On January 1, 2010 I started a new diet. For the next 90 days I will be eating the majority of my meals at home, my alcohol intake will be nil (I am actually giving up the sauce for the month of January) and I will be working out like a fiend.
The plan that I have signed up for gives some pretty well thought guidelines around what to eat and when. The recipes are great, but of course following recipes is not my thing so I make them up as I go along.
The P90X nutrition book (P90X is the program that I have started) provides you with the basics you need to know to get started and also offer up daily menus. What I have been doing is following the snack portion of the book, but altering breakfast, lunch and dinner so that my meals follow similar protein, calorie and carbohydrate intakes.
Couscous is on my "allowed to have" carb list and so is turkey, shrimp and chicken. Right before I left to come home from the East Coast my mother made a delicious jambalaya with rice, shrimp, chicken and kielbasa. I wanted to try my hand at a similar dish, but a little more healthy using couscous instead of rice and virtually fat free turkey kielbasa instead of the traditional. The result was rather tasty and provided me with some tasty leftovers to much on for the rest of the week.
Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cup onion
- 3/4 cup carrots
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1/2 tbsp of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp ancho chili pepper (or regular chili powder)
- 1/4 tsp of saffron (or tumeric if you do not have saffron)
- 1 8 oz. chicken breast
- 1/4 lb - 1/3 lb of turkey kielbasa
- 1/2 lb of peeled shrimp, uncooked with tail on
- 2 cups crushed tomatoesFor the couscous
- 2 cups couscous
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth or 1 1/4 cup chicken broth and 1 1/4 cup fish stock
Heat the olive oil in large saute pan or short sided stock pot. Add in the garlic and saute over medium heat for about a minute or two being sure not to burn. Add in the onions and carrots and saute until cooked through. Season the pot with the salt, pepper, cumin, chili pepper and saffron and stir well.
Add in the chicken and cook until lightly brown on all sides. Place the kielbasa and tomatoes into the pot and once the mixture is simmering add in the shrimp. Turn to low heat cover and let cook. Once the shrimp is cooked through (it will be pink). Remove from the flame and let set covered on the stovetop while the couscous cooks.
To make the couscous bring the chicken stock (or mixture of chicken and fish stock) to a boil. Once boiling add in the couscous, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let sit for five minutes. When ready add the couscous to the other pot. Mix well and serve.
Comments