15-Minute Healthy Sauteed Chicken & Asparagus - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

Today's Recipe If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

The chicken and asparagus combination in this recipe is a wonderful addition to your Healthiest Way of Eating. It not only tastes great but contains just 275 calories!

15-Minute Healthy Sautéed Chicken & Asparagus

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced medium thick
• 3 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 TBS chicken broth
• 1 TBS minced fresh ginger
• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups when cut)
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS rice vinegar
• pinch red chili flakes
• salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut onion and mince garlic and let both sit for at least 5 minutes to bring out their hidden health benefits.
2. Heat 1 TBS broth in a 12-inch stainless steel skillet. Healthy Sauté onion in broth for about 2 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
3. Add ginger, garlic, chicken, and continue to Healthy Sauté for another 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Add asparagus, soy sauce, vinegar, and red chili flakes. Stir together and cover. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. This may have to cook for an extra couple minutes if the asparagus is thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2

Serving Suggestion:

• Brown rice
• Cucumber, Seaweed Salad

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In-Depth Nutritional Profile for 15-Minute Healthy Sautéed Chicken & Asparagus

Healthy Food Tip

What is the difference between heme and non-heme iron?

Plant foods are definitely different from animal foods when it comes to their iron content. In animal foods, iron is often attached to proteins called heme proteins, and referred to as heme iron. In plant foods, iron is not attached to heme proteins and is classified as non-heme iron. Heme iron is typically absorbed at a rate of 7-35%. Non-heme iron is typically absorbed at a rate of 2-20%.

You can see that even though there is better overall absorption of heme iron, there is also a fairly large range for absorption regardless of the iron form involved. This absorption range is large because iron absorption is influenced by many different factors. For example, our bodies absorb more iron when we are iron deficient, and they cut back on iron absorption when plenty of iron is already available. Dietary factors are among the many factors that affect iron absorption. However, dietary factors appear to play a greater role in non-heme iron absorption from plant foods than they do in heme iron absorption from animal foods.

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