Broiled Rosemary Chicken over Pureed Lentils and Swiss Chard - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe

Today's Recipe If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
This is a complete meal that is highly nutritious and delicious. It is a great meal to prepare when you have company and want to make something special.

Broiled Rosemary Chicken over Puréed Lentils and Swiss Chard
Prep and Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:

• 3 boneless chicken breasts (6 oz each)
• 2 cups or 1 15 oz can (BPA free) lentils, drained
• 1 bunch Swiss chard
• 1 medium -sized onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-1/2 cups crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 3 TBS vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 TBS + 3 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 1-1/2 TBS chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 tsp dried)
• 2 cloves pressed garlic
• 2 TBS + 1 TBS olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the broiler on high and place an all stainless steel skillet (be sure the handle is also stainless steel) or cast iron pan about 6 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes to get it very hot.
2. While the pan is heating, rinse and pat the chicken dry and season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
3. Leaving the skin on, place the breast skin side up on the hot pan and return it to the oven. It is not necessary to turn the breast because it is cooking on both sides at once. Depending on the size, it should be cooked in about 7 minutes. Remove the skin before serving; it is left on to keep it moist while broiling. The breast is done when it is moist, yet its liquid runs clear when pierced. The inside temperature needs to reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74° Celcius).
4. While chicken is broiling, bring pot of water large enough to cook the chard to a boil.
5. Chop chard.
6. Chop onion, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, and sage and then Healthy Sauté them in medium sauté pan over medium-low heat for just about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add lentils, walnuts and 3 TBS broth and heat through.
7. Purée mixture in blender or food processor with salt and pepper to taste. You will have to scrape sides of blender with a rubber spatula a few times.
8. When water has come to a boil, add chard and boil for 3 minutes.
9. Drain chard and toss with 2 TBS olive oil and 1 TBS lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
10. Place 3 TBS lemon juice, pressed garlic, chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper in small sauté pan and heat on stove for a minute. Turn off heat and whisk in 1 TBS olive oil.
11. Remove skin from chicken, slice into thirds, and serve with puréed lentils and chard. Drizzle rosemary lemon broth over chicken and lentils. Serve.

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In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Broiled Rosemary Chicken over Puréed Lentils and Swiss Chard
Healthy Food Tip

The Latest News About Swiss Chard

What's New and Beneficial About Swiss Chard

Although Swiss chard has not been studied as extensively as other chenopod vegetables (like beets and spinach), there's no question about the valuable role that chard can play in support of our health, or about its routine inclusion in healthy diets worldwide. The amazing variety of phytonutrients in chard is quickly recognizable in its vibrant colors, including the rich, dark greens in its leaves and the rainbow of reds, purples, and yellows in its stalks and veins. Virtually all of these phytonutrients provide antioxidant benefits, anti-inflammatory benefits, or both. In addition, many provide health benefits that are more specific and of special important to particular body systems. Best researched in this area are phytonutrient benefits provided by chard for our body's blood sugar-regulating system.

• We've become accustomed to thinking about vegetables as great sources of phytonutrients. Indeed they are! But we don't always appreciate how unique each vegetable can be in terms of its phytonutrient content. Recent research has shown that chard leaves contain at least 13 different polyphenol antioxidants, including kaempferol, the cardioprotective flavonoid that's also found in broccoli, kale, strawberries, and other foods. But alongside of kaempferol, one of the primary flavonoids found in the leaves of chard is a flavonoid called syringic acid. Syringic acid has received special attention in recent research due to its blood sugar regulating properties. This flavonoid has been shown to inhibit activity of an enzyme called alpha-glucosidase. When this enzyme gets inhibited, fewer carbs are broken down into simple sugars and blood sugar is able to stay more steady. It makes sense to think about chard as a vegetable whose flavonoid phytonutrients are unique and may offer special benefits for blood sugar control.
• Like beets, chard is a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains. In the betalain family are found reddish-purple betacyanin pigments as well as yellowish betaxanthin pigments. Both types can be found in chard! In the reddish-purple stems of chard and the reddish-purple veins in the leaves, scientists have identified at least 9 betacyanin pigments, including betanin, isobetanin, betanidin, and isobetanidin. In the yellowish stems and veins, at least 19 betaxanthin pigments have been identified, including histamine-betaxanthin, alanine−betaxanthin, tyramine-betaxanthin, and 3-methoxytyramine−betaxanthin. Many of the betalain pigments in chard have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support. The detox support provided by betalains includes support of some especially important Phase 2 detox steps involving glutathione. So you can see that in the case of chard, beauty is f ar from just skin deep!

WHFoods Recommendations

Swiss chard is not only one of the most popular vegetables along the Mediterranean but it is one of the most nutritious vegetables around and ranks second only to spinach following our analysis of the total nutrient-richness of the World's Healthiest vegetables. It is also one of only three vegetables that we recommend boiling to help reduce its concentration of oxalic acid. Slice leaves 1-inch wide and the stems ½-inch wide and boil for just 3 minutes. We only recommend eating the stems of varieties with white stems; colored stems are very tough. For more on the Healthiest Way of Cooking Swiss Chard, see 3-Minute Swiss Chard.
Foods belonging to the chenopod family-including beets, chard, spinach, and quinoa-continue to show an increasing number of health benefits not readily available from other food families. The red and yellow betalain pigments found in this food family, their unique epoxyxanthophyll carotenoids, and the special connection between their overall phytonutrients and our nervous system health (including our specialized nervous system organs like the eye) point to the chenopod family of foods as unique in their health value. While we have yet to see large-scale human studies that point to a recommended minimum intake level for foods from this botanical family, we have seen data on chenopod phytonutrients, and based on this data, we recommend that you include foods from the chenopod family in your diet 1-2 times per week. In the case of a leafy food like Swiss chard, we recommend a serving size of at least ½ cup, and even more beneficial, at least one full cup.

Health Benefits

Swiss chard provides numerous health benefits including:

• Blood sugar regulation
• Antioxidant properties
• Anti-inflammatory properties
• Bone health support

For more details on Swiss chard's health benefits, see this section of our Swiss chard write-up.

Nutritional Profile

Swiss chard is an excellent source of bone-building vitamin K, manganese, and magnesium; antioxidant vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E; heart-healthy potassium and dietary fiber; and energy-producing iron. It is a very good source of bone-healthy copper and calcium; energy-producing vitamin B2 and vitamin B6; and muscle-building protein. In addition, Swiss chard is a good source of energy-producing phosphorus, vitamin B1, vitamin B5, biotin, and niacin; immune supportive zinc; and heart-healthy folate.
For more on this nutrient-rich vegetable, including references related to this Latest News, see our write-up on Swiss chard.