Sweet-&-Sour Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken drumsticks stay deliciously moist when grilled—even with the skin removed. Minty sweet-and-sour dipping sauce adds a refreshing twist to “ordinary” grilled chicken. Make it a meal: Serve with brown rice and slices of fresh pineapple.

Makes 4 servings

ACTIVE TIME: 40 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cider vinegar, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
8 chicken drumsticks (about 2 pounds), skin removed, trimmed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat grill to medium. (No grill? See Broiler Variation, below.)
2. To prepare dipping sauce, combine orange zest, orange juice, water, honey, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and coriander in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Whisk cornstarch and the remaining 1 teaspoon vinegar in a small bowl until smooth. Add to the saucepan and return to a boil, whisking until thickened, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in mint.
3. Sprinkle drumsticks with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Oil the grill rack (see Tip). Grill the drumsticks until crispy on all sides and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, about 15 minutes total. Serve the drumsticks with the dipping sauce on the side.
Broiler variation: Position oven rack in the upper third of the oven; preheat broiler to high. Prepare sauce (Step 2). Coat a broiler pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle drumsticks with salt and pepper (Step 3), then broil, turning once, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, about 15 minutes total.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 255 calories; 8 g fat (2 g sat, 3 g mono); 93 mg cholesterol; 16 g carbohydrate; 29 g protein; 1 g fiber; 389 mg sodium; 315 mg potassium.

Nutrition bonus: Selenium (27% daily value), Vitamin C (15% dv).

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 4 lean meat, 1 other carbohydrate

TIP: To oil the grill rack: Oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Don’t use cooking spray on a hot grill.)

Indian-Spiced Chicken Pitas

Make a perfect summer supper: grill spice-rubbed chicken breasts and tuck them into whole-wheat pitas along with fresh vegetables and a tangy yogurt sauce. Serve with: Grilled vegetables and a pilsner.

Makes 4 servings

ACTIVE TIME: 30 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala (see Tip), divided
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 cup thinly sliced seeded cucumber
3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro or mint
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper to taste
4 6-inch whole-wheat pitas, warmed
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
2 small or 1 large tomato, sliced
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

1. Preheat grill to medium-high or position rack in upper third of oven and preheat broiler.
If grilling, oil the grill rack (see Tip). If broiling, coat a broiler pan with cooking spray.
2. Sprinkle chicken with 1 teaspoon garam masala and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place the chicken on the grill rack or prepared pan and cook until no longer pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, 4 to 8 minutes per side, depending on the size of the breast. Transfer the chicken to a clean cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine cucumber, yogurt, cilantro (or mint), lemon juice, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon garam masala and 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper in a small bowl. Thinly slice the chicken. Split open the warm pitas and fill with the chicken, yogurt sauce, lettuce, tomato and onion.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 333 calories; 5 g fat (1 g sat, 1 g mono); 64 mg cholesterol; 44 g carbohydrate; 32 g protein; 6 g fiber; 637 mg sodium; 485 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (35% daily value), Vitamin A (25% dv), Magnesium (21% dv), Iron (20% dv).
2 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 3 starch, 1 vegetable, 3 lean meat

From: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/indian_chicken_pitas.html

Mixed Vegetable Salad

For the dressing:
1 bunch Mint Leaves (Wash and Chop fine)
2 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Salt to taste

Salad ingredients:
2 cups Chopped Cucumbers (Wash, Peel, core out the middle and chop the rest into fine cubes)
2 cups Chopped Carrots (Wash, Peel and chop into fine cubes)
1 bunch Green Onions (Chopped fine)
1 cup White Garbanzo Beans (White Channa, soaked overnight and cooked)
2 Green chillies (chopped fine, optional)

Mix the above in a bowl and keep aside.

Method:
Combine all the chopped vegetables in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add the dressing. Toss and Serve

From: www.masalamagic.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html

Mojito-Marinated Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

3/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light rum
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint
6 tablespoons mint syrup
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
6 chicken breast halves with skin and bones (about 5 pounds)
3 large limes, quartered lengthwise
Fresh mint sprigs

Preparation

Whisk lime juice, 1/2 cup rum, and next 4 ingredients in bowl. Place chicken in resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade over; seal bag. Turn bag to distribute marinade. Chill 4 hours, turning bag twice.

Place lime quarters in shallow bowl. Pour remaining 2 tablespoons rum over, tossing to coat. Let stand at room temperature.

Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Grill chicken until cooked through, about 15 minutes per side. Transfer to platter.

Grill limes until soft and slightly charred, about 5 minutes. Garnish platter with mint sprigs. Squeeze grilled limes over chicken and serve.

Market tip:
Mint syrup is often shelved with the coffee and tea at the supermarket.

Kaddo Bourani (Afghani Pumpkin w/Yogurt & Beef Sauce)

This dish is a change from the norm, but ’tis the season to show off pumpkins. Today’s dish is kaddo bourani, which originates in Afghanistan.


Now I’m going to guess that you’re in one of two crowds in your reaction to this dish: (1) I’ve never had Afghani food before and have absolutely no idea what its like or (2) I’ve had Afghani food before from some amazing restaurant called Helmand and they had something just like this!

Well to the number oners, Afghani food is really tasty. My impression of it is sort of like Indian food as far as flavor and style goes, but “drier” (compared to the more stew-like curries that we all know and love). Definitely worth trying if the opportunity ever presents itself. To the number two folks out there, my first (and sadly only) exposure to Afghani food was at Helmand in the Boston area, and yes, that place was excellent and I had a memorable meal. There’s a reason that this dish looks familiar–it comes from the original recipe which got me very excited as this dish was one of their creations that I had the pleasure of eating when I was in Boston (and I still remember two years later!).

This dish is intended to be an appetizer (and is served as such at The Helmand), but you could always go the lazy route, eat a larger portion, and call it a light meal (which is what I did ). So by now, you’re probably wondering what is it like? Basically, the already sweet pumpkin is further sweetened and cooked long and slow to the point where it just wants to fall apart. It is then topped with a tangy yogurt-based sauce (spiked with garlic and mint for a surprisingly balanced, delicious taste–again, coming from somebody who isn’t a big fan of yogurt) and finished off with tomato-based, lightly spiced beef sauce. With all of these components together, you get a really interesting presentation and an incredible marriage of flavors that’s strange to read about but a pleasure to taste. I’m sure other Helman patrons out there can back me up on this one.

1 sugar/pie pumpkin, about 3-5 lbs
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
Yogurt Sauce
1 cup plain yogurt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp dried mint
at least 1/4 tsp salt
Tomato Meat Sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 shallots
1-1.5 lbs ground beef
1 large tomato
2 garlic cloves
1.25 tsp ground coriander
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 1/3 cups water

The most laborious part of this recipe is prepping your pumpkin, so between that and the long baking time, start this well in advance. Also, on the note of pumpkins, be sure to get a sugar/pie pumpkin because getting a gigantic decorative pumpkin will really make this dish pretty bland.



With a vegetable peeler or a small knife, peel off the rind of the pumpkin. Its ok to take a little “too much” off as that part is still rind-like as well (like the white part of a watermelon).

Once you’ve peeled as much off as you can, cut your pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and stringy fibers. And of course, be sure to save your seeds for an easy snack!

Preheat your oven to 300?F and slice your pumpkin into about 8 pieces. Now this part will raise some eyebrows: coat your pumpkin pieces with all of that oil and then coat it with all of that sugar. Yes, you read the amounts correctly–it is a lot and it seems like there’s no way this can work (if you can believe it, I actually reduced the original amount of sugar from 1.5 cups to 1 cup!). Just rub it all on and lay each piece hollow-side up in a pan and cover the whole thing with some aluminum foil.

Let the pumpkin pieces bake until they turn dark and translucent. They should become really tender, but that will cost you at least 3 hours in the oven. Baste the pieces once with the pan juices after about 2.5 hours of baking. See why I suggested you start early? Slow cooking the pumpkin in all of that sugar and oil is going to not only bring out the pumpkin’s own natural juices, but it will also carmellize and absorb all of those sugars. Mmm, very healthy fruit.


Now, to prepare the yogurt sauce, you really don’t have a lot of work to do. Simply mix the yogurt, finely minced garlic, dried mint, and salt. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. I know–good thing you have 3 hours to get this step done!

The other component to prepare for this dish: the meat sauce (you mightlvery well have extra meat sauce leftover relative to the pumpkin and yogurt sauce). You’ll want to start this close to the time when your pumpkins should be coming out of the oven (e.g. 30 minutes prior), as you want both the pumpkins and this sauce to be hot. The original recipe called for a large onion, but much to my dismay, onions are not allowed in my kitchen (which is why you’ll see me so often using chives, scallions, or shallots instead ), so instead I went with shallots.

Whatever you’re using (onions vs shallots), mince it pretty finely and brown in a saucepan with all of the oil on medium-high heat. Add the beef and keep that crumbled and moving, cooking until no longer pink. Seed and peel your tomato and then finely chop it and mince your garlic cloves. Add these and everything else (except for the water and tomato paste). After about five minutes, add your water and tomato paste, heat things up so that the water starts boiling (shouldn’t take long), and finally lower the heat and let all of this simmer together for about 15 minutes. Things should go from looking meaty to looking pretty saucy.

Just before serving, taste your yogurt sauce and add more salt to taste. Arrange one or more slices of pumpkin per plate (depends if you intend this to be an appetizer or a meal–I chose the latter, hence my larger serving), drizzle and spread at least 2 tablespoons of yogurt sauce on top and around the plate, and finally, the arc de triomphe, top with a good sized scoop of meat sauce. Yes, serving the yogurt sauce cold while everything else is hot seems a little strange, but it will warm up really quickly and if it started out any warmer, it would be pretty messy.




Enjoy!

From: http://mikes-table.themulligans.org/2007/11/07/kaddo-bourani/

confirmed at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/10/28/FD78824.DTL&type=printable

Thai Shrimp Stir-fry with Tomatoes and Basil - Slimmed

You won't have to sacrifice taste or satisfaction to save calories with our Thai Shrimp Stir-fry. With 400 fewer calories than a similar sized serving of Shrimp Scampi, this is a dish worth trying.


2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons Southeast Asian fish sauce
4 teaspoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated, peeled, fresh ginger
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 medium red onion, cut in 1-inch dice
1 medium yellow pepper, seeded, cut in 1-inch dice
1 jalapeno chile, thinly sliced into rounds
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup torn fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Serving suggestion: Jasmine rice

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, water, fish sauce, and sugar; set aside. Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and chile flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and stir-fry until pink but still translucent in the middle, about 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon. Add the onion, pepper, and chile to the skillet, and stir-fry until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Return the shrimp to the pan along with the soy sauce mixture. Bring to a boil, and stir-fry until the sauce glazes the shrimp, about 1 minute more. Add the tomatoes and stir until coated with sauce, about 15 seconds. Remove pan from the heat, stir in the basil, mint, and lime juice. Transfer to a serving dish, serve immediately.

From: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_21495,00.htmlCopyright 2003 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

Nutrition Information
Calories 286

Fat 13g
Saturated Fat 2g

Carbohydrates 17g

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Fresh Herbs and Ginger

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, like soy or peanut

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, about 6 ounces each

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tablespoon)

3 tablespoons chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned

2 teaspoons finely grated ginger

1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves, torn

2 tablespoons packed fresh mint leaves, torn

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and place them skin side down in the pan. Cook, turning once, until firm to the touch, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate.

Add the lime juice to the skillet, and scrape up any browned bits that cling to the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken broth and ginger, and bring to a boil. Off the heat, add the basil and mint to the pan and swirl the pan to combine.

Divide the chicken between the 2 plates and spoon the herb sauce over the chicken. Serve.

Low Carb Recipe From Food Network Kitchens

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 2 servings

Suco de Abacaxi com Hortelã (Pineapple and Mint Juice)

Por porção: 49 calorias
Ingredientes
- 1/2 xícara (chá) de abacaxi descascado e picado (1/2 cup of pineapple, peeled and chopped)

- 200 ml de água (a little over 3/4 C)

- 5 folhas de hortelã (5 mint leaves)

- adoçante a gosto (sugar to taste)

- gelo a gosto (ice to taste)

Modo de Preparo
1. No liquidificador, junte todos os ingredientes e bata até obter um líquido homogêneo. (In a blender, add all the ingredients together and blend until you obtain a homogeneous liquid)

2. Desligue o liquidificador e transfira o suco para um copo. (Turn off the blender and tranfer to glasses)

3. Sirva a seguir. (Serve)

From: http://panelinha.ig.com.br/site_novo/receita/receita.php?id=1182