Healthy Chicken Marsala with Parmesan Orzo

Scott and I love mushrooms and chicken (hello, protein!), so naturally a healthier version of chicken Marsala had to be discovered. Cue the devilishly handsome Chef Rocco. If you are trying to lose weight or eat healthy, you really should grab his Now Eat This! cookbooks. He takes a lot of your favorites (especially your favorite Italian dishes) and makes them healthier and lighter.

Here is what you need:

• 4 chicken cutlets (4 ounces eat), pounded thin.
• Salt
• 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• Nonstick olive oil cooking spray
• Two 8-ounce packages sliced mushrooms
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
• 1 cup low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• Black pepper

Here's what you do:

• To cook all of this at the same time you will either need one large pan or two medium skillets.
• Heat your skillets over medium-low heat.
• While pans are heating put 1/2 cup of the flour in one shallow bowl and your egg substitute in another shallow bowl. Dredge your chicken in the flour and then egg substitute. 
• Spray the hot pans with the cooking spray.
• Add chicken to the skillets and cook until golden brown on each side (should be about 4 minutes total, but always check to make sure your chicken is cooked all the way).
• Transfer chicken to a plate and cover loosely with foil.
• Wipe out your skillets and raise heat to high.
• Spray the skillets with olive oil.
• If you are using two skillets, add one package of mushrooms to each pan. I was able to fit both in my pan. 
• Cook mushrooms for 3 minutes without stirring to allow the mushrooms to brown. 
• When the mushrooms are browned, combine in one pan (if you are using two skillets), add garlic and season with salt. 
• Reduce the heat to medium and cook the mushrooms for another minute, until the garlic is fragrant.
• Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour. 
• Stir in the wine and chicken broth, and bring the sauce to a simmer. You want to simmer this until it has the consistency of a gravy (about 3 minutes).
• Remove from the heat and stir in the yogurt. Season with salt and pepper.
• Spoon your mixture over the chicken and serve.

This recipe serves four. Nutrition info: Calories 243, Fat 4g, Protein 34g, Carbs 12g, Cholesterol 72mg, Fiber 2g, Sodium 411mg. 

I served this over a really yummy parmesan orzo that can be found here (use whole wheat, it's so yummy!)

This is a great weekend meal, but if you have some extra time during the week, you can easily make it then.

Enjoy!

Spicy-Sweet Linguine alla Vodka

My latest culinary obsession is Rocco DiSpirito. Not only is his food delicious, but he's really easy on the eyes. My sister and I joke that his latest cookbooks (Now Eat This!) are really just picture books with some recipes. Anyway, for What's Cookin' Wednesday I thought I would share his Spicy-Sweet Linguine alla Vodka, which for me was really Spaghetti alla Vodka since I didn't have linguine.

What you need:

• 8 ounces whole wheat linguine (or spaghetti)
• 1 1/2 cups of store bought low-fat marinara sauce
• 1 large bottle fie-roasted red peppers (about 4 ounces) cut into thin strips (so I didn't use this I just used sweet red peppers and sauteed them real quick)
• 1/4 cup 2% Greek Yogurt
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco)
• Salt
• Pepper
• 6 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (so yummy!)

What to do:

• Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil
• Add pasta and cook according to package
• Bring the marinara sauce and red peppers to a simmer
• Cook the sauce, stirring occasionally, until it has slightly thickened.
  
• Remove sauce from the heat
• Put the yogurt in a small bowl and stir in about 1/2 cup of the warmed sauce into the yogurt until smooth (this prevents the yogurt from curdling in the sauce)
• Whisk yogurt mixture into remaining sauce and keep the sauce off the heat
• Drain pasta and slide it into a bowl
• Add the sauce, basil and 1 teaspoon of the hot pepper sauce
• Toss gently until the pasta is evenly coated
• Season with salt and pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of hot pepper sauce if desired
• Sprinkle with cheese and serve

I almost doubled this recipe so we could have leftovers and I am so glad I did. This is hands down my new favorite pasta. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Be sure to play along with What's Cookin' Wednesday at Life as We Know It