY
any junk foods - I hope so - I hope we are way past this point.
Keep on hand foods you like. Don't keep carrots and celery, if you detest
them (I don’t know why you would, but that is for another time).
Chocolate and
Energy Bars
I have mixed feelings
about keeping “special treat” foods in the house, such as chocolate. To paraphrase a line from that famous movie –
“if you bring it home, you shall eat it”.
Want to treat yourself, then
work for it! Walk down and up the
stairs, walk to the store and then buy chocolate or ice
cream. Don't have a store close enough
to walk to? I guess then G-D did not
want you to have the chocolate or ice cream in the first place!
Have an energy bar. When I have an energy bar, I make eating this
snack into a coffee break. I’ll
eat the energy bar with a coffee or with ice cold water or seltzer. I sit down and enjoy it, somewhere other than
my computer or work area! I give myself 10-15
minutes to enjoy it. I drink more water
and then go about my business. I make
the snack WORTHWHILE.
Back to
vegetables and fruits!
Cut and peel vegetables, such
as carrots, celery, peppers and cucumbers, into easy-to-eat bites or long
sticks. Cut only enough for one day -
these vegetables will not be as crisp and appealing the next day.
Cut fruits, such as apples,
pears, melon, watermelon and peaches, into quarters or squares. Grapes are great - perhaps a bit heavy on
points - but lovely ice cold.
High Fiber Cereal
A small plastic cup (or
two) of a good fiber cereal- is incredibly filling. It is great for any time you have a hankering
for “something”. Usually this cereal is
pareve as well, which is a plus!
Popcorn
Did someone mention
popcorn? If they didn't they should have. Popcorn popped in an air popper is a
GREAT snack. Personally, this is my favorite winter snack. Did
you say that without the oil it is tasteless?
Nonsense (and get used to it!)! Just
for the record: microwaved popcorn should be considered a sin against
humanity!
Breadless Sandwiches
So breadless
sandwiches? They are a snap to make: prepare
tuna or egg (whites-only is even better) salad with a bit of low calorie mayo
and spices. You can cut up pickles or just
about any vegetable and mix into the salad.
Then fill lettuce or spinach leaves with the salad - roll up and eat -
yum!!!
By the way, filled
spinach leaves, along with a good salad and a bit of brown rice is an excellent
meal all by itself!
So snack - think of it as
the desert part of your meal - eaten a bit late. Already had desert? Don't confuse the issue! Enjoy and get over it! There is going to be
another meal in a few hours!
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