I’m not going to start another lecture on healthy eating, what to eat and what not to eat, blah blah blah. There are plenty of articles about this on the web. Staying healthy and fit doesn’t mean just eating vegetables and fruits. I know how hard it is not to respond to the tantalizing calls of pizza, burgers, or other spicy, cheesy foods. And for what? Because you want to keep your waist trimmed forever. And that can never happen if you keep your taste buds happy. So eliminate animal protein from your diet. For real? That’s what you think?
Losing pounds doesn’t mean eating less, it means eating foods or meals with fewer calories. If you’re following a diet plan that cuts out everything you love to eat, that doesn’t sound good. Heed my words, you cannot follow this meal plan for long. Here are some low calorie chicken recipes that will help you stay on track of healthy eating and delight your taste buds.
Baked Chicken Thighs:
(4 servings)
Ingredients –
Chicken drumsticks 4.
Onion paste a teaspoon.
Ginger Garlic Paste a teaspoon.
Ground black pepper.
Oregano.
Salt to taste.
vegetable oil.
directions –
First, marinate the chicken drumsticks with lemon juice, onion paste, ginger garlic paste and salt to taste. Now let it stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Grease a baking tin with oil and spread the drumsticks on it. Brush each of them with a little oil. Finish with a sprinkling of crushed black pepper and oregano.
Bake 30 minutes. Turn the sides and bake for another 20 minutes.
Enjoy the juicy pieces of chicken thighs sprinkled with exotic herbs.
Chicken cooked with onions, peppers and mushrooms:
(3 servings)
Ingredients –
Boneless Chicken Chunks 14 (I prefer the thigh pieces. They’re delicious and take less time to cook.)
Mushrooms (either canned or fresh from the market)
A large onion (finely chopped)
5 garlic cloves (chopped)
Ginger paste half teaspoon
lemon juice a teaspoon
Red, green and yellow peppers (cut into small pieces)
Ground black pepper
1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
coriander leaves
directions –
1) Marinate chicken pieces with lemon juice and salt. Set it aside for about 30 minutes.
2) Cut the mushrooms into small or medium sized pieces as you prefer. I prefer my mushrooms in medium-thin slices.
3) After 30 minutes, heat the oil in a pan. Add the ginger and garlic, sauté until they turn brown.
4) Now add green chilies, onions and peppers. Fry for 6-7 minutes. Let her sweat a little.
5) After that, put the mushroom pieces in the pan and add salt and black pepper. Cook for another 4 minutes.
6) After 3-4 minutes add the chicken pieces and mix well. Put the lid on the pan and cook for another 10 minutes.
7) After 10 minutes, turn off the flame, open the lid and enjoy the delicious aroma of cooked chicken and mushrooms together.
And now it’s time to serve it. You can garnish the dish with freshly chopped coriander leaves or parsley.
Lemon chicken:
(3-4 servings)
Ingredients –
A whole chicken breast
lemon juice (half a large lemon)
A chopped onion
5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
Ginger paste in relation to garlic
Green chili chopped or paste
Half a teaspoon of turmeric powder
Half a teaspoon of red chilli powder
Black pepper powder
Salt to taste
Half a tablespoon of vegetable oil
directions –
1) In a mixing bowl, take all the ingredients except the chicken and make a mixture.
2) Rub this mixture very well over the chicken breasts. And marinate for 1-2 hours. You can also leave it overnight if you want.
3) Now preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. And grill the chicken breast for 20 minutes. Turn the side and grill for another 30 minutes.
Before you put the chicken breasts in the oven, don’t forget to brush some vegetable oil over the chicken.
If you want to fry the chicken,
1) Cut the chicken breasts into small pieces (about 15-20 pieces).
2) Marinate chicken pieces. The process is the same as grilling.
3) In a pan, heat 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil and sauté the chicken pieces until brown.
If you are that health conscious and don’t even want to eat 200-300 calories, then check out this boiled chicken recipe.
(3-4 servings)
Ingredients –
A whole chicken breast
A large onion cut into large pieces
6-8 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2-3 inches ginger, chopped
A carrot cut into large pieces
Two celery stalks, cut into pieces
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder
vegetable oil
directions –
1) Pour water into a large pan and add onions, garlic, ginger, carrots and celery. Sprinkle salt, black pepper powder and oil on top. Place on heat for 1 minute.
2) After 1 minute, when a few water bubbles come out, add the chicken breasts to the water. Cover the pan lid and cook the chicken for about 40-50 minutes. You can add more water if needed.
3) How do you know when the chicken is done? If you see the meat falling off the bone, the chicken is sure to be ready to eat.
4) Now remove the chicken breast from the broth, discard the bones and cut into pieces.
All of these delicious chicken recipes are low in calories, easy to make and taste amazing. They will never interfere with your weight loss regime. So, bon appetit!
Thanks to Oindrila Bhattacharyya
