Flat Belly Diet - Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Another super easy and super yummy meal. The salsa, which I adapted a bit, reminded me a lot of the Almost Guacamole I made earlier in the year (check it out here!). While Liesl picked out the onions, both kids cleaned their plates, so I call that a successful dinner :) The MUFA in this meal is the avocado.

Lime-Marinated Chicken with Salsa

Adapted from Prevention Magazine 

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 tbsp lime juice 2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 med tomatoes, chopped
1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1/2 C chopped sweet onion, such as vidalia (I used a red onion because it's what I had on hand and I like the bite of the red onion)
1/2 C chopped cilantro

Put chicken into large zip top plastic bag.
In small bowl, whisk lime juice, oil, cumin, and salt. Transfer 2 tablespoons of lime marinade to medium glass bowl for the salsa, and cover with plastic wrap. Pour remaining marinade over chicken and squeeze bag to coat. Let chicken marinate in refrigerator at least 1 hour.
Coat grill rack or broiler pan with cooking spray. Preheat grill (to medium high) or broiler. Grill or broil marinated chicken 6 1/2 minutes on each side or until a thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 160ºF and juices run clear.
While chicken cooks, add tomatoes, avocado, onion and cilantro to bowl with reserved marinade. Gently toss to mix, and season to taste with salt.
To serve, place chicken onto 4 plates and top each with 3/4 cup salsa.

Eating My Way Through Athens

The hubs and I took a trip back in time last weekend and returned to Ohio University, our alma mater, for Homecoming. Besides having an amazing time reminiscing and being with our best friends, we ate ourselves silly, indulging in some of our campus favorites. Albeit, this wasn't the best weekend for eating clean, but it was sooo worth it!

Some of the highlights:

Goodfella's Pizza--at $2 a slice, it's the perfect snack food and tastes even better the later at night it is, especially after a "few" drinks :)



 

Bagel Street Deli--best sandwich ever IMHO. My favorite is the Chixadelic, which is chix salad, provolone, cukes, sprouts and honey mustard on an everything bagel, toasted in a paninni press until ooey-gooey perfection. 

Insomnia cookies--new to campus, so I never had the chance to enjoy this goodness. And they were.pure.goodness.

Flat Belly Diet - Guilt-Free Fries

Guilt-Free Fries

1 large sweet potato and 1 large russet baking potato (1 1/2 pounds total), peeled and sliced into thin strips
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 450°F.
In a bowl, toss together the potatoes, oil, chili powder, garlic powder, and cumin. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Halfway through, turn the fries over and continue baking.
Remove the fries from the oven and place them on several layers of paper towels. Sprinkle with the salt.

Flat Belly Diet - Balsamic Flank Steak

Now this is what a "diet" should taste like! This meal was sooooo yummy! The recipe calls for the meat to marinade for a minimum of one hour, but I highly recommend marinading it at least overnight, if not 24 hours. Flank steak is a tougher cut of the meet and the longer you can let it sit in the marinade, the more tender and better flavored it will turn out. I served the steak with guilt-free fries (see tomorrow's post for that recipe!) and a simple ranch chopped salad from Dole.

Basic Balsamic Flank Steak

1 whole flank steak (1 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil

Poke the meat with a fork to help the marinade penetrate. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large resealable bag. Drop the steak into the bag, seal, and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 24 hours. 

Preheat a grill to medium for direct heat. Remove the meat from the bag, reserving the marinade. Grill the meat for 6 to 8 minutes per side or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 145°F for medium rare. In a small saucepan, boil the reserved marinade for 5 minutes. 

Slice the meat diagonally across the grain in thin slices and drizzle with the marinade. Divide evenly onto 4 plates.

Flat Belly Diet - Chicken Roulade

This is another recipe from the Flat Belly Diet that was delish! The kids even chowed down! It would also make a great dinner party dish. It looks pretty plated up, yet is so easy! One serving equals under 400 calories, so it not only looks good and tastes good, it's good for you!

Chicken Roulade
Adapted from Prevention.com
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/3 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped tomatoes
1 package frozen spinach
4 chicken breasts (about 4 ounces each), trimmed 

In a medium nonstick skillet, combine the tomato, onion, 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, red-pepper flakes, and 1 tablespoon water. Turn the heat to medium. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the onion sizzles. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook, stirring once, for about 3 minutes, or until softened. Add in spinach and parm cheese and let simmer on low.
While you prepare the spinach mixture, grill the chicken until done. Serve the grilled chicken breasts with the spinach mixture on top, sprinkled with more parm cheese if you like.
 

Flat-Belly Diet - Cheesy Spinach Ziti

As I've mentioned before, the hubs and I did the Flat-Belly Diet 4-day cleanse several weeks ago. And while I'm not diving into the diet hardcore, I've picked out several recipes from the Flat-Belly Diet book to try and share with you. The basic gist of the diet is to eat four 400-calorie meals and include at least one MUFA (monounsaturated fat) in each meal. For example, the MUFA for this meal is the EVOO. I like the idea of incorporating a MUFA in each meal, which we do for most meals anyway!

Anyway, the cheesy spinach ziti was just okay. It came out a little dry but still had good flavor.


Cheesy Spinach Ziti
1/4 cup whole wheat penne
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup nonfat ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons shredded italian four-cheese blend
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
2 tablespoons onions, sliced
1/2 cup newman's own marinara pasta sauce (I left out the marinara but prob should have used it to make the dish less dry)

Cook the pasta according to package directions, then toss with all remaining ingredients.

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