Chicken Scampi

Chicken Scampi

I'm starting to get real creative with the sauces I use because, quite frankly, there aren't a whole lot of sauces available to those on the SCD. But a scampi sauce is basically verbatim SCD, and seeing that I'm WAY to poor to afford shrimp, I decided to make this recipe my own and use chicken instead. So here it is, the poor man's chicken scampi.








Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breasts
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. red pepper (cayenne pepper)
1/4 cup dry white wine (SCD approved)
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1-2 Tbs. parsley

Instructions:

Chop the chicken breasts into strips, roughly finger width. Heat a medium frying or sauté pan to high heat. Lower to medium-high heat and add in the butter and olive oil. Once the butter begins to foam, add the red pepper, the chicken strips, and the dry white wine, in that order. Cook until the chicken is tender and white on the inside, about 5-7 minutes each side. In the last minute of cook time, add the lemon juice to the pan and stir. Remove from heat and top with parsley.

Notes:

*If you're not sure what a dry white wine is, don't worry, I didn't know either. It's where there is less than 5 gm of sugar per liter. The safest bet is to find a wine that, under the nutrition facts, says "Sugars 0g" as well as "Total Carbohydrates 0g". Dry white wines are generally available in local grocery stores.
*The if you add the wine before the chicken, it will boil all over the place and make a huge mess. So make sure you do that step in the correct order: chicken first, then white wine.
*For those of you who are curious, the far majority of the alcohol in the wine does cook out. Just trust the chemist in me on this one.
*A traditional scampi recipe calls for garlic. If you wanna add some, add 3-4 cloves, minced, and sauté it with the red pepper for a minute, or until the edges begin to brown. Then add the chicken and the wine after. I never add garlic because I never have it on hand. (That or I'm too lazy to chop it up...)
*You should have everything on hand normally, which makes this a easy meal to make last minute. The wine keeps well, so I suggest you invest in a bottle and always have it on hand. Same goes for lemon juice. Most health stores sell NFC lemon juice. Worth the investment, I promise.

Salsa Pork

Salsa Pork with Sautéed Mushrooms and Cheese

This recipe is as old as time itself. I'm sure cavemen were like, "Hey, what do I do with this pig? Eh, just cook it up and throw some salsa on top." I first found this recipe in high school and has always been a favorite of mine. Enjoy my slight variation on the infamous Portabella Pork recipe!








Ingredients:

4 pork loin chops
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups salsa
1 cup cubed mushrooms (5-6 medium mushrooms)
2 Tbs. honey

Instructions:

Grease a medium frying pan with a little butter or oil. Cook the pork chops for 12 minutes on medium high, uncovered. During that time, cube mushrooms and grate cheese (if not already done). Flip pork, add salsa to the top, lower the heat to medium, and cook for another 10 minutes, covered. Sauté mushrooms in a separate frying pan during this time.  Remove pork and strain out salsa from the pan, adding it back to the pork. Top with honey, then the mushrooms, and finally the cheese.

Notes:

*When you cook the pork, a lot of liquid will collect in the pan. That's fine. That's why you strain out and re-add the salsa at the end.
*I personally sauté my mushrooms in a little oil or butter.
*The original recipe calls for one portabella mushroom, it doesn't matter what kind of mushroom you use. In fact, if you don't like mushrooms, don't use them.
*SCD salsa is pretty easy to find. Most grocery stores carry at least one brand of salsa that's sugar free. Look next to the cheese or in the "fresh made" areas of the produce section. If it doesn't need to be refrigerated, it probably isn't SCD legal.
*The thinner the pork, the shorter it'll take to cook. If you're using thick pork (thicker than two finger widths), add an extra 5 minutes to both cook times. If more time is needed, take more time on the second half.

Pecan Coated Salmon

Well, it's only half way through the pay period and already I'm running low on food and money. So what do I do? I improvise! So I gathered up some salmon, did some research online, and came up with this creation. Let's just say I was shocked on how good it was.

Ingredients:

4 (4-6 oz.) salmon filets
3 Tbs. melted butter
3 Tbs. warm honey
1 handful pecans, crushed

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place salmon filets in a tight cooking dish. Mix the butter and the honey together until it's of an even consistency. Pour on top of salmon. Sprinkle crushed pecans on top of the salmon. Cook for 15-18 minutes, or until it begins to flake.

Notes:

*A tight cooking dish prevents all your honey butter from falling off the salmon and onto the cooking dish, where it doesn't do your salmon a whole lot of good.
*4 oz. is about the size of your fist. 6 oz. is about the size of an iPhone. that should give you a sense of how big they should be. Granted, try not to make them too thick. Keep them between two to three fingers thick (I'm not going to expect you to pull out a ruler for this, just keep in the medium range).
*Flake means the flakes of fish pull apart easily from each other without sticking together. You don't want it rubbery; that's overcooked.