Tag: skinless chicken breast

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup

Rainy days and soup go hand in hand. If you’re a mushroom lover like me, you’ll love this simple savory soup that takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish!

This is a variation of my meatless Creamy Mushroom Soup^[1], which we all love in my home. I like to have that as a first course since it’s such a light soup, but to make it a little more substantial as a main dish, I added some chicken breast. Still light at under 115 calories, and 3 Weight Watchers points, you could easily serve this with a salad or half sandwich on the side.

I did some Spring shopping at Target a few weeks ago and couldn’t pass up these pretty, inexpensive beaded bowls and dishes from the Target Threshold collection^[2]. I love using white bowls and dishes to plate my food. I find food always looks prettiest on a white dish, and since we eat with our eyes, I usually have fun at dinner time and try to style our plates. Also a great tip if you like to photograph your meals.

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1-1/2 cups • Old Pts: 2 • Weight Watchers Points+: 3
Calories: 111.5 • Fat: 3.4 g • Protein: 13.6 g • Carbs: 12 g • Fiber: 0.9 g • Sugar: 1.4 g
Sodium: 538.8 mg

Ingredients:

4 cups water
3 tbsp flour
1 celery stalk, cut in half
5 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
8 oz baby bella, sliced
4 tsp Chicken Better Than Bouillon (or to taste)
2 tsp unsalted butter
7 oz skinless chicken breast
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

Place cold water and flour in a blender and blend until smooth; pour into a medium pot and set heat to medium.

Add celery, mushrooms, chicken bouillon and butter and bring to a boil. Add chicken, cover and simmer on low 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken and set aside; continue to cook the remaining soup an additional 5 minutes, until vegetables are soft.

Place celery and 1 cup of soup into the blender; blend until smooth, then return to the pot and simmer a few minutes. Shred or cut the chicken into small pieces and add back to the soup, garnish with fresh parsley.

Makes about 6 cups.

References

^{^} Creamy Mushroom Soup (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
^{^} Threshold collection (www.target.com)

Grilled Pesto Chicken and Tomato Kebabs

These chicken kebobs just SCREAM summer, made with my skinny basil pesto^[1] and grape tomatoes. Serve this as an appetizer at your next backyard bash, or have them for dinner any night of the week with a great big salad or over pasta.

We grow sooo much basil in my garden all summer long, so I make a lot of pesto and use it so many ways. This is super easy and can be made a day ahead, in fact the longer it marinates the better! Doubling the skewers helps keep everything in place while grilling, and makes them easier to turn. I love how the tomatoes taste after they are grilled, and they smell just divine when they come off the grill. To make my pesto skinny, I use less oil and make it without the pine nuts – but it’s still so flavorful you won’t miss them! If you’re having this for dinner, I would serve 2 skewers, rather than one with salad or grilled veggies on the side.

These are gluten free, inexpensive, low-carb, clean and simple. If you want to make them paleo, you can leave out the parmesan and swap it for pine nuts. If you love pesto as much as we do, you may also love Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake^[2], Grilled Pesto Shrimp Skewers^[3], or this delicious Eggplant Panini with Pesto^[4] – so good!!

Grilled Pesto Chicken and Tomato Kebabs
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 8 • Size: 1 kebab • Old Points: 4 pts • Weight Watcher Points+: 4 pt
Calories: 147 • Fat: 7.5 g • Carb: 3 g • Fiber: 1 g • Protein: 18 g • Sugar: 0 g
Sodium: 104 mg (without salt) • Cholest: 2.5 mg

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
1-1/4 lbs skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
24 cherry tomatoes
16 wooden skewers

Directions:

In a food processor pulse basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil while pulsing.

Combine the raw chicken with pesto and marinate a few hours in a bowl. Soak wooden skewers in water at least 30 minutes (or use metal ones to avoid this step). Beginning and ending with chicken, thread chicken and tomatoes onto 8 pairs of parallel skewers to make 8 kebabs total.

Heat the outdoor grill or indoor grill pan over medium heat until hot. Be sure the grates are clean and spray lightly with oil. Place the chicken on the hot grill and cook about 3-4 minutes; turn and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through, about 2 to 3 minutes.

References

^{^} skinny basil pesto (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
^{^} Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
^{^} Grilled Pesto Shrimp Skewers (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
^{^} Eggplant Panini with Pesto (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)

Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken

Sweet, savory and a little spicy, this simple Asian inspired chicken dish has a balance of flavor combinations – serve this over your favorite rice and dinner is ready!

I’m not a fan of sweet foods as a main dish, unless it’s balanced with savory and spicy flavors. In this dish the honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sriracha compliment each other and balance out the sweetness.

I’ve tried a few versions floating around the web, but they were much too sweet for my taste. After a few attempts, I finally found the perfect balance of sweet-savory without adding too much sugar. Rice wine is naturally sweet, and adds a bit of acid which rounds out the flavors. I served this with more sriracha sauce on the side for extra heat and served it over brown rice.

I usually set some chicken aside for my toddler when I shred it, before adding it back to the sauce, since her palate is pickier than the rest of ours, and it works out fine. I never cook a separate meal for her, she eats what we eat, just modified at times if I cook something spicy.

For lunch the next day, I made some lettuce wraps with some leftover forbidden rice I had and thoroughly enjoyed eating them with my hands.

Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: over 2/3 cup • Old Pts: 4 • Weight Watchers Points+: 4
Calories: 185.5 • Fat: 2 g • Protein: 27 g • Carbs: 13.5 g • Fiber: 0.7 g • Sugar: 10 g
Sodium: 504 mg
Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
black pepper, to taste
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce (tamari for gluten-free)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp water
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sriracha hot chili sauce^[1], or more to taste
1 heaping tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 medium scallions, chopped for garnish

Directions:

Place the chicken in the slow cooker and season with black pepper. In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, honey, tomato paste, vinegar, garlic, 1 tbsp water, sesame oil, onion powder and sriracha hot chili sauce^[2]. Pour over chicken and cook on LOW 3-4 hours.

Remove chicken, leaving the sauce in the slow cooker. Shred chicken with two forks; set aside.

In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1/4 cup water; add to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on HIGH until slightly thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes; return chicken to the slow cooker and mix well.

Serve chicken and sauce over rice and top with sesame seeds and chopped scallions for garnish.

Enjoy!

References

^{^} sriracha hot chili sauce (www.amazon.com)
^{^} sriracha hot chili sauce (www.amazon.com)