Thursday, September 2, 2010

How is this really a salad?

I am not exactly sure why Paula calls this a salad. I understand we have tuna/chicken salad, but typically that involves cold meats, mixed in a cold mayo sauce of some sort. Paula's Fettuccine Chicken Salad is served sort of warm with noodles....not very salad like :)


Well, at 6am my blogger photo uploader stopped working!!! So today we have no pictures, but if I can get them to load this afternoon I will try to update this post.


One of the changes I decided to make with this recipe was avoiding the use of seasoning salt. I often find myself educating my patients about salt free seasonings. I decided to make my own salt free Lawry's Seasoning "No Salt" for this recipe. I basically added equal parts of onion powder, salt substitute, turmeric, and paprika together. It smelled just right and I think the flavor was pretty much there. Making your own seasonings is a great way to cut sodium from your diet.


Insert pic of ingredients here:


Kroger was out of basil yesterday, but I found a great basil herb "puree" if you will that was a great substitute (and cut back on my chopping).


Insert picture of chicken with thermometer here:


I wanted to remind everyone that chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 5 seconds. Having a thermometer on hand helps you determine if your meats have reached a safe temperature and can help prevent overcooking...ahem...Laura :)


This recipe turned out okay. I think it would have been great if there were less fresh green seasonings in the sauce. I may have just needed to better chop them. I kept biting into parsley or basil which was a little off putting.


Since the "label" is also a picture I wasn't able to upload the nutrition information. In a nutshell, I cut the calories by 295! The sodium was cut more than in half and the fiber was more than doubled! Even with all of the great changes, this is not a low calorie or low fat dish. It is your entire dinner, minus some veggies, so spending the calories may still be okay for you. Here is the breakdown:

1 serving (1 cup pasta, 3 chicken strips)

Calories: 365 (was 695!)
Fat: 12.8g (was 46.9)
Sodium: 287mg (was 968)
Fiber: 6.3g (was 2.3)



Garden Chicken Fettuccine
2 skinless chicken breast halves
Olive oil spray
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
8 oz dry fettuccine
1 cup low fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley leaves
2 tbsp freshly chopped basil leaves
1/4 tsp FNF Seasoning
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp homemade season “un-salt”

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice chicken breasts into one inch wide strips. Lay strips on a baking sheet, sprayed with non stick spray. Season chicken with thyme and spray light coat of olive oil across the strips. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until internal temp is 165 degrees.

While chicken is cooking, cook past according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all other ingredients, including chicken juice from the baking sheet and mix well. Pour pasta into large bowl and stir to coat. Serve pasta with sliced chicken on top. Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Good job making some healthy substitutions. I wonder if you could use greek yogurt in place of the mayo? Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete