Chicken in Parchment Paper and Good Snacking Choices

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!

The Best Gazpacho Soup on Earth (honest!) and Weighing yourself – when is it too much?

This is absolutely the BEST Gazpacho soup recipe on earth. My sister-in-law, Helen, gave me this recipe, after tasting her Gazpacho soup at her home one long summer Shabbat years ago.  With her kind permission I am happy that I can share it with all of you!

Did I hear you say you don’t like cold soups?  Nonsense!  Taste this soup just once and I guarantee you will love cold soups from this moment on!

Gazpacho soup is wonderful for our hot-hot summers since it is cold, crunchy and the absolute perfect soup for summer Shabbat meals!  You can have it on Erev Shabbat and again for Shabbat lunch. It is also insanely points-friendly and a cinch to make!

Just a warning: the way I make it – it is a soup and a salad and meal all-in-one!

Helen’s  Best Gazpacho Soup on Earth

Ingredients:

·        Tomato juice 1 liter container

·        1-2 cups tomatoes – diced into very small cubes

·        ½ to 1 cup red peppers – diced into very small cubes

·        1 to 1½ cups celery – diced into very small cubes

·          1 to 1½ cups cucumber – diced into very small cubes

·        ¼ to ½ cup onion – diced into very small cubes

·        2-3 cloves of garlic – mashed in garlic press

·        Fresh parsley – finely chopped 

·        2-3 tablespoons red wine or balsamic vinegar

·        Freshly ground pepper

·        2-3 jiggers of Tabasco sauce or Worcestershire sauce

·        Water

·        Very large bowl

Portion size: Two full ladlefuls of this great soup in a bowl.  Enjoy it – cold and crispy!

How to work:

1.   The first and most important thing to do is to buy a container of tomato juice and PUT IT IN THE FRIDGE the minute you get home!  This way the soup starts out cold and will only get better!

I usually buy more than one container at a time, so I can make this soup whenever the mood strikes me.

I also believe that this soup tastes much better the next day!  So if you can, make this soup on Thursday!

If I make this soup on Friday, this is the first thing I make, so that it has enough time to get really COLD in the fridge.

2.   The quantities I listed are for a dense and thick with vegetables soup, the way I like it.  You can halve the vegetable quantities if you like a more soup than vegetable ratio.

3.   Dice all the vegetables into very small pieces.  I use the chopping attachment to my hand blender to chop up all my vegetables except:

·        Tomatoes  The hand blender turned the tomatoes to near sauce.  Tomatoes must be cut by hand.

·        Garlic  Pressing the garlic, as opposed to chopping it, produces a garlicky flavor and gives the soup that extra kick!

·        Parsley  You can use your hand blender/chopper, just be careful you do not over chop and create a paste!

4.   Place all the vegetables, including the mashed garlic and parsley, in a very large bowl. The bowl you use should be large enough to easily and comfortably mix all the ingredients without spilling. 

5.   Pour in the tomato juice.

6.   I feel you should add some water to the soup.  The best way to add the water is to pour cold water into the empty tomato juice container – this way you “clean out” the container of any left over juice - and then pour it into the bowl.  You can add between a quarter to half a container of water.

The amount of water you add, as always, depends on how you like your soup.  If you prefer a thick, chunky soup, add only a quarter (or even a bit less) container of water.  If you prefer a looser soup, add half a container of water.  Do not add more than these amounts as you will dilute the tomato juice and diminish the taste of the soup.

7.   Tabasco or Worcestershire? So which sauce do you add?  Helen’s original recipe lists Worcestershire.  If you want a mild soup use this.  If you want more kick or heat, then add Tabasco.  You can try a combination of both to see what taste you and your family prefer.

8.   Add the vinegar. I have found no real difference in taste between the two, so add whatever you prefer.

9.   Add freshly ground black pepper.

10.        Mix very well.  Once it is completely mixed, I usually pour the soup into a regular soup pot with a lid, to prevent spills and put in the fridge.

Be’Tay a’Von!

Weighing yourself – when is it too much?

 

Weighing yourself!  When is it too much?  Ah, this is one of those issues.  I am tempted to say that if you are asking when something is “too much” - it usually is.  Well, ok, maybe that is true, but again - like everything else – is it working for you?

Sid and I like boundaries and we also like goals.  When we first began our diets, we ONLY weighed ourselves at WW once a week and were either surprised and happy or just surprised.  Listen, we lost every week and never gained, so we were lucky.

We did own one of those old fashioned scales that kind-of worked if you moved the cute little dial and kind-of gently rocked back and forth on the scale.  Also moving the scale from room to room gave you a different “reading”.

Once we were within spitting distance of our goals we did break down and buy ourselves a new digital scale.   This scale begat a second scale when we found that we needed to change the scale’s batteries every other day to get the first one to behave (that is, actually showed us how much we weighed).  Well as happens in the best of families: once we brought home a second scale, the first one began to behave. 

Now we have two scales and have this insane “let’s see what the other scale says” ritual.  We weigh ourselves on one scale and then the other and see what the weight difference is – sometimes half a kilo, sometimes a kilo and a half.   What should I tell you, it keeps us busy, out of trouble and off the streets.

I could tell you that we have some ten clocks in our home, each showing a different time; and according to how panicky you are, you can look at a clock that shows you are ten minutes late, five minutes early or still working on winter time (an hour late).  You can also just take an average of all the clocks and figure you are ahead of the game, but that’s another story.

So, how often do we weigh ourselves?  I could tell you we still only weigh ourselves once a week, but that would be a lie.  We weigh ourselves every day, in the morning and the evening.

Excessive you say?  Over-the-top you say?   Maybe, but it works for us.  We stay within the range we set for ourselves and keep a close watch on our weight.  Will we always do this?  Probably not.  One day we may need to have a seeing-eye dog or a really big magnifying glass help us see the numbers.  But again, for now, it works for us. 

Find what works for you and go for it!

Chicken and Vegetable stir fry and Cooking Twice: Am I really going to cook separate meals for me and the kids?

You know, just last week someone asked me if I tested my recipes before I published them.  This came as a shock to me, as I assumed that everyone KNEW that all my recipes are not just tested in my kitchen, but are in regular use in my kitchen!

 

So I am stating this for the record: every recipe I publish on my blog is a real recipe I use on a regular basis!

I've chosen this week to publish my Chicken and Vegetable stir fry because it is a great everyday meal, but can be made for Shabbat and for company!

Yochi's Chicken and Vegetable stir fry

Yochi’s Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

Ingredients:

·        Chicken quarters:  You need between an eighth to a quarter of the chicken per portion per person.

I and my whole family love chicken thighs and legs, so when I mention “chicken quarters” I mean the thigh-leg part of the chicken.  Usually I consider one chicken quarter as a one-portion meal size, however, as this is once again another recipe with a higher ratio of vegetables to chicken, I consider an eighth of a chicken to be a one-portion size. 

Try the dish yourself to determine if you need an eighth or a quarter of a chicken for your one-portion size and then multiply by the number of persons you will serve at the meal.

·        Large wok

·        Vegetable options: 1-2 squash, 1-2 zucchini, 3-4 carrots, half a head of broccoli, half a head of cauliflower, 2-3 onions, garlic, 2-3 red peppers, mushrooms*, 3-4 green onions, 1-2 stalks of celery

* A note about using mushrooms:  I've discussed mushrooms in previous articles.  Make sure to add them near the end of the cooking process as they tend to soak up all the liquid like a sponge. You can as many mushrooms as you like.

·        water

·        PAM

·        Basic spices:

o   garlic powder

o   freshly ground pepper

o   paprika

o   chopped fresh parsley

·        Ingredients for sauce:

o   1-2 tablespoons of each of sweet chili sauce and Dijon mustard (I love the Dijon with the whole mustard seeds)

o   1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce optional (if you want a saltier dish)

o   water

How to work:

·        Prepare all the ingredients before you begin to cook, as this dish cooks rather quickly in a wok.

·        Prepare the chicken: Remove the skin and the fat from each chicken quarter.  Chop the quarter up into three or four pieces, depending on the size of the chicken quarter. If the leg is large, chop it in half; if it is on the small side keep it whole.  The thigh can be cut along the bone socket to get two separate pieces and then the larger of these two pieces can be chopped in half again.

·        Select any or all of the vegetable options I listed above.

·        Slice all the vegetables into chunky pieces a little smaller and narrower than the smallest chicken piece.

·        Spray the wok with PAM and turn up the heat under the wok.

·        Add the chicken pieces to the wok. Make sure you do not crowd the wok with too many pieces of chicken, or they will not cook evenly.

If you have too many chicken pieces cook in batches and then return all the chicken to the wok before you add the vegetables.

·        Stir and turn the chicken frequently, using a wooden spoon, to avoid burning the pieces.  You can add another shpritz or two of PAM during the cooking process.

·        Once the chicken is golden brown, start to add the vegetables to the wok in the order they cook; harder vegetables that take longer to cook should be added first and then the softer vegetables.

·         Add handfuls/ladle spoonfuls of vegetables at a time. Mix well and then add another handful/ladle spoonful.   

·        As the vegetables cook they turn a deeper shade of their natural color, this is the time to begin to add your spices.  Stir continuously. 

·        Please note that the natural fat from the chicken (even though you removed the chicken skin and attached fat, there is still fat in the meat) will also add some juices to the wok.  

·        In a separate bowl mix just one to two tablespoons of the following: sweet chili sauce and Dijon mustard.  You can add soy sauce for a saltier flavor.

·        Blend well and then add in water, a few teaspoons at a time, until you get a smooth consistency.

·        Pour over the vegetable and chicken mixture and cook through, stirring frequently.

·        Once the chicken is completely cooked (the meat will be white not pink) through the dish is ready to serve.

Be'teyavon!

Cooking Twice: Am I really going to cook separate meals for me and the kids?

I gotta tell you that I swore that I would never, ever, never, no way, cook a meal for Sid and myself and another separate meal for my kids.  I actually kept this promise throughout the years the kids were living at home, simply because we never dieted!

I have to be honest, had Sid and I gone on a WW diet while the kids were living at home, I am not sure if I would have cooked separate meals.  But today I can tell you that I DO cook separate meals when the kids visit for Shabbat or Chag. 

Let me tell you, the change in my cooking style did not go unnoticed by the kids and when one of the gang heard that I was cooking sans oil, chicken skin, margarine, sugar and the list just seems to go on; he became “slightly” hysterical contemplating the horrors of a world without my Shabbat meals of meat, potatoes, kugels, pastas and all the other heavy-on-points dishes.

 

The idea that L’el Seder would not have the piled-high-to-the-sky courses including gefilte fish, soup, meat, chicken and side dishes nearly did him in.  His hysteria went from bad to worse when he thought that on Shavuot he (and perhaps the rest of the family) would be bereft of our annual cholesterol fest.  For the innocent this means two full meals of five-cheese lasagna, two additional pasta dishes replete with cheeses and sauces, two cheesy soups, challah, Focaccia and an obscene cheese cake, oh and did I mention ice cream for dessert because cheese cake alone cannot be considered a “dessert”?

 

So on Pesach I cooked my traditional food menu and IN ADDITION, I cooked points-friendly options for Sid and I.  Everyone was happy and no one felt their lifestyle and may I say, their very existence was under threat.  Shavuot was already a different point in our journey, so while I cooked food that we could eat and the traditional heart-stopping menu.  I partook of many of the usual Shavuot foods, in smaller quantities, but I did eat.

The lesson here is simple: you can cook two different meal versions for Chag and Shabbat, when you need and want to.  You can also partake of the regular food if your per-portion eating habits have changed and you feel comfortable doing so.  And as always there is a third option (ah, don’t you just love “Door Number Three”?) You can also say: Today I want to eat this food and I want to enjoy it.   Tomorrow I will watch what I eat and go back to my regular eating habits. This is acceptable so long as “tomorrow” does not become a habit – if it works for you – go for it!

 

One last thing I learned from one of my third grade teachers (her name escapes me now), if you are going to cheat on your diet/enjoy yourself/allow yourself  then do it with high quality, deliciously, worthwhile food.  Don’t grab a points-heavy low quality food item (store-bought not-really-so-good pizza or cake or whatever) – go for the best – make it as creamy, delicious and sinful as you can find – ENJOY IT for crying out loud!!!