Bourbon Chicken

Bourbon Tofu in the oven

Here’s my version of a lowfat bourbon chicken, substituting the bourbon with apple juice. Chop and saute 2 large onions in 1 tbsp olive oil until golden.  Add 1/2 cup each: apple juice, brown sugar and lite soy sauce (or 1/4 c. soy sauce and 1/4 cup water). Add 2 tbsp vinegar, 1 tablespoon each chopped or ground ginger, chopped or ground garlic and 1 teaspoon each onion powder and cornstarch. Simmer over medium heat 10-20 minutes until it reduces and becomes thick and syrupy.  Turn off the heat.

Bourbon Broccoli Tofu

IF USING TOFU, EGGPLANT, MUSHROOMS OR BROCCOLI
I’ve done this recipe with chicken, with tofu, with eggplant and even with mushrooms and broccoli.  If substituting tofu or eggplant for the chicken, cut them into 1″ chunks. Leave mushrooms whole. Cut broccoli into flowerettes and stalks into 1″ chunks.

IF USING CHICKEN:
Chop 6 raw skinless, boneless chicken (I like thighs) into bite size pieces.  (You can skip this step, but I like to velvet my chicken first. Here’s how.)

Toss the tofu, veggies or chicken into the sauce long enough to mix it well and coat each piece.

Pour the mixture into a shallow baking dish, and place in a 450 oven for 20-26 minutes.  I use a large dish so that the sauce spreads out on the bottom and gets almost charred.  If you like less char, use a 350-400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.

Here’s a stovetop version http://www.food.com/recipe/bourbon-chicken-45809 but I like the crispy char taste of being cooked in the oven so the sauce gets sticky. Best to marinade the chicken in it first 2-24 hours (this is when I velvet my chicken) and to have the sauce kinda thick and reduced before pouring it on.  I eat this poured atop a mixed spring greens salad, or rice.

Another Bourbon Tofu recipe, without soy sauce.

A couple of times last week I went to Golden Corral for their soup and salad bar, then was inspired to buy lots of salad fixings for yummy salads at home. I bought romaine, spinach and spring mix, I bought sweet cherry tomatoes,  small black olives, quartered artichoke hearts, carrot sticks, garbanzo beans.  I thinly sliced the red onion and radishes,. All the things I put on my salad at a buffet. I added some lowfat gorgonzola cheese and a sauteed half of a leftover baked potato. I tossed it with some oil, vinegar and a dab of dijon. Yum, hearty, healthy and low fat. Oh, and you carcass lovers can add your slab of bacon or philly cheese steak toppings.

Andrea de Michaelis

I’m Andrea de Michaelis.  You know me as publisher of Horizons Magazine.  I began this blog because so often during the day I post on Facebook what I am cooking and the meals I eat.  Not all my friends are on Facebook.  Plus I figured it would be just as easy to make a blog and post healthy meal ideas here.  Also, then I could find my new recipes when I look for them.  I’ll back date some older posts from my main blog.  It encourages me to eat healthy when I’m sharing with everyone what I’m having.  Feel free to email me your thoughts toandrea@horizonsmagazine.com.  Enjoy.

The story behind the creation of the Goddess Grub website
Andrea’s other job Horizons Magazine
Bio Andrea de Michaelis

I never cared for Indian food until recently.  I spent off and on in my 20’s and 30’s living in an ashram with a monastic group and Indian food was the order of the day.  I found it not to my liking and thereafter avoided it.  Then in October 2006 while attending the Pranic Healing Workshop in Orlando, I was invited to lunch with Master Steven Co and his group.  Tom Park asked if I liked Indian food, since they were going to an Indian buffet.  I inwardly cringed and outwardly smiled and said ‘Yes, I’d love that.”  To my delight, I found there were many dishes I loved, and they tasted nothing like I remember “Indian food” tasting.  So flavorful and so many vegetarian choices. Continue reading →

Marinate 1 lb of bay scallops in the juice of 2 lemons while you begin.
6 cloves fresh garlic chopped and sauteed in
2 tblsp olive oil

Continue reading →

What’s the difference between stock and broth?  Stock is an ingredient and broth is a finished product.  You make a flavorful stock to use as a base for soups and other recipes.  Many times, I simply use a box of Swanson broth.  See recipe:  Continue reading →

I knew that the acids in apple cider vinegar improve digestion and deter the growth of disease-causing bacteria in the digestive tract. The minerals potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium bind to the acids and neutralize them when the digestive tract needs to be more alkaline. But there are a lot of things I did not know about it. When I researched it for myself, I wanted to share it with you, too. Continue reading →

Crispy eggplant oven fried

Last night’s dinner was oven fried eggplant wrapped in a pita with hummus, tahina sauce.  Into the toaster oven for 10 minutes wrapped loosely in foil. Add lettuce, tomato and mediterranean pickles before eating.  I had to make this blog post so I could find the recipe again.

I love oven fried eggplant because i like it crispy without the oil.  Preheat a 425 degree oven, cut eggplant into 1/2″ rounds, dip in Eggbeaters, coat with seasoned panko or Italian breadcrumbs.  Place on a Pam-sprayed, foil-lined metal cookie sheet, leaving at least a pencil width space between them to let the sides crisp. Spray the tops with more Pam. 15-25 minutes on a lower rack in the oven, they’re done when they’re as golden as you like. I’m a 25 minute gal myself.  

Eggplant is really good this way. It puts like a fried chicken kinda crust on it, and the eggplant doesn’t get mooshy. This would also make a good sandwich on a sub roll with sauteed bell peppers and onions.  The eggplant takes on a meaty-ish texture when done like this.  If you don’t care about low fat, brush the eggplant rounds with olive oil as they bake.

I’ve also added 1 tsp each crushed coriander seeds and fennel seeds to the panko/ breadcrumbs and it is delicious.  Buy the mediterranean pickles at Walmart or Publix in the kosher section.

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A Three Sisters Garden

The Three Sisters all work together. Critters will find it harder to invade your garden by interplanting your corn, beans and squash. The corn stalk serves as a pole for the beans, the beans help to add the nitrogen to the soil that the corn needs, and the squash provides a ground cover of shade that helps the soil retain moisture.

What is a Three Sisters Garden?  It is an ancient method of gardening using an intercropping system which grows corn, beans, and squash crops simultaneously in the same growing area that is typically a rounded mound of soil, often called a hill. Continue reading →

I love the prepackaged smoked turkey drumsticks I buy at WalMart and I found how to cook them fall-off-the-bone-tender. (See recipe below for light and lowfat collard greens with smoked turkey legs.)  First I Googled how to heat the Eddy’s smoked turkey drumsticks and got a lot of wrong answers.  Most said simply heat them up in the oven or microwave — that leaves them very, very tough.  I experimented to find how to heat them so they are tender. I found the juiciest way to cook them so they fall right off the bone. This applies also for the Frick’s Smoked Turkey Drums and Alexander & Hornung Smoked Turkey Legs.  I cooked them in the oven for years, but I now prefer cooking them on the stove — see directions below for both methods.    Continue reading →