Tag Archives: #LowSodium

Forking EZ Delicious One Pot Southwest Chicken & Corn Recipe

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We’ve been having the most incredible sales on corn and chicken quarters. Three cents an ear of corn from Safeway. Corn often has been eight for a dollar from Sprouts Grocery. Chicken quarters are often ninety – nine cents or less a pound from Safeway and also Walmart Grocery. This meal is delicious and even easier to make than other one pot meals I’ve posted because I skipped the step to sauté the vegetables…I also wanted to cut the sodium even more so I did and everything is still delicious and very flavorful. One thing I need to mention is that the chicken skin does not come out crisp in these one pot recipes. You also have to cook with a thermometer because you have to check for safe eating temperature. According to the government chicken is safe to eat at 165 degrees F. I prefer my dark meat chicken cooked between 180-200 degrees. I like when it falls off the bone and is very tender and flavorful. You might prefer it less cooked. I can’t tell you the exact minute your dish will be done since ovens and pans do differ but on the middle rack this will be ready around 120 minutes.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

4lbs chicken quarters (one tray of leg quarters around 4 pieces)

kosher salt – to taste (sprinkle well on both sides of chicken)

ground black pepper – to taste (sprinkle well on both sides of chicken)

granulated garlic – to taste (sprinkle well on both sides of chicken)

2 celery ribs – around one inch pieces

2 carrots – around one inch pieces

1 onion – chopped

13 garlic cloves – chopped

4 ears of corn – trimmed off the cob

4 medium sized peppers – chopped (I used Mexican Yellow peppers that are fruity but have some heat like shisitos) (Fresnos maybe 6-8 would also be good or a mix of bell peppers and a jalapeño)

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon ground annatto (also called achiote)

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 bay leaves

1 cup water

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leans and some tender stems (to finish)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Chicken gets browned on both sides. It doesn’t matter if you do it in a fry pan or under a broiler for about 10 minutes a side. Leave the fat in the pan because you need it to flavor everything. (extra fat can be removed after chilling finished dish)

In a very large pan or oven safe pot (I used a half buffet pan) add the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, corn, yellow peppers, coriander, cumin, oregano, annatto, smoked paprika, chili powder, bay leaves, water. Mix well and top this with the chicken. Cover tightly with foil. Leave in oven till the chicken is at least 165 degrees F. but I prefer the chicken between 180-200 degrees F. (around 120 minutes) You do how you like the chicken best. You might want to clean the chicken when it’s cool enough to handle. You should remove the bay leaves and give it a stir. Finish with fresh cilantro……….. (***If you make this ahead of time you can chill and easily remove the extra fat that stays on the surface and then reheat……as this is the perfect dish for that kind of cookery)

Forking EZ Delicious One Pot Southwest Chicken and Corn

Everyone will enjoy this! It’s not too spicy but it is very flavorful and it was easy to prepare.

The Forking Truth

Low Fat Low Sodium Beef Meatballs Recipe

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You can reduce the fat and sodium drastically in meatballs by simply not adding cheese. You also can reduce the fat by using lean beef……These meatballs don’t have cheese in them and were made with lean beef. All the fat was cut off the lean side of a brisket and then it was ground. You can purchase lean ground beef since nobody likes grounding beef. Salt was reduced again by substituting vegetable base that is less salt but salty with flavor. You can splurge and add some Italian hard cheese at serving time. The rest is just figuring out how to flavor them and to get them to a good texture. I was going to add fresh parsley but forgot to add it…..The meatballs still came out delicious and good so I left the fresh parsley out of the recipe. I recommend using a small scoop for the meatballs. This time I got 18 servings that was a total of 85 meatballs that happen to freeze and reheat very well. Use with your favorite pasta sauce or use winter tomato sauce recipe from The Forking Truth.

Ingredients for about 18 servings

3 lbs ground beef – lean is recommended

1 medium sized sweet onion (around 8oz) fine chopped

8 cherry peppers – minced (I used Sprouts Brand – Spicy/Sweet jarred)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

1 Tablespoon ground black pepper

4 Tablespoons vegetable base (instead of salt)

6 eggs – lightly beaten

8oz whole wheat panko (Japanese Bread Crumbs) (Walmart, Asiana Market and Whole Foods sells Whole Wheat Panko)

Three Tablespoons dried basil

1 Tablespoon dried thyme

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

Before you add water do a small tester meatball in the oven for about 6 minutes and see how you like it. Add up to 3 Tablespoons water for a moister meatball but don’t add so much water it’s mushy. If you think it’s a little dry then add up to three tablespoons of water. Adjust seasoning to your liking but it’s probably about right with seasoning.

neutral non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray baking sheets with non stick spray.

In a medium sized fry pan on medium high heat add the oil. When hot add the onions, cherry pepper, black pepper and vegetable base. Cook till onions are clear. Shut off heat but leave on burner and add the garlic, basil, thyme and white pepper. Stir and leave to the side too cool.

I a very large mixing bowl or maybe two bowls add the beef, eggs and panko and mix well. The fry pan mixture is probably cool by now so add that in and mix well.

Make a small tester meatball so you can test seasoning and texture. Usually when you use lean beef you need to add a little water so it comes out moist (but not mushy) Test before adding water and see what you think. A half size ball will take about 6 minutes in the oven.

Once you are happy with meatball mixture use a small scoop and roll slightly and place you meatballs on the sprayed baking sheets with a little room around the meatballs. I used 6 small sheet pans that filled up my oven. In my oven the meatballs were done in 15 minutes.

Low Fat Low Sodium Beef Meatballs

Serve with tomato sauce and offer hard Italian Cheese. Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Lentils & Black Rice Topped with Spigarello Recipe

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Lentils and Black Rice topped with Spigarello

Got some Spigarello at the Scottsdale Farmers Market and I thought it would be good with lentils. I did a mix of tiny black lentils and red lentils so I’d have two different textures. The lentils were more soupy than I was expecting so I added black chewy perfume-ee rice to the pot and came up with something better. The lentil-rice mixture gets topped with sautéed Spigarello and some grated hard cheese. It works out well together. This can be a vegetarian meal or you can add grilled protein to it to make a complete dinner. I think it would be great with either grilled chicken, steak or Italian Sausage.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

1 cup black lentils – rinsed and inspected

1 cup red lentils – rinsed and inspected

7 cups vegetable stock

4 bay leaves

1 cup black rice (heirloom forbidden)

3 1/2 oz shallots – peeled and sliced very thin

2 Calabrian peppers – minced

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

fresh ground sea salt to taste – you don’t need much

fresh ground black pepper to taste – you don’t need much

1 meyer lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 cup Italian Hard Cheese (preferably Fiore Sardo…Sardinian Sheeps Milk cheese…)

Directions

In a sauce pot bring the vegetable stock to a boil add lentils and reduce to simmer for 40 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium and when it gets to a slow boil add the rice and bay leaves, stir and then reduce to simmer and cover pot. The rice needs to cook for 30 minutes.

Either while the rice is cooking or afterwards (rice/lentil mixture stays hot a long time). Prepare the Spigarello.

Put a big fry pan on medium high heat with the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the shallots and sauté till soft. Add Calabrian peppers and stir. Pack in the Spigarello and cover. Let it sort of steam for about a minute and then remove cover and stir. Take off heat, squeeze fresh lemon juice over Spigarello and go lightly with a small amount of fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve over hot lentil/rice mixture and top with Spigarello mixture and finely grated cheese. I do note that the next day the lentils and rice absorb liquid so it will be dryer the next day. You might or might not want to add a small amount of water to bring it back to what it was.

Lentils and Black Rice topped with Spigarello

This is really good!

The Forking Truth