Healthied-Up Marry Me Chicken

 I've seen "Marry Me" recipes all over the internet lately, either vegetarian ones for beans or meat ones with chicken.  They are the best blend of creamy, hearty & spicy - soooo good, and even better the second day as leftovers.  But, they usually include a whole lotta heavy cream in them, which adds a lot of fat and calories to what would otherwise be a very healthy dish.  So, I found this recipe that replaces a lot of the cream with cottage cheese, which not only gives it a nice creamy flavor with a lot fewer calories & fat, but adds a protein punch as well.  I mixed that with almond milk creamer for a really nice nutty taste and the result was a hearty dish that doesn't make me feel like I ate a stick of butter afterwards.  

I've been slow to come to the recent cottage cheese-in-everything fad because I have less-than-fond memories of being forced to eat it as a kid (ewwww).  But, once you throw a hand blender in it to improve the texture and mix it with enough other stuff, you don't taste the sourness of the cottage cheese.  This surprised me with how well it came out and I'll be experimenting with more cottage cheese in things.  (I can see a protein pasta / cottage cheese ziti a la vodka in my future!). 

The original recipe called for only 4 pieces of chicken but I found myself with a pretty high sauce to chicken ratio, so I added in some maple flavored chicken breakfast sausage as a game time decision and that added an interesting bit of sweetness to go with the spicy.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium chicken thighs boneless, skinless (you can do this with breast tenders too)
• 8 patties or links chicken breakfast sausage, browned & sliced into chunks
• ½ cup cottage cheese
• ¼ cup unsweetened almondmilk creamer - if that is hard to find, fat free half & half also works
• ⅔ cup chicken bone broth
• 1.5 tablespoons all-purpose/plain flour
• 7 sundried tomatoes drained, chopped, approx. ½ cup
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (This is a heckuva lot of red pepper.  It was pretty spicy - I might go a little lighter on this next time I make it)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or sundried tomato oil
• Small bunch basil
• Salt & pepper to taste

▢Sea ▢

INSTRUCTIONS

• Prepare chicken: Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper on both sides and set aside.  If you're using full chicken breasts pound them thinner.  
• Prepare thickening mixture: Puree the cottage cheese with creamer until smooth. Whisk in the flour and set aside.
• Sear chicken: In a large skillet/frying pan heat 1½ tablespoons of oil, add the chicken thighs and cook over a medium heat for about 4 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Transfer to a bowl (leaving the juices and oil in the pan).  Brown the breakfast sausage links or patties, cut into bite sized chunks.
• Add sun-dried tomatoes: To the same pan add the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, dried herbs and pepper flakes and cook over a medium/low heat for about 1½-2 minutes stirring all the time (add ½ tablespoon of oil if needed).
• Make sauce: Add the chicken stock and immediately whisk in the cottage cheese mixture.
• Assemble: Add the chicken (along with the juices), stir, cover, bring to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked (be careful not to overcook it).

  TIP: Cooking times will vary depending on the thickness of the chicken.
• Serve: Remove from the heat and scatter finely chopped basil leaves over the top. Serve.

Nutritional Information:

Serves 6

280 Calories

14g fat

6g carbs

1g fiber

31g protein