Saturday, December 17, 2011

Chicken, Polenta, Roasted Red Peppers & Goat Cheese

Chicken, Polenta, Roasted Red Peppers & Goat Cheese- spinach, onions & garlic too

One of my favorite quick dinners using Roasted Red Peppers is to serve them with fried polenta, chicken and veggies. I use my homemade roasted red bell peppers from my previous blog.  I cook with ALOT of onions this time of year, they are super low in pesticides and good for your immune system.



To start, cover a large skillet with organic olive oil. I recomend med to low or medium at most. Add a clove of fresh chopped garlic, sweat garlic for about a minute and then add 4-6 strips of organic free range, or locally farmed chicken breast. Cook until lightly browned, and no longer pink in the middle. Then, add 4-6 1/4" slices of organic polenta from tube. Push chicken to outer edges of pan. If you need too, put a little more olive oil in.  You want your pan well coated or your polenta will stick and make a mess. Cook until outside crisps a bit, then flip over and cook the other side. This won't take long, about 3-5 minutes total.

It is a bit tricky to cook everything all in one pan, if you prefer, you can cook veggies in a seperate pan. I like to cook it all in one for easy clean up.  After your chicken and polenta has cooked, add onions (half a large Vidalia onion) and roasted red peppers (2 peppers) to pan. If you have fresh basil on hand, tear 3 leaves into pieces and add to the pan. . Stir veggies carefully and cook for about 3 minutes. Then, cover pan with enough spinach to top everything (about 2 handfuls), cover with a lid, reduce heat to low or very low. You are wilting the spinach with the heat from the pan. Keep an eye on the spinach, the process takes a minute or 2. When spinach wilts, transfer everything from pan to a large dish. Top with 6-8 slices of fresh goat cheese from a tube. Ingredients should still be hot enough to warm the goat cheese, if not cover with a lid to soften the goat cheese. Once this is complete, serve & eat. Makes 2 large serving, could easily split into 4 small servings.

Healthy Note: It is NOT necessary to buy organic onions. Onions contain very low amounts of pesticides, because very few pest like onions.

Here is a link to a wonderful list on highest & lowest pesticide treated foods.

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/


Monday, December 12, 2011

Make Your Own Roasted Red Peppers



So I have been putting roasted red peppers in everything lately! So much so, that I decided the jars they come in at the supermarket are to small to be economical, or affordable.  I have started making my own and it has proven to be easy & delicious. I have roasted four at a time at this point while I investigate storage options for larger batches. For now I am freezing the leftovers.

Only 2 ingredients are needed to create your own yummy roasted red peppers.

I recommend organic peppers where available. 49 Pesticide Residues Found by the USDA Pesticide Data Program according to  http://whatsonmyfood.org/food.jsp?food=PP. I also use organic olive oil.

To start I line a baking sheet with tinfoil. Place washed red bell peppers on the baking sheet, drizzle lightly with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees. When the skin blackens, I flip and cook until the other side blackens and skin bubbles. Then, I wait for the peppers to cool. It is easy to twist out the majority of the seeds with the stem. The skin pulls of in pieces. I brush off the remaining seeds or run the peppers under water to flush them away.

I will be posting 3 recipe ideas for the roasted red peppers I have created.


Here is some nutritional information from http://www.bestveganguide.com/redpepper-nutrition.html

Red Pepper Nutrition

...the nutritional value of red peppers and full red pepper nutrition information...

red pepperRed peppers are extremely high in vitamin C and also contain excellent amounts of vitamin A and beta carotene.





  • Red peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C which helps to protect the cells and tissues from free radical damage, thereby helping to prevent cancer. Vitamin C also aid dietary iron absorption.


  • Red peppers are also a good source of niacin (vitamin B3) which helps to lowercholesterollevels and also stabilises the blood sugar. B3 also helps the body to process fats.

  • Red peppers also provide a good amount of beta carotene which helps to protect the bodies' cells from free radical damage and also provides a source of vitamin A. Beta carotene also helps the immune and reproductive systems to function properly.


  • Containing an excellent amount of vitamin A, red peppers can help with eye health and viral infections.


  • Red peppers are a good source of beta cryptoxanthin which protects the bodies' cells from free radical damage and also provides a source of vitamin A. Beta cryptoxanthin can also reduce the risk of lung cancer and lower the risk of inflammatory polyarthritis.


  • One cup of red pepper contains around 46 calories.