Dishing It Up!

by Victoria Mattson

Victoria Mattson is a local cook, confectionaire and writer. She offers healthy and nutritious recipes and food tips in each issue of North County Outlook. Phone (360) 658-9903 or e-mail victoria@northcountyoutlook.com.

As a new year begins, many folks resolve to lose weight, diligently following a restricted diet for a month or two. I am one of those folks who make an annual decision about what kind of "diet" I'll be following. This year my diet plan is to follow sound nutritional principles...most of the time.

The first step in achieving my goal of eating well most of the time starts at the grocery store. I'll stick mostly to the outside aisles of the grocery store where the fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meats, fish and dairy products are found. I'll head down the middle aisles only for whole grain products, beans, spices and specific ethnic ingredients. I won't buy processed foods that have a list of ingredients that I can't pronounce.

With all this fresh food in the house, putting together a nutritious meal becomes easy to do. For this Thai Chicken dish, I used a bone-in, skin-on chicken breast since it is less expensive than the boneless, skinless option. The chicken is browned and the broth is reduced to add richness to the dish without adding extra calories. Fresh red bell pepper, red onion, shitake mushrooms and spinach were used, but are not must-have vegetables for the dish. Broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower or kale could be successfully substituted.

I recommend quinoa (keen-wa) as a grain in place or rice or noodles. Quinoa is a nutritional powerhouse with a mild nutty flavor. It has about the same number of calories as rice, but provides an abundance of nutrients, protein, and fiber absent in white rice.

The sauce bringing this dish together is made from three ingredients, readily available in the Thai section of the grocery store. The first ingredient is lite coconut milk, which has 58% fewer calories and 60% less fat than regular coconut milk. If lite coconut milk cannot be found, use regular coconut milk and remove much of the fat yourself. To do this, don't shake the can before opening, and then once opened, skim off the solids from the top part of the can. Cook with the remaining liquid and you will get much of the flavor without the fat.

The second key ingredient is curry paste. I recommend green curry paste with chicken and fish, and red curry paste with beef or pork dishes. And finally, many traditional Thai recipes include fish sauce; however, salt can be used as a less expensive alternative.



Thai Chicken and Veggies



3/4 cup quinoa

4 chicken breasts, 5-6 ounces each

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 medium red onion, cut into chunks

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips

6 ounces Shitake mushrooms, cleaned, stems discarded

1 clove garlic, chopped

3-4 ounces fresh spinach

2 tablespoons green curry paste

2 tablespoons fish sauce or salt to taste

1 can (13.5 oz) lite coconut milk



Start cooking the quinoa while preparing the rest of the meal. Place dry quinoa in a strainer and rinse with cold water for about 2 minutes. In a medium saucepan, bring 11/2 cups water to a boil and add the rinsed quinoa. Cover and simmer over low heat about 15-20 minutes until the quinoa is tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, remove the skin from the chicken breasts. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add the chicken breasts and brown for 5 minutes on each side. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked and the broth has been reduced. Remove the chicken from the skillet and cool slightly. Once cooled, pull the chicken meat from the bone and cut into cubes.

Into the same chicken skillet, add the chopped onions, garlic, red bell pepper and shitake mushrooms. Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes.

Mix curry paste, fish sauce and coconut milk together in a bowl and stir into vegetables. Return the cubed cooked chicken to the skillet and heat 2-3 minutes. Place fresh spinach on top of chicken mixture. Cover and simmer on low heat another 2-3 minutes to wilt the spinach.

To serve, stir chicken mixture and spoon over quinoa. Makes 6 servings.



Victoria Mattson, co-owner of Let's Dish!, provides ready-to-cook meals for pick up or delivery. Phone 360-658-9903 or visit www.letsdish.com.