13 August 2011

Italian Dressing

Italian dressing is one of my favorite cooking tools to keep things flavorful and healthy.  I can attribute this love to my Grandmother who raised me on Ken's Steak House Italian dressing in salads each weekend.

Now that I am a little bit more calorie conscious I partake in Kraft Zesty Fat Free Italian dressing which as far as I can tell is the lowest calorie dressing that is easy to find in your local grocery store.  I bet health food stores have a healthier version with some more calories that would be worth the switch if I had a health food store in my area.  Suggestions are welcome.

My husband likes to use Italian dressing as a chicken marinade from time to time and it keeps the chicken nice and moist through the cooking process.  We often skip this step though when we are making one of our usual dishes.

First line a baking pan with tin foil to keep things neat and clean.

Then add boneless skinless chicken breasts (fresh or frozen work) in the center of the pan.  Using the white meat saves on calories, and we like to take it a step further and use organic chicken.  If you are budget conscious Walmart carries frozen organic chicken for a great price and it tastes just as good as fresh to us!

Then add lots of vegetables all around.  We use this recipe to use up leftover vegetables all the time.  Our typical meal would have onions, bell peppers (we like red, green, orange and yellow!  I buy what is fresh), a hot pepper or jarred jalapenos, grape tomatoes, yellow squash, mushrooms and zucchini.  You can mix it up however you like.

Then splash on some Italian dressing and throw in a little bit of cheap white wine if you have it around.  Use enough that there is some liquid on the bottom of the pan, but not too much.

Throw it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit with a kitchen thermometer and cook until 170 degrees Fahrenheit.  VOILA ... healthy dinner.

This is so quick and easy and tasty too.

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