Lean Meats

I've been eating a lot of boneless, skinless chicken breasts lately as they've been big time on sale. Rancho Librio here in the Springs has them for 1.47/lb this week if you need any! Chicken breasts are a great source of protein and low in calories. One serving (4 oz) has only 125 calories and 26 grams of protein. Last night I made soy-ginger chicken with steamed broccoli that was on sale at Albertsons last week. I think the whole meal cost me about $4 and fed me and two of my roommates. Plus I've easily got enough for 3 more meals. I'm not a huge fan of leftovers, I'll eat it once more but then I get tired of it. Usually I'll cut a recipe in half but as I'd never tried this one before, I made the whole thing just to be sure it worked out well. It was yummy and will now be added to my repertoire! The recipe is below if you'd like to try it. It's designed to be cooked in a crockpot which I didn't realize until about 3:30 so I cooked it on the stove instead. I also added 1/2 cup of chicken stock because not cooking it slowly made it drier and I had no sauce at the end to work with. The recipe has 250 calories per serving. Not bad at all!

Soy-Ginger Chicken

1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
2 T dark brown sugar (I substituted for Splenda's brown sugar)
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
2/3 c chopped cilantro
1 piece, about 2 inches long, fresh ginger- grated
5 scallions, thinly sliced
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t black pepper
1 lb chicken breasts
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 T cornstarch

In a 5-6 quart slow cooker, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, garlic, cilantro, ginger, scallions, balsamic vinegar, coriander, and pepper. Add chicken and carrots. Toss to coat. Cover and cook chicken until tender, about 6 hours. Using a large spoon, skim off any fat from surface of cooking liquid.
In a 2-cup measuring cup, whisk cornstarch with 2 T of water. Ladle 1 cup of cooking liquid into measuring cup and whisk to combine. Pour into a small saucepan and cook to thicken. Pour over chicken and serve. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and sesame seeds, if desired.