February Flashback: Cooking Part 1

After failing miserably at committing to cooking in February, I'm trying again in March.  So I sat down with a couple of my favorite cookbooks, made a meal plan for the week, composed a shopping list, hit up the grocery store after work, and came home with lots of goodies - prepared to get cookin'!

The recipe I chose for tonight was Rosemary Chicken with Balsalmic-Glazed Onions from the Weight Watchers Points Plus Cookbook.  Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs, chicken is a healthy staple, and caramelized onions are a recent discovery of taste explosion for me, so this seemed like a great way to ease into my cooking week.  After popping out to the backyard to grab some sprigs of fresh rosemary out of the garden, I got to work.  (FYI, I halved the recipe to feed two.)

Rosemary Chicken with Balsalmic-Glazed Onions (serves 2)

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 very small onions, each cut into 8 wedges

1/8 c. balsalmic vineagar

1 tbs honey

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

2 (5 oz) skinless boneless chicken breasts

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary or 1/4 tsp dried 

1. Heat oil in medium nonstick skilled over medium-high heat.  Add onions and cook, turning often, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Add vinegar, honey, and worcestershire sauce and simmer until onions are tender, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to bowl and keep warm.  Wipe out skillet.

2. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary.  Spray skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook, turning once, until cooked through, about 8 minutes.  Serve chicken with onions. 

Per serving (1 chicken breast with 1/3 cup onions): 243 calories, 6 g fat, 17 g carb, 1 g fiber, & 29 g protein.

While the chicken was cooking, I realized I needed sides.  I have to admit, I cheated a little bit and took the easy route by grabbing the steam-in-bag brussell sprouts out of the freezer and the pouch of uncle ben's ready rice out of the pantry to round out the meal (hey, I cooked the main dish, right?  lol).

After adding a serving of brussel sprouts (the bag said 6-7 sprouts), 1/2 cup of rice, and a glass of nonfat milk, here's the finished product.  I must say that even though it's not as pretty as the cookbook's picture, I'm still pretty impressed with myself.

This whole meal (including the milk) was: 494 calories, 8 g fat, 43 g protein, 60 g carbs, & 6 g fiber.  Not too shabby, right?  And that was a full plateful of food - and yummy food at that!

Also, I had to laugh at my cooking partners - the two cats - they were right underfoot and in the way the entire time, it's amazing I didn't drop something on them (which was probably their plan).

In front of the stove

In front of the sink