So Many Dishes

Cooking has changed a lot over the years. Many of those changes, whether it’s different ingredients or cooking methods, are designed to result in a healthier dish—fewer calories, less fat or salt, red carbs, etc.

As a Weight Watcher of long standing, I’ve learned a lot of these tricks, some definitely better than others. (Sorry, but evaporated skim milk does not cut it as a substitute for cream in my book). And I’ve had lots of diet cookbooks. Weight Watchers books, of course, Cooking Light, a series called Great Taste, Low Fat, Skinnytaste, and I could go on.

So a lot of the recipes I share are slimmed down, generally reducing the fat content of the dish. I don’t have an air fryer, so I use traditional cooking methods. Most of the time, I think the results are as tasty as a higher fat version.

Every once in a while, I find a “diet” version that tastes better than the original dish. That’s the case with this chicken Kiev. The one time that I made a traditional chicken Kiev, it struck me as a lot of work for results that weren’t worth it. I remember it as heavy and, frankly, greasy. It was a “once in enough” recipe.

Then I found a recipe in a cookbook called Eater’s Choice by Dr. Ron Goor and Nancy Goor. The focus of the book is reducing cholesterol through diet, so the recipes tend to be low in saturated fat, even if they aren’t what I would consider low fat. Then again, there’s nothing wrong with the taste of fat.

I’ve made one major change to the recipe, and that is to substitute butter for margarine. Yes, I know, I upped the saturated fat, but it definitely improves the flavor. We use an oil spread at the table for bread, toast in the morning, etc., but I don’t use that much butter when I cook, and I think there’s a definite difference in taste. If you want to use margarine, that’s fine.

Chicken Kiev

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fine fresh bread crumbs made from white bread
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix garlic, basil, oregano, and salt with bread crumbs and place on a large plate. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter; dip each chicken breast in the melted butter, roll it in bread crumbs, and place in a shallow baking dish.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until fully cooked.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix in wine and green onions and heat through. Pour sauce over chicken and serve. Serves 3 – 4.

This was a situation where I had a single chicken breast half that weighed slightly over a pound. So I cut it in two. Ken ate one of the pieces, but I cut the other in half for my portion.

Normally, I’d serve this with a starch and a veggie. The cookbook suggests serving the chicken over rice, and I’ve done that. But there’s only about a month of South Florida sweet corn season left, so we decided that corn on the cob was all we needed. Definitely not a bad choice!

Happy eating!