Healthy Comfort Food

We had the girls over for dinner on Saturday night, and I read them a list of choices from my meal plan for the week to see what they wanted me to make.  They picked the chicken dinner.  A chicken dinner can be very high in fat and calories, but it doesn't have to me.

First off, by purchasing grass fed, free range, antibiotic free chicken, you are skimming up to 1/3 of the fat and calories over the grain fed versions right there alone...not to mention that depending upon the chicken/brand/etc, you will be getting 2-4 times the Omega-3s. 

Normally, I make a chicken dinner with mashed potatoes, corn, and gravy, made from the drippings...and don't forget about the rolls with butter...  Instead, we started off with a garden salad, and then I baked a roasted vegetable medley with sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and some white potatoes.  That way, you're getting a much smaller portion of the white potato, and you're mixing it in with the much healthier carrots and sweet potatoes, while still getting that comforty starch. 

For gravy, I didn't use any of the drippings - I purchased gravy that was low in fat and calories, and I watered it down a little bit and seasoned it, so it was light, but tasty, and that was our meal.  I pan roasted 2 trays of veggies before cooking the chicken, and I seasoned them with thyme, ground pepper, garlic salt, garlic powder, onion powder, fresh basil, dried basil and oregano.  They came out fantasic.  When the chicken only had 30 minutes left, I combined one pan of the roasted vegatbles in with the chicken to cook in the juices, but I chose to eat the veggies that didn't soak in any of the chicken - they were plenty flavorful without the little bit of added fat.

The girls couldn't get over what a delicous meal it was, and how healthy it was. They also commented on the difference they could taste in the chicken.  I was delighted to have company over for a very healthy meal that passed the taste test!