Just Another Manic Monday...

Well it is 2:46pm.  Please note this is the first time I have put something solid in my mouth.  What I did was follow my normal regimine of morning coffee.  You know the devil's in the details, right?  I have a 24oz. cup of coffee every morning , Monday-Friday.  I add NO sugar (yay!) but I always use an inch of the french vanilla creamer.  (God know what's in there!  I remember when I use to pour creamer in a cup and add hot water!) 

Here's the OTHER dilemma:  Not quite sure of what to eat, I ended up at a salad bar where I put about 4 thin strips of Italian grilled chicken into my container.  I really did not want to overload on the carbs, so I put in salad with grilled bell peppers.   Pretty good for a chick who left her cookies home!    (I swear to you, it was accidental!)  I thought to myself, "That's what up girl!  Handle your damn buisness!"  Then I remember that my supervisor asked me to grab her some lunch and I walked down to another salad bar.  Now this salad bar is rather small but lawd have murcy, their chicken is not to be played with!

From time to time they make changes to the menu and will include specialty dishes.  I really did not intend to look, but at THAT salad bar I saw baked chicken and brown rice. (yum!)  You do know I got a small container of that, don't you?  Well here is the upside of being a gastric bypass recepient.  Even 5 years after the surgery, my stomach has stretched but so much.  My eyes are most definately bigger than my stomach. 

Here goes that evil Darth Vader hunger swelling up inside me "Renee...I am your brown rice and chicken!"  I want to run in the other direction, but my hunger has been taken over by the darkside.  I pull out my inner lawyer to dispute my choice of buying more food.

"At least it's brown rice!" I say matter-of-factly.  "Besides, you only got a small portion!"

Damn, talk about drinking the kool-aid!  I fall for the crap, hook-line and sinker.  I throw down the extra $6.35 and walked out of the deli.  It was a good thing I am a generous heifer.  I gave away most of it, including a little bit of everything in the smaller container.  So it turned out better than I expected!  Well...I'm on the way home now to enjoy that black bean soup!

Here is your daily recipe!

TODAY'S RECIPE

Chicken Rojo

The great thing about this dish is that you can assemble your ingredients while the chicken simmers, so it cuts down on prep time. It only takes 30 minutes cooking time from start to finish.

Prep Time: :5

Cook Time: :30

Ingredients:

3-5 chicken breasts or thighs

6 tomatoes, large

1/2 an onion, cut into quarters

3 tablespoons of oil

2 cups chicken broth mixed with 2 cups of water

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic, peeled and crushed

1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon red chile powder or chile paste

salt to taste

Preparation:

Preheat broiler on high.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan over high heat. Brown the chicken pieces on each side. Cover chicken with chicken broth and bring to a boil. While it's coming to a boil, slice the top off of each tomato and place cut side down on a cookie sheet along with the onions. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil over them. Place in broiler and remove when tomato skins become very wrinkled and shriveled.

While the tomatoes are broiling, bring the chicken broth to a strong simmer and add in the chile, cumin, oregano, garlic and cocoa.

When the tomatoes are ready, remove from broiler and let cool for 1 minute.

While the tomatoes cool, turn the chicken

Peel the skin off of each tomato and use a spoon to remove the seeds from the middle. Using your fingers, mash the tomato a little and add into the sauce. Separate the onions and stir into the sauce. Let the sauce reduce while chicken finishes cooking.

If the liquid cooks off to fast, add water about a half cup each time, until the chicken reaches 170 degrees or is no longer pink inside.

ENJOY!!!

Love & Light,

Renee Michele