Healing Foods: Glazed Baby Bok Choy with Sauteed Chicken Breasts

As I continue to try to maintain the healthy eating that we started in January, I have been seeking out my favorite food research and recipe sights (and cookbooks!) for inspiration. My friend Marilyn brought me some baby bok choy from Chinatown last Sunday, and I was thrilled when I found out how healthy these vegetables (part of the group of cruciferous vegetables) really are.

According to World’s Healthiest Foods (www.whfoods.org), in terms of conventional nutrients (vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbs, and fats), we cannot find another vegetable group that is as high in vitamin A carotenoids, vitamin C, folic acid, and fiber as the cruciferous vegetables. As a group, the cruciferous vegetables are simply superstars in these conventional nutrient areas.

Vitamin K helps regulate our inflammatory response, including chronic, excessive inflammatory responses that can increase our risk of certain cancers. The amazing K content of cruciferous vegetables is definitely related to their cancer-preventive properties through mechanisms involving better control of inflammation. The concentration of vitamin A,C and manganese are key components in their growing reputation as a powerful antioxidant. One hundred calories' worth of cruciferous vegetables (about 5-6% of a daily diet) provides about 25-40% of your daily fiber requirement. Two additional macronutrients-proteins and fats-also deserve special mention with respect to recent research on cruciferous vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables can contribute a surprising amount of protein to the diet-over 25% of the Daily Value in 3 cups-and at a very low calorie cost.

So tonight, I am making simple sautéed chicken breasts, and glazed baby bok choy. The caramelized coating that comes from glazing gives a richer taste to the bok choy, and pairs well with the chicken. Healthy and kid friendly—what more could you want for a weeknight meal?

Simple sautéed chicken breasts

2 chicken breast halves, cut in half (makes 4 servings)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp. Olive oil

In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil until hot. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Saute about 5 –7 minutes on each side at medium high heat.

Glazed Baby Bok Choy, rinsed and patted dry

12 baby bok choy

2 tbsp butter

1/2 teasp. Sugar

In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add butter and swirl around pan to melt. Sprinkle sugar over butter, and place bok choy in pan side by side. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, and turn over. Cook again 5-7 minutes. They outside leaves should have a bit of brown caramelized coating over them. Serve with chicken breasts

Healing Foods: Really Satisfying Chicken Soup with Orzo

My dear friend Gabs hasn’t had much of an appetite lately. Her chemo treatments have zapped her energy, and made food very unappealing. When I heard that from her—I knew it was time for a good chicken soup.

I am a firm believer in the healing (and magical) power of chicken soup. It is one of the most comforting, healing and nutrient dense foods when you are feeling poorly. I loved the smell of my mother’s chicken soup wafting from our kitchen when I was home sick from school. And our wonderful Salvadoran nanny makes a “sopa de pollo” that our daughters love to eat any time, any season—sick or healthy. It is just plain yummy.

The long list of healthy ingredients provides protein, beta-carotene, heart-healthy enzymes, vitamins A, C, potassium and magnesium (among others!) in one delicious bowl. And, whatever your family’s recipe---it is a universal comfort and healing food.

This is the recipe I made for Gabs that warmed her heart and helped build up her strength. Browning the chicken first on all sides helps to give a deeper, richer flavor to the broth, and all of the usual vegetables make it wonderfully satisfying. Try this the next time you need a comforting dish. It’s good for the immune system…and the soul.

Chicken Soup with Orzo

3 chicken legs and thighs

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 small zucchini diced

1 quart organic chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

½ cup dried orzo

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven until hot. Add chicken pieces, sauté about 5 minutes each side until browned. Add onions, celery, carrot and zucchini to the pot and allow them to cook/sweat for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove chicken pieces and separate meat from the bones and skin, and slice the chicken into small dice. Return chicken to pot along with ½ cup dried orzo. Bring to a boil again, then lower to a simmer for 5 more minutes. You may want to add more chicken stock if the soup is too thick for your liking. Serve hot.

Healing Foods: Chicken Breast with Miso Marinade

We all know of miso as the main ingredient in miso soup. But the healing powers of miso are many. It is recommended as a powerful B12 source, especially for vegan diets. It also provides daily needs for manganese (for healthy bones and blood vessels), and the trace minerals zinc (for aiding immune function and healing) and copper (for aiding in energy production and antioxidant defenses). An impressive source of protein—and it's a low calorie one at that! It is, however, high in sodium, so miso paste can serve as a salt substitute that reaps multiple health benefits as it flavors your food.

Miso is delicious as the base of soups, with the simplest miso soup recipe including tofu, chopped nori and scallions. I like to use miso as a marinade—and often mix miso, hot water, tamari and a little sushi vinegar together as a marinade for chicken or fish. In lieu of coffee as an afternoon pick me up, try a cup of miso broth instead of caffeinated drinks for an energy boosting, restorative drink.

While testing spinach recipes this weekend, I decided to pair a miso-marinated chicken breast with the spinach and shiitake mushroom recipe I posted last week. It makes a lovely meal, but this flavorful chicken can be served with sautéed spinach, kale, asparagus or peas. Add your favorite salad to make a quick, easy healing dish.

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Miso Marinade

For the marinade, stir one tablespoon white miso past with 3 tablespoons boiling water.

Add 1 tablespoon tamari or low sodium soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon rice or sushi vinegar and 1 tablespoon sake or mirin (rice wine).

Stir until blended, add 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, seal and marinade for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat sauté pan over medium high heat.

Add 2 teaspoons olive oil. Add chicken breasts and sauté 5 minutes each side.

Reduce heat and add ¼ cup water. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove breasts and slice crosswise.

Arrange on platter and strained pan juices. Serve with sautéed spinach and shiitake mushrooms or your favorite green vegetable. Serves 4.

Comfort Food: Simple Roasted Chicken

Comfort Foods: Roasted Chicken

There are many things to love about the way the French cook. They have a way of making the simplest foods absolutely delicious. Sometimes that takes a bit of effort—with complicated sauces or cooking techniques that make the end result well worth it—but often the recipes are beautifully uncomplicated and yield amazing results!

One of the simplest, and most delicious, recipes I learned while studying French cooking and eating my way through France as a college student was roasted chicken. With a few simple ingredients—butter, lots of garlic, a few herbs, salt and pepper—a lovely main course is ready in about an hour. The trick is browning the bird on the stove on all sides first before roasting in the oven, to assure that you will have a crispy, golden skin on the outside with moist, delicious meat on the inside. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice and your favorite vegetable, and you’ll have a great comfort food meal….

Roasted Chicken

1 3 lb. chicken (I prefer kosher chicken)
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus two tablespoons butter)
2-3 tablespoons oil.
3 heads of garlic, with cloves separated but not peeled
8-10 sprigs of fresh thyme, or 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
sea salt and cracked pepper.
1 cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 425 F. Rinse chicken and pat it dry. Cut up 1 stick butter, and add to a bowl with garlic cloves and herbs. Form into a ball and insert into the cavity of the bird. Truss the chicken closed with twine. Salt and pepper the skin. In a roasting pan or dutch oven, heat the remaining butter and oil over high heat. Brown the chicken on all sides, turning every 5 minutes to brown the skin. Once browned, place the chicken, breast side up, into the oven and roast, basting every 5-10 minutes for about 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thigh reaches 140 degrees. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before carving. Drain off most of the fat in the pan, and return to medium heat adding 1 chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Let the stock reduce by half, and serve alongside the chicken.