Indoor Grilled Chicken, Low-Carb Style
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| Try Indoor Grilled Chicken, Low Carb at Its Best! (Photo by Ray Dehler) |
What do you normally think of when you picture Italian food? Probably not something that’s quick and easy to fix. Am I right? Most people think about homemade spaghetti, Lasagne, or an extra-large slice of pizza with all of the trimmings. While you can certainly find alternative ways to replace most of those carbs, with the holidays right around the corner, you’re going to need a few low-carb dinner ideas that are quick and simple. Here’s one of my favorites.
Marinate and Grill Your Chicken
Chicken makes an extremely economical low-carb meal. In my own area, we can get boneless, skinless chicken breasts at our local WalMart for less than $2 a pound. I do have to buy a family pack to get it at that price, but many times our small local grocery store runs special deals on Thursdays. Those deals are even cheaper. Sometimes, I can purchase chicken breast for as low as $1.79 a pound.
I don’t use the frozen type of breasts that come in a bag because I don’t know what they’re injected with. The bag simply calls it solution. With all of my food sensitivities, the word "solution" is scary, so I just avoid it, but you can certainly use that type of chicken to make this low-carb dish if you want. Make sure you pick up the plain variety though, or at least something that would blend well with lemon and Italian seasonings.
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| George Foreman Lean Machine for Fast Low-Carb Food (Photo by Ray Dehler) |
I absolutely love marinades. They make my life so much easier. Not only do they make the chicken tasty and tender, but when coupled with an indoor grill, they enable you to have dinner on the table in only a few minutes. My husband is extremely thankful for our George Foreman Lean Machine. Back before I started low-carbing, I was pretty much bedridden. The vertigo was so bad that most days I could hardly get out of bed. He suffered in silence through many “green beans baked over chicken” casserole meals – sometimes, almost every night. It was the easiest meal I could think of.
(Simply lay chicken legs in the bottom of a greased bake dish and top with one or two cans of green beans, water and all. Cover tightly with foil and bake. If I was somewhat coherent, I might sprinkle in a few chopped onions, tomatoes, and bacon.)
He doesn’t have to do that anymore, because an indoor grill is so versatile. Now he gets pork chops, hamburgers, steak, or chicken breast when I’m dizzy or not feeling well.
This low-carb chicken idea took birth during my hHCG days, but I’ve tweaked it to be far more healthy than it was then. Today, I’ve added extra-virgin olive oil to the marinade for some healthy fat and additional flavor. You can use any type of oil you like. When I don’t have extra-virgin olive oil, I use a little grapeseed oil. I don’t use popular oils such as canola because they all use corn-derived citric acid as a defoamer.
All I do is toss the marinade ingredients together in a bowl, pour it over the chicken, and let the chicken marinate all day. It would be the perfect choice when you’re going to be out Christmas shopping or spending the day carving or decorating pumpkins with the kids. I do slice my chicken breasts horizontally, though, so they look like the breasts that come frozen in a bag. That helps them to cook evenly. I get three slices out of each breast, so this recipe will make about nine cutlets. If you’re feeding a family, you can easily double the recipe if you need to.
If you can get your hands on an organic lemon, grating up some of the zest and adding it to the marinade will really intensify the lemon flavor. Since we live in a very small, urban community, they aren’t available here very often. You can also play around a little with the herbs. Some fresh, minced oregano, seasoned pepper, or one of Mrs. Dash’s unique seasoning blends would be nice.
If you happen to have any leftovers, simply tuck them into a baggie and take them to work with you the next day. They make a tasty, cold lunch, just as they are, but you could also chop or slice the leftovers and serve them over a nice salad.
Since this is one of my quick-and-easy low-carb dinner ideas, I generally serve it with a simple tossed salad made from organic romaine, some chopped red onions, and maybe a little minced hard-boiled eggs. When I have wax-free tomatoes, I toss some of them in there too. Since my husband prefers Thousand Island Dressing, I make my own. In addition, steamed vegetables are particularly easy. A mixture of organic broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots will steam in as little as 30 minutes. But since this main dish is so little work, you could also spend a little more time on a couple of fancier sides.
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| Indoor Grilled Chicken Makes Fast Low-Carb Diet Meal |
Grilled Italian Chicken, Low-Carb Style
Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of a fresh lemon
1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
sugar substitute to equal 2 tablespoons sugar
Method:
Slice your chicken breast horizontally into about three slices. The top slice will be shorter and smaller than the other two. Place the chicken pieces into a gallon zip-lock bag and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine all of the rest of the ingredients, and mix well. Pour the marinade into the bag, scraping the bowl with a spoon, so you get all of the Italian seasonings in there. Close the bag and squish everything around with your hands. You want the seasonings to be as evenly distributed over the chicken as you can get them. Allow the chicken to marinate all day, turning a couple of times if possible, but that isn’t absolutely necessary if you work outside the home.
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