Healthy Carbonara With Veggies and Chicken

Foodista Cookbook Entry

Category: Main Dishes | Blog URL: http://fightthefatfoodie.blogspot.com/2009/12/carbonara-with-veggies-and-chicken.html

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
12 ounces chicken breast (2 breasts), cut in half and pounded thin
4 ounces Canadian bacon, diced
1 medium onion
2 bunches broccoli, including stems (peel and coarsely dice the stems)
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup Egg Beaters or other egg substitute
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)

Preparation

1
Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente in pot of salted water.
2
Heat 1 tsp oil in a skillet (I like to use cast-iron for this to get a sear) over medium-high heat. Lightly spray chicken breast with oil and rub in herbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook about 3 minutes a side.
3
Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp oil in a large straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add Canadian bacon and saute until nearly browned, about 2 minutes. Add onions, mushrooms and broccoli and saute until the broccoli is hot, but still firm. Turn heat off.
4
Drain, but do not rinse, spaghetti and mix it with the vegetable mixture.
5
In a bowl, combine Egg Beaters, buttermilk and cheese and pour over vegetables and pasta, the remaining heat of the spaghetti and skillet will cook the sauce. Top with pepper.
6
Serve with chicken and Parmesan cheese.

Tools

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About

Since starting this blog, I have developed a routine. At some point during the day, I make my final decision on what I'm going to cook and post it to various places, letting anyone who might be interested know. I get home from work and start cooking. After dinner and clean-up, I write and post.

I got distracted last night. We rented "Julie and Julia." Have you seen it? I got totally caught up in the movie! Of course, I related to the idea of blogging about food. But even more, I connected on an almost spiritual level with the love of creation the movie portrayed. That is what draws me to the kitchen every night. I connect with my ingredients, their textures, their taste, the transformation they undergo as I try to make the sum of their parts greater than the individual components. It is the joy of success as I watch my wife and son take the first bite and breath in deeply as their eyes role up.

And so, this entry comes more than 12 hours later than usual. I hope you like it, because we certainly did!

Carbonara sauce, is really very simple. Most start with the same ingredients: pancetta (Italian bacon), onions, eggs or egg yolk, Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano, and often, heavy cream. Can you say fat and cholesterol! So yet another challenge to healthy eating confronts me. Can I do carbonara in a healthy way? Absolutely! In addition to lightening the ingredients, I added broccoli and mushrooms. I also considered spinach and may well try that next time.

This version makes 4 servings. For my Weight Watchers friends, each serving works out to about 7 points.

Let's eat!

Yield:

4

Added:

Saturday, December 12, 2009 - 11:15am

Creator:

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