Chicken!

Are you taking Metformin, or know someone who is? According to an article in Diabetes Self-Management, "humble metformin may well be the closest thing we have to a miracle drug." It packs probably the biggest blood-glucose-lowering punch of any diabetes drug on the market," helps to lower one's HbA1c levels by up to 1.5%, protects your heart, and may even help protect you from some forms of cancer. Pretty impressive!

To read this interesting article ("Metformin: The Unauthorized Biography"), click here. Tomorrow, I'll post Diabetes Self-Management's article on Metformin's side effect.

And now, it's time for today's six recipes, all centered around chicken. There was a time during the twentieth century when chicken was relegated to Sunday dinner. Not any more. It's popular for an anytime meal, enough so that even burger places frequently offer chicken sandwiches. These six recipes are good enough to make you forget about the fast food places. Enjoy!

BAKED CHICKEN PARMESAN

Servings: 6

Find this recipe at: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/228.shtml

Ingredients

Vegetable oil spray

4 slices whole-wheat bread

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1-1/2 tablespoons finely snipped fresh parsley

1-1/2 teaspoons paprika

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled

1/2 cup nonfat or low-fat buttermilk

Vegetable oil spray

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, about 4 ounces each, all visible fat removed

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly spray a rectangular baking sheet and slightly smaller cooling rack with vegetable oil spray. Put rack on baking sheet. Set aside.

In a food processor or blender, process bread into fine crumbs. Pour into a shallow bowl. Stir Parmesan, parsley, paprika, garlic powder, and thyme into crumbs.

Pour buttermilk into a shallow bowl.

Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Dip chicken into buttermilk, shake off excess liquid, dredge in crumbs, and shake off excess crumbs. Put chicken on cooling rack. Spray each breast with vegetable oil spray.

Bake for 15 minutes, turn chicken, and bake for 10 minutes, or until done.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 209; Protein: 38 g; Fat: 1 g; Sodium: 303 mg; Cholesterol: 68 mg; Carbohydrates: 11 g; Exchanges: 3/4 Bread/Starch; 4 Low-Fat Meat

BAKED CHICKEN WITH 40 CLOVES OF GARLIC

See author's note after directions.

Serves: 4

Source: Mediterranean Light

Find this recipe at: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/304.shtml

Ingredients

1 (3-or-4 pound) chicken, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

40 large, meaty garlic cloves, unpeeled

1-3/4 cups dry white wine

4 thyme sprigs or 1/4 teaspoon dried

8 garlic croutons

2 tablespoons Cognac

Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the skin from the chicken pieces.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed flameproof casserole wide enough to accommodate the chicken in a single layer. Add the chicken, and salt and pepper lightly. Saute for 5 minutes, then turn over and saute another 5 minutes. If the bottom of the pan scorches a little, don't worry, it won't affect the flavor of the dish. Remove the chicken pieces from the pot.

Add the garlic and saute, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes, until beginning to brown. Again, don't worry about scorching. Spread the cloves in a single layer and return the chicken pieces to the pot. Add the wine, thyme, and rosemary and cover tightly.

Place the casserole in the oven and bake 45 minutes. Meanwhile, make the garlic croutons.

After 45 minutes, check the chicken. It should be tender and fragrant. If it isn't quite cooked through or very tender, bake another 15 minutes.

Remove the casserole from the oven. Heat the Cognac in a small saucepan and light with a match. Pour over the chicken and shake the casserole until the flames die down. Taste the sauce in the pot, adjust seasonings, and sprinkle with parsley.

To serve, place a couple of croutons on each plate, a piece of chicken or two, topped with some of the sauce in the pan, and several garlic cloves, which your guests should squeeze out onto the croutons.

Note: This is a lusty, beautiful dish. The chicken becomes succulent and ever so fragrant as it bakes slowly in white wine with 40 unpeeled cloves of garlic. The garlic becomes mild, sweet, and soft as it cooks, and you eat it like butter on croutons. Most authentic French versions of this dish include more olive oil than mine, as well as some butter, but the results here are heavenly. I've tried various methods for this dish. Sometimes the chicken is cooked in an uncovered pan on top of the stove, but because we remove the skin here and use very little fat, the dish comes out best when the chicken is simmered in the oven in a closed pot.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 555; Protein: 49 g; Fat: 18 g; Sodium: 455 mg; Cholesterol: 133 mg ; Carbohydrates: 49 g

SIMPLE CHICKEN MOLE

This recipe begins, "In a Mexican mole sauce, the chocolate isn't even sweetened. Sliced red peppers, sauteed onions and grated carrots are delicious accompaniments for this chicken with chocolatey sauce."

Makes 4 servings.

View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/686.shtml

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, about 3 oz. each

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. ground coriander

1-1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. chipotle or regular chili powder

1/4 cup no-sodium diced tomatoes with juice

2 Tbsp. sliced almonds, toasted for 3-4 minutes

2 Tbsp. raisins

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth, plus more if needed

Salt, to taste

2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

In large skillet, heat tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken to pan and saute, turning once, until cooked through, about 4-6 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover with foil and place in oven to keep warm.

Add remaining oil to pan. Add onion to skillet and saute for 3 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Add cumin, coriander, cocoa powder and chili powder, stirring to coat onions well. Add tomatoes, almonds, raisins, broth and salt. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Transfer to blender and puree until smooth, adding more chicken broth if needed, for desired consistency. Place chicken on serving dish and pour sauce over top. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 180; Protein: 21 g; Fat: 8 g; Sodium: 280 mg; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Dietary Fiber: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 7 g

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU

This begins, “This recipe was once the ultimate in gourmet dining. The ham-and-cheese stuffed chicken breasts are still delicious in their low-fat form!”

Serves: 6

Source: 1,001 Recipes For People with Diabetes

Find this recipe at: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/318.shtml

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)

4 ounces sliced fat-free Swiss cheese

3 ounces lean smoked ham

Flour

2 egg whites, beaten

1/3 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs

Vegetable cooking spray

Directions

Pound chicken breasts with flat side of meat mallet until very thin and even in thickness. Layer cheese and ham on chicken breasts, cutting to fit. Roll up chicken and secure with toothpicks.

Coat chicken rolls lightly with flour; dip in egg whites and coat in bread crumbs. Spray rolls generously with cooking spray and cook in skillet over medium heat until browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes.

Place chicken in baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, until cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 210; Protein: 34.6 g; Fat: 3.9 g; Sodium: 540 mg; Cholesterol: 73.2 mg; Carbohydrates: 6.3 g; Exchanges: 4 Meat

THAI CHICKEN WITH BASIL

Yield: 4 servings

View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/653.shtml

Source: The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook

Ingredients

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 large onion (12 ounces), cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

2 red or green chiles (serrano or jalapeno), seeded and cut into matchstick strips

2 teaspoons minced, peeled fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, crushed with garlic press

1-1/2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves

Directions

With knife held in slanting position, almost parallel to cutting surface, cut each chicken breast half crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. In medium bowl, combine fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar; add chicken slices, tossing to coat. Let marinate 5 minutes.

In nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Add chicken with marinade and cook, stirring frequently (stir-frying), until chicken loses its pink color throughout, 3 to 4 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer chicken to bowl.

Add onion to marinade remaining in skillet and cook, stir-frying, until tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. Stir in chiles, ginger, and garlic; cook 1 minute longer.

Return chicken to skillet; heat thorough. Stir in basil leaves just before serving.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 238; Protein: 31 g; Fat: 5 g; Sodium: 784 mg; Cholesterol: 66 mg; Carbohydrates: 16 g; Exchanges: 4 Lean Meat, 1 Bread/Starch

TANDOORI CHICKEN SKEWERS WITH BLUEBERRY-FIG SAUCE

This recipe begins, “To get the biggest antioxidant punch from your blueberries, be sure to use Wild Blueberries. With twice the antioxidant capacity of larger, cultivated blueberries, the little wild ones freeze perfectly, retaining superior quality, color and sweet, tangy flavor.”

Serves 4 as entree or 12 as an appetizer

Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/bin/print.cgi?ID=1235

View recipe with photo: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/1235.shtml

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 package Tandoori Tikka or Tandoori Chicken marinade

1/2 cup low-fat, plain yogurt

2/3 cup fresh or frozen Wild Blueberries

1/2 cup Wild Blueberry jam

1/2 cup chopped fresh figs (or substitute pears)

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

2/3 cup cooked red lentils

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon powdered coriander

1 tablespoon oil or cooking spray

Directions

Chop chicken into bite-sized chunks.

Stir together Tandoori Tikka and yogurt in medium bowl and add chicken. Cover and let marinate for at least 1 hour.

Sauce: Stir together Wild Blueberries and jam in a small saucepan. Rinse and chop figs. Add figs and orange zest. Cook sauce stirring until it just comes to a simmer. Remove from heat, cool slightly. Add lentils and season with salt, pepper and coriander.

Pre-heat oven to 425F. Remove chicken from marinade and drain in a colander. Place chicken pieces in an oiled 11 x 13-inch glass baking dish, without allowing them to touch.

Roast 8 to 10 minutes until done. Place chicken on skewers. Serve with the Wild Blueberry dipping sauce. Traditionally accompanied by rice as an entree.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 123; Protein: 14 g; Fat: 1 g; Sodium: 130 mg; Cholesterol: 30 mg; Carbohydrates: 14 g