Heart Smart for Your Honeys on Valentines Day

Cookin’ Quick—Maggie Lee Recipes by Colleen Walsh Fong

Holiday hustle and bustle has calmed. So has the energy of the year’s first gung-ho weeks. February is filled with first quarter work goals, and attending children’s athletic and “leisure” activities. Mid-month our focus turns to where Eros aims his arrows. Meanwhile, it’s awfully cold outside! Staying warm and keeping life easy top my to-do list this month.

Flavor-rich food brings the warmth and filling comfort I need to fortify me. But, I want to keep my healthy resolutions, so the following recipes do it in a low-cal kind of way. As an added benefit, they are a snap to make, and will bring a smile to the face of my “Honeys” come Valentine’s Day.

Intensive use of garlic offsets the need for too much salt or the flavoring of empty calories—and added cost—that come with using wine to enrich the dish. A handy companion recipe makes good use of leftovers.

Chicken for (Garlic) Lovers with Amour Beans

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts, halved diagonally across the middle
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• ½ C Flour
• 2 heads Garlic, cloves smashed and papers removed
• 2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 32 oz reduced sodium Chicken Broth
• 1 small vine-ripened Tomato, peeled, cored and quartered
• ½ lb fresh French Beans
• 1 C brown rice

Preparation/Cooking

• Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper to taste.
• Place flour in small, shallow bowl
• Drag chicken pieces through flour to lightly coat, shaking excess back into bowl.
• Heat 1.5 T oil in large frying pan with cover over medium heat.
• Brown chicken in heated oil on all sides. Remove to plate or bowl and keep warm.
• Add smashed garlic cloves to pan and sauté 1 minute. Then, sprinkle remaining flour over garlic cloves and stir with spoon to coat all pieces while cooking flour a bit.
• Begin whisking chicken broth into floured garlic, taking care to break up any flour lumps.
• Increase heat to medium high and continue whisking mixture for 3-5 minutes, until it begins to bubble up and thicken.
• Return chicken to pan, and reduce heat to a simmer.
• Cover pan and simmer chicken in garlic sauce for 20 minutes.
• While chicken cooks, prepare rice according to package directions. Season to taste with salt and pepper when done.
• Then, use a paring knife to make tomato quarters heart-shaped.
• Steam French beans 5 minutes (or cook in package, if it so directs.) Drizzle cooked beans with ½ T olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Test chicken for doneness. When ready, serve chicken with plenty of sauce, rice and French beans, taking care to reserve about ½ lb of the cooked chicken, ¼ of the sauce, and ⅛th of the beans. Refrigerate this reserve for use in Tummy Ticklin' Turnovers.
• Garnish each plate with a tomato heart.

Use your leftovers in the family-pleasing, snappy Tummy Ticklin’ Turnovers pictured on the pink plate.

Watch for the upcoming ecookbook series, Easy Weekly Meals, available for download to your mobile devices or computers soon!