Takeout Makeover: General Tso's Chicken

General Tso's Chicken is a popular Americanized Chinese take out dish that is super delicious and also super terrible for you. Battered and fried chunks of chicken thighs are tossed with a spicy and sweet sauce and usually served over white rice. I have always loved this tasty dish, but avoided it because of the high calorie, fat and sodium content. It seemed this was the perfect recipe for my next takeout makeover. Instead of deep frying dark meat, I baked some lean chicken breast and topped it with my own sauce, which is light on the sugar and sodium, while packing quite a spicy punch. I put this dish together in 20 minutes, so it's fast and easy for a weeknight. I apologize for the lack of step by step photos - my camera battery died while I was cooking this. The best part, one serving of this dish has only 236 calories! Pair it with some steamed broccoli and brown rice and you have a healthy and filling dinner.

Read more for the full recipe!
Read more »

My Photo is on GourmetLive!!

Hey guys, I just wanted to share some exciting news. My stuffed squash photo was chosen as the photo of the day at the Gourmet website! I am so honored.

Check it out and don't forget to leave a comment!

GourmetLive Image of the Day

Edamame Guacamole

I LOVE guacamole. I love it so much I can't stop myself from eating all of it whenever I make any. Now, despite the fact that avocados are filled with healthy oils and great for your hair and nails, they are unfortunately filled with calories. Pair the guac with some salty and carb filled tortilla chips and you are looking at a pretty high calorie snack that provides little in the way of protein and fiber.

So, I decided it was time to devise a new way to enjoy the amazing deliciousness of guacamole. Enter edamame. As many of you know, edamame, a popular snack in Japan, is an incredible superfood. Filled with folic acid, potassium, vitamin C, iron, vitamin A, it is incredibly nutritious and filling. A one half cup serving has 9 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein in only 120 calories. A serving of edamame has as much iron as a chicken breast! Such a nutritional powerhouse is the perfect thing to add to guacamole to increase the nutrients while making one of my favorite treats a little healthier.

So try this as a snack or appetizer with some fresh cut veggies. I dipped radishes, pepper, carrots and cucumbers and it made for such a creamy and tasty veggie dip. Whole grain chips and crackers are also great dipping options. As a comparison, I calculated the nutrition info in my tradition guacamole recipe, which has 250 calories, 3 grams of protein, and 22 grams of fat per serving. My new edamame guacamole has 110 calories, 6.8 grams of protein and 6 grams of fat per serving. If you're a guacamole lover, you must try this soon!

Read more »

Radish Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing

This weekend at the farmer's market I picked up a watermelon radish. It is a large, round radish that has a pink center and a green skin. I was so excited by this find, I decided to design a salad around it. This simple salad takes five minutes to throw together and is incredibly crunchy and filling. It's also packed with healthy cruciferous veggies like kale and bok choy and gets it's intense flavor from the radishes themselves and a very simple, light dressing. You can create this with any type of radish, but whatever variety you choose, I recommend slicing as thinly as possible.

Recipe after the jump.
Read more »