Healthy Italian

I love Italian food. Pasta, sauce and cheese and lots of garlic -- it's amore. (Yes, I also love sushi, mexican food and -- well-- food in general, but that's beside the point).

Last week, I gave Hungry Girl a break and busted out my Biggest Loser Family Cookbook (as mentioned in my last blog, this is the square, green cookbook that's available everywhere). Inside, is this wonderful recipe for Grilled Chicken Parmesan. Yes, I said GRILLED. (Bring in the BBQ, guys!)

The recipe calls for four 4oz. chicken breasts (or 2 really big ones, cut in half). I always trim the extra fat off of them to make them leaner. Lightly spray the chicken with olive oil cooking spray, rub a little salt and pepper on each side of the chicken breasts, and grill. NOTE: Don't grill until it's about 95% done -- not raw, but about 1 minute away from grilling to well done. (The chicken also bakes for a few minutes, so you don't want it to dry out).

With the oven already preheated to 350º, top your chicken with 2 T of light marinara sauce. (I usually use Ragu Marinara with roasted red pepper -- or some other low sodium sauce) and a 1/4 of a deli slice of reduced fat mozzerella and a shake (about 1 tsp.) of parmesan. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the chicken completely cooked.

I happened to pair this meal with some fresh green beans and carrots, sauteed with some tomato, garlic, lemon zest, salt, pepper and oilve oil. I lightly drizzled it with balsamic vinaigrette. It was very fresh and light and an easy way to squeeze in a couple servings of vegetables. It also made a nice complement to the entree in lieu of a plate full of pasta.

So, Biggest Loser Fans (you know who you are ...) for those of you who have not picked up this cookbook, it's a GREAT resource to create proper portion sizes, cook balanced meals, and even find healthy alternatives to things like .... nachos, pizza, breakfast sandwiches, desserts and MORE. Yes, even healthier than some of the Hungry Girl approaches. But I best not say too much ... I'll save that for another blog.

Until then, Buon Appetito!