Eat Skinny Be Skinny Thanksgiving Sides Part 2: Spicy Brussel Sprouts
PIN IT!I love Thanksgiving week, it gives me an excuse to cook delicious meals everyday! I kicked off my Eat Skinny Be Skinny Thanksgiving Edition yesterday with the delicious [and low fat] turkey sausage stuffing. I’m going to keep with sides for today and post delicious varieties of my favorite vegetables. For this post, I’m focusing on the brussel sprout. I know, I know. I’m one of the few people in the world who actually like them. But as you recall from my childhood, I’ve always been the brussel sprout loving freak. So to show homage to my misunderstood favorite, I made them into a very easy and zesty Thanksgiving side dish! Add a little spice to anything and my fiancé just might eat it!
Spicy Brussel Sprouts
What You’ll Need:
- 1 pound fresh brussels sprouts
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- A dash of my secret ingredient [you’ll see below!]
How to Make Them:
- Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Add brussel sprouts and boil until barely tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add jalapeño pepper and garlic; sauté until tender.
- Add sprouts, and sauté 5 minutes until both sides are browned and sprouts are tender. Add sugar and chile powder, or red pepper flakes (my secret ingredient!) and sauté an additional 1 minute.
Nutritional Information [per 3/4 cup]: 85 calories, 6 grams of fat, 5 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.
Eat Skinny Be Skinny Thanksgiving Sides Part 1: Stuffing
Stuffing is as integral to the Thanksgiving dinner as turkey is, at least in my book. I can’t imagine a plate that evening without this holiday comfort food. The smell and the flavor remind me of my Thanksgiving pasts where I would help my mom and grandma make it from scratch. And that stuffing we’d make? Absolutely one of the best I’ve ever had! Since all of the women in my family are amazing cooks, I knew I could never top their stuffing recipe, but wanted to give my own variety a whirl for a work holiday potluck. Since last year’s dish was an utter and complete fail [learned the hard way that soy milk IS NOT a substitute for regular], I wanted to really make a dish that was amazing, but still healthy and low-fat! After doing a bit of digging, I found a delicious recipe that easily transformed this side dish into an entrée contender. With turkey sausage, hearty bread and tons of veggies, this stuffing has all the makings of a delicious meal!
Turkey and Herb Sausage Stuffing
What You’ll Need:
- 10 cups cubed sourdough bread (about 1 pound)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 15 ounces turkey sausage
- 3 tablespoons thyme
- 3 tablespoons sage
- 3 tablespoons parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 large egg
- Cooking spray
How To Make It:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Arrange bread in layers on a cookie sheet or shallow pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden, flipping bread if it’s layered. Turn oven off; leave pans in oven for 30 minutes or until bread is crisp.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. [Don’t mind our old-school skillet. We have a new one on the registry!]
- Add onion and celery; cook 11 minutes or until tender. Stir frequently.
- Transfer vegetables to a large bowl.
- Add sausage to pan. Increase heat; sauté until browned, stirring to crumble into pieces.
- Remove sausage from pan and add to vegetable mixture. Stir in bread, herbs, and pepper and toss. Set aside.
- Combine broth, 1 cup water, and egg.
- Drizzle broth mixture over bread mixture and toss.
- Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray and cover with foil.
- Bake for 25 minutes then take off the foil and cook 25 minutes more. [Until browned].
Nutritional Information per 3/4 cup: 149 calories, 6.4 grams of fat, 7.2 grams of protein and 1.5 grams of fiber.
A Thanksgiving Food Tip: Arranging Your Plate
Besides a day to give thanks, Thanksgiving is known for eating. Lots and lots of eating. Everyone loads up their plates with turkey, mashed potatoes, pie and casserole and eats until there’s not even a bite leftover. I’m not hating on the holiday, trust me, it’s nice to have a day where it’s socially acceptable to eat until your pants don’t fit. However, this year, I have to be more mindful of my eating practices. As you’ve seen in my weight post, I’ve got pounds to lose and self esteem to gain, people! So how do I enjoy Thanksgiving without missing out on all the delicious goodies?
[via]
By strategically arranging my plate! [Like the one above!] Unlike the past, oh, 22 years, where I would put 2 servings of each available food option on my plate, literally stacking it 3 feet high, I’m going to be more mindful in how much of each food group I place on my plate this year. My plan? Cover at least 85% of my plate with healthy Thanksgiving options, such as turkey, green beans, salad, whole wheat rolls and stuffing. Then I will place one serving of each non-healthy option, like mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, high sugar cranberry sauce and pie, in the remaining 15%. That way, I still get a taste of the foods higher in fat but fill up mostly on the healthy options! For a diagram example of how to do this, see the one below, courtesy of the Food Standard’s Agency.
Food is supposed to be enjoyed, not engulfed, so take your time this year tasting and savoring every single morsel. [Unless your aunt burnt the sweet potato casserole again, in that case, just grin and bear it!] And really, who wants to be bloated and 5 pounds heavier when they shop on Black Friday? You need to be in top physical shape for some of those crowds!
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Chicken with Fennel, Zucchini and Mushrooms
Do you see the resemblance?? I do!
The reason I’ve never used a fennel bulb in my cooking is because of my weird hangups with certain types of food. For one, look at the actual bulbs. They look A LOT like Wilson from Castaway. Really! Compare them above! However, I overcame my uneasiness towards the peculiar vegetable because I’m trying, really hard, to broaden my palette. Along with that, fennel is also a great fall vegetable and perfect alongside the squash, zucchini and tomato. [Which is exactly what I used it with!] I was looking for a fresh, light and veggie packed dinner and was ecstatic when I found a recipe involving all of my favorite autumn vegetables at My Recipes. I swapped out some ingredients for others to make it more suited to our tastes. Enjoy!
Chicken with Fennel, Zucchini and Mushrooms
What You’ll Need:
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 2 1/2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- 2 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb
- 2 cups finely chopped zucchini
- 2 cups chopped mushrooms
- 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds [the leafy part of the bulb]
- 1 table spoons goat cheese
How to Make It:
- Mix the breadcrumbs and Italian seasoning together. Roll the chicken breasts into the crumbs until they are heavily breaded.
- Heat 3 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove from pan.
- Heat 2 teaspoons oil in pan over medium heat. Add fennel, zucchini, and mushroom; cook 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add broth, tomato paste, salt, fennel seeds, ground black pepper and tomatoes. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally so the veggies don’t stick to the pan.
- Return the chicken to pan; cover and cook 12-15 minutes or until the chicken is done. Sprinkle with fennel fronds and goat cheese.
My favorite thing about this meal? Even with a serving that large [about 85 percent of this was veggies] you are still eating less than 450 calories and about 10 grams of fat!
Nutritional Information per serving [1/2 chicken breast and 2 cups of veggies]: 300 calories, 10 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber and 29 grams of protein.
Claire
Tags:autumn dinner, easy chicken dish, easy recipe, fennel, fennel and zucchini, low fat dish
A Winner!
I’m so excited to announce the winner of the Thanksgiving Bakeware Contest! I got such amazing feedback from this holiday inspired contest and all of your comments on your favorite dish had my mouth watering! Without further ado, the winner of the Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving bakeware is….
…#37 or Emily Z, also known as @ezsrecipes!
I love green bean casserole. It is such a hearty and flavorful fall dish, perfect for a large family gathering.
Congrats Emily and I can’t wait to hear what you make with your amazing new stuff!
