Recipe - Oka-stuffed Chicken Breast with Maple Glaze

This is a delicious recipe I got out of a grocery store magazine. It's a bit of work, but VERY worth it. I served it with garlic roasted baby tri-colour potatoes and fresh from the garden carrots.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Spanish onion
225g oka cheese, rind removed, grated
1 Tbsp chopped, fresh thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 Tbsp Pure maple syrup
1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp butter

Steps:

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in large saute pan over med-high heat. Add onions and saute until well caramelized (about 15 min). Remove from pan and let cool completely. Measure out 1/2 c cooked onions and finely chop, set aside for sauce.

2. Combine cheese, remaining cooled onions and 1/2 tbsp thyme. Season lightly and mix well.

3. Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Lay chicken breasts, smooth side down, on a cutting board. Cut a pocket in each breast with a sharp knife. Divide cheese and onion filling evenly between pockets. Cover with chicken filet.

4. Heat remaining oil in same saute pan over med-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and sear until golden brown on each side. Place in a roasting pan and cook 30-35 min. Let rest 5 min.

5. Return skillet to med-high heat, pour maple syrup in pan. Stir in broth, remaining caramelized onions and thyme. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Remove pan from heat, add any juices from the chicken, and swirl in butter. Drizzle sauce over chicken and serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Per serving:

350 Calories
45g protein
15g fat
7g carbohydrate

Read more... Share

Label Reading 101

As a society, we are becoming more and more health conscious. More and more people are reading labels. But do you really know what to look for or how to decipher all those numbers? Here's what you need to know to make sense of labels...

In Canada, there are 13 nutrients that must be listed on a label, as well as the Calories and serving size. Let's start at the top...

Serving size: this can be tricky... Serving sizes on nutrition panels are not always a "usual" serving amount. The label may gives nutrition info for 1/2 cup of cereal, but most of us eat at least 1 cup of cereal at a sitting. Remember to do the math. Also, these serving sizes are not always equal to a Canada Food Guide serving. So a "recommended serving" from the manufacturer may be a lot more than Canada Food Guide recommends for portion size.

Calories: Usually the first thing people look at - but not always most important. Where the Calories are coming from are of more importance. The rest of the label and the ingredient list will give you that information.

Fat: The first fat listed is total fat. Total fat is made up of saturated, trans, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Only saturated and trans (the "bad" fats) need to be labelled. A high fat content is not always bad. If the majority of fat is coming from the unsaturated fats, a small portion is good for you. To find out the amount of these "good" fats, use this equation:

Total fat - (saturated fat + trans fat) = unsaturated fat

Cholesterol: Comes from animal products, and is only a big issue if you have high cholesterol or heart problems. Most of our cholesterol is made in the body, and dietary cholesterol only affects it minimally. Saturated and trans fat contribute more to high cholesterol levels.

Sodium: We all get way too much sodium in our diets... the less the better. Try to stick to foods with less than 400mg of sodium per serving.

Carbohydrate: made up of fiber, starch and sugar. Look for items with more than 4g of fiber per serving, and less than 8g of sugar per serving.

Protein: the building blocks for the body.... but more is not always better.

Percent Daily Value: this number shows how much of a certain nutrient a serving gives you, based on a 2000 Calorie diet. It's just another way of listing the nutritional value to put milligrams of a nutrient into a more real world perspective. It gives you an idea of the amount of nutrition that food provides you.

I'll delve more into labels and how to decode the ingredient list on a future post.

Read more... Share

Vitamin D

First off, I apologize for not posting as much... my internship has me insanely busy. But, I will try to post when I can for my fellow nutrition keeners.

Vitamin D is a hot topic in nutrition these days. Vitamin D helps with absorption of calcium and phosphorus, and maintaining blood levels of calcium, which is important for healthy bones, teeth, and cartilage. However, recent research is indicating that vitamin D may play an even greater health role by helping to prevent against high blood pressure, cancer, and some autoimmune diseases. High doses of vitamin D are now routinely used to help reduce symptoms of MS.

There are two types of vitamin D, one's found in food, and the other is made in the body when our skin is exposed to sunlight. Both these types are then "activated" in the liver and kidneys.

Deficiency in North America is rare due to the fact that some of our dairy foods, such as milk, have vitamin D added. However, in many parts of the world (Canada included), we don't get enough sun to produce all the vitamin D we need year round.

Good food sources of vitamin D are:

• Egg yolks


• Mackerel


• Salmon


• Sardines


• Tuna


• Fortified Milk (all milk in Canada)


• SOME yogurts (check the label)

The current recommended intake for vitamin D is 200IU for adults, and 400IU for adults over 50 years of age. However, although most health professionals now agree that this amount is too small, there is a lot of disagreement over what the recommended amount should be.

Fortunately, summer is the best time of year for vitamin D, so get outside and make some!!

Read more... Share

Malnutrition Has Two Sides

Read more... Share