Category Archives: cooking

Alexia with Big Bag of Flour

The Great Baking Escapade Begins

Baking, cooking, Dessert, Dietitian, Food, Grains, home cooked meal, Recipe, registered dietitian,

One of the initial issues of the 2020 Pandemic was a shortage of toilet paper, flour, and yeast. I am now the proud owner of 97 rolls of TP from a restaurant supplier and a 25-pound bag of flour from Costco. Yeast is still a touch-and-go situation. This is the first in a series of blogs of baking my way through 25 pounds of flour. So you know, I’m not much of a baker.

Alexia with Big Bag of Flour

My experience with baking is mostly limited to my time in Food Lab while an undergrad nutrition student. For some reason, an RD’s education including many hours devoted to baking. There is a lot of chemistry involved in cooking foods and this is especially true for baking. A lot happens from the initial mixing to the final cooking of quick breads and yeast breads. After my schooling, I have only made the occasional muffins.

I’m a well-educated novice.

My first two recipes were both for my husband’s birthday. I made cornbread as a side dish to his requested ribs. I followed that up with a mini-cake.

The cornbread recipe is here courtesy of Ina Garten and the Food Network. Trust me on this, you do NOT want to know the nutrition info on this one. It’s a bunch of cheesy, jalapeno-ey deliciousness. Just let all those nutrition concerns go and enjoy this recipe.

Cornbread in Pan and Sliced on Cutting Board

This was a very simple recipe. Not much to report baking-wise. The cornbread turned out okay, but it was more of a southern-style cakey-cornbread (due to the 3:1 ratio of flour to cornmeal). While delicious and a huge portion, I will not be making this one again.

Next up was a mini-cake with this recipe from Dessert for Two.

This was a more detailed recipe and all did not go as well as planned! The final product was very good – nice flavor, good crumb, perfect amount of sweetness that makes you go mmmmm without being too overpowering.

My biggest lesson from this recipe was that it does no good to melt butter for a recipe if your next step is to mix it with cold milk. The melted butter turns right back into solid butter! This could absolutely have been anticipated… yet I did not anticipate it. Next time I make this, because this one is a good recipe, I will make sure my milk is not cold before I start!

I should add that this was my first attempt at trying to actually decorate a cake. Don’t judge!

And while my husband liked the frosting, I prefer a frosting with cream cheese.

Follow my blog for more posts about the Great Baking Escapade and learn along with me!

Are Kodiak Cups Good For A Quick Breakfast?

breakfast, Carbohydrates, cooking, Diet, Dietitian, Fast Food, Food, Grains, health, health coach, Healthy Diet, Heart Healthy, home cooked meal, meal planning, Meal Prep, National Nutrition Month, nutrition, oatmeal recipe, overnight oats, Protein, Snacks, Vegetarian, weight loss, wellness, wheat,

Updated 03/04/2025. If you need a healthy on-the-go breakfast, you may be wondering… are Kodiak Cups good for a quick breakfast? When I first saw these breakfast cups back in 2020, this kind of convenience food was still fairly new. Add water, microwave, and eat! Why, yes, I think maybe these Kodiak Cups are good for a quick breakfast!

I do want to say thank you to Kodiak Cakes for the RD Kit containing these free products for me to sample. I have not been paid or encouraged to post any kind of information in exchange for these samples. You can see on my disclosure page that I give honest reviews of products and would never let receiving a free product influence my review.

I encourage a balanced breakfast to get the day started – protein, carbs, fats, alla them. But mornings can be hectic. I hear from my patients that fitting in a healthy, balanced breakfast can be a challenge. They don’t have time in the morning to eat breakfast, let alone make one! Life is busy. I get it.

If you like to meal prep, then the problem is solved. But what about those who just aren’t into meal prepping? (No shame!). More and more products like this are hitting the shelves because food manufacturers know we want convenience.

So, let’s put on our nutrition detective hats and explore.

If you have heard of the brand, Kodiak, then you know that higher protein is kinda their jam. And higher protein in grains gets my interest as I’m an occasional macro-tracker. Protein has been having its moment for a long minute now, as it should because protein is important for so many reasons. (Get my take about The Beef on Protein).

Kodiak Oatmeal Cups

I tried the Kodiak oatmeal first and was happy to see they sent the best flavor: maple and brown sugar. (Fight me).

In terms of ease of breakfast, this is a big winner.

I used my electric tea kettle to heat water, added it to the Kodiak Cup, and let it sit covered for the recommended two minutes. You can also add water and microwave. It doesn’t get much easier – or quick – than that.

Straight up. I was super concerned about the very small portion, especially since it has about half of the calories of my typical breakfast. But this little cup of oatmeal kept me full until lunchtime. Totally surprised!

This has 230 calories, 14 grams protein, 38 grams carbs, and 3 grams of fat. It has 4 grams of fiber, 12 grams of added sugar, and 200 milligrams of sodium.

I wouldn’t expect a lot of protein from oatmeal and that tracks here. I often recommend adding protein when oats are for breakfast. This can be done with protein powders, as in this product where protein was increased with pea and milk proteins, or with whole foods, such as an egg/egg whites. PS: I have a great pina colada overnight oats recipe.

This also may seem like a lot of carbs to some; but it is oatmeal, soooooo… and 38 grams if completely appropriate for many people. When it comes to grains, always look for a product that has a whole grain as the first ingredient – which this one does.

I’m not one who is afraid of long complicated words on an ingredients list but this one keeps it very simple and I’m sure many “clean eaters” would give this product a thumbs up.

Btw, my definition of clean eating is not eating food that’s fallen on the floor. Just sayin’.

Pros:

  • First ingredient is 100% whole grain oats.
  • Very low in saturated fat (0.5 grams).
  • Super convenient.
  • Good flavor and good consistency, and no aftertaste.
  • Staying power.

Cons:

  • Low in protein (for a meal).
  • High in added sugars.

American Heart Association recommendations for added sugars is set at 25 grams for women and 36 grams for men. At 12 grams, this is 1/2 to 1/3 of the total recommended. I like to find ways to make convenient food fit if it can help people eat in a way they want to. So, this absolutely can fit into a heart-healthy diet as long as you are mindful about added sugars for the rest of the day.

And, personal preference here, I’m not a big fan of pea protein due to a not-too-fun experience involving veganism and pea protein in oatmeal. I’m sure it’s come a long way since then.

Overall thoughts?

Two Forks up! This is delicious, filling, and is heart healthy.

Kodiak Flapjack Cups

Next, I tried the Cinnamon Maple Flapjack Kodiak Cup.

This serving size made my eyes much happier as it filled up more of the container. But it wasn’t as filling as the oats. Go figure.

It smells amazing and has a good crumb; but I do recommend a spoon instead of a fork as it ends up getting very crumbly as it is eaten. Per my husband, this tastes like smushed up pancakes (count me in!) and it is true the finished product was a little bit dense.

This has 260 calories, 19 grams protein, 39 grams carbs, and 7 grams of fat. It has 3 grams of fiber, 14 grams of added sugar, and 340 milligrams of sodium.

This one is also lower in calories than my typical breakfast, so I added some butter, which made it taste even better. If you’re looking to add calories, you could also add some syrup (but it totally isn’t needed) or top it with an egg.

As with the oats, this is a bit low in protein and high in carbs and this is to be expected from pancakes. Same advice applies here as did with the oats – more protein!

The ingredients list is longer, and the first two ingredients are whole grains. This would likely pass the “clean eating” test for some.

The pancakes do have eight times as much saturated fat as the oatmeal, coming in at 4 grams. The saturated fat here comes from the palm, palm kernel, and palm oil. My guess is that since unsaturated fats are less stable and go rancid more quickly, they balanced out the need for shelf stability with the desire for a nice nutrition profile and landed on saturated oils instead of others.

American Heart Association recommendations for saturated fats puts the maximum intake at 6% of total calories. Using the reference standard on nutrition facts panels of 2,000 calories a day, that comes to 13 grams a day. That puts this product at 1/3 of your saturated fat for the day.

Just like added sugars (btw this one has more than the oats), this can fit into a heart-healthy diet as long as you are mindful about how you eat the rest of the day. I would encourage plant-based eating to keep saturated fats low. Get my suggestions for three plant-based whole foods to boost the protein in a plant-based diet.  

Pros:

  • First two ingredients are whole grains.
  • Tastes good and has a nice crumb like a pancake should
  • Super convenient.

Cons:

  • Low in protein.
  • Higher in saturated fat and added sugars that I would like.
  • Didn’t hold me as long.

Overall thoughts?

One Fork up! Just one because it didn’t hold me until lunchtime.

So, Are Kodiak Cups Good for a Quick Breakfast?

I will also say a big pro for both of these is the portability, which means you can eat them when you first get up or bring them into the office or when you’re out on the go.

Yes, this dietitian Kodiak Cups are good for a quick breakfast! Just add an egg, okay?

Give these a try and let me know what you think!

Medical Nutrition Therapy

Curious about balanced breakfasts that will work for you? Want some help with finding recipes or strategies to meal prep your breakfast? (PS – you don’t have to a whole week at a time!).

Let’s do it!

Click right here to get to Alexia’s provider page with Nourish, choose a date/time and start the scheduling process.

One of the first screens when you start will let you know if your health insurance is accepted by Nourish. Before you finish the booking process, you will enter your insurance information into the Insurance Calculator to get an estimate of the expected costs. If you don’t like the number, just cancel out and you won’t be scheduled.

And, of course, you can reply to this email if you have questions or want to be hooked up with another amazing RD at Nourish. I’m happy to help! 

About Alexia Lewis RD

Graphic with image of Alexia.

Hi there! I’m Alexia and I believe in science, humor, and delicious food.

Heart health is my jam. I love to write and speak publicly on this topic and all aspects of living a heart-healthy lifestyle.

I believe you shouldn’t sacrifice your mental health in pursuit of better physical health. You deserve to be both happy and healthy. You don’t have to choose just one.

I am a master’s level nutritionist who is also a registered and licensed dietitian in multiple states in the USA, a certified personal trainer, and certified health coach. I also invested in becoming a culinary nutritionist and weight management specialist. In other words, I got you.

All About Salt: Sodium

cooking, Dietitian, Food, health, Healthy Diet, Heart Healthy, nutrition, salt, sea salt, sodium, wellness, , , , , , , , ,

I just finished sharing some information over on the N.E.W. Motivation Coaching Facebook page about salt and decided to post the information and links to the videos here.

Myth or Fact? Sea Salt has less sodium than Table Salt?

First up, we addressed a great question we hear from our clients a lot – does sea salt have less sodium than table salt.

This is such a confusing topic and I’ll share with you why this is so confusing.

One reason is there are nutritional differences in the different types of salts which is due to the source of the salt and how it is processed.

Sea salt comes, of course, from the sea and is typically processed through evaporation, meaning the food manufacturer takes the water away and what is left is your sea salt. Because of this processing, it has different minerals than table salt and may contain potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and other trace minerals.

Table salt typically comes from salt mines and is stripped of minerals during processing but… typically it comes with added iodine since we used to have a pretty big goiter problem back in 1920s and this is how the powers that be decided to fix the problem. Nutritionally, 1 teaspoon of table salt has no calories and has very small traces of minerals found in sea salt. If you look at the label for table salt, you may see additives. Typically, calcium silicate is in there to prevent clumping and potassium iodide is the vehicle to get the iodine in salt.

But the big question is: DOES SEA SALT HAVE LESS SODIUM?

Slide1-less-sodium

And the answer is YES… and NO!

Oh, don’t you hate that! Well, this will help. Here’s why:

By weight, sea salt does NOT have less sodium than table salt!

However… by volume (when you grab a pinch or use a measuring spoon), sea salt HAS less sodium!

This is because sea salt – and kosher salt – usually has larger crystals so less fits in a spoon due to how the crystals fall against each other leaving little pockets of air in between them. Table salt is very fine and so there are no little pockets of air as the granules nest next to each other.

To compare:

  • 1 teaspoon of table salt has 2325 mg of sodium
  • 1 tsp of sea salt has between 1200 – 2360 mg
  • 1 tsp of kosher salt has between 2000 – 2360 mg

So it really all depends on how those little salt crystals settle.

Hopefully, now it makes a little more sense to you.

So… which one should you choose?

Well, Salt is a flavor enhancer which means it brings out the flavors and makes food more delicious. So, yeah, use a little salt when you cook!

Salt is also important in baking since baking is pretty much just a delicious form of chemistry so it is important to be precise to get good baked goods. For baking, follow the recipe to decide which type of salt to use.

For other cooking, professional and home chefs tend to prefer larger crystals but if you need the salt to dissolve a smaller crystal would be a better choice.

When it comes down to the nutrition, there is not much difference between the different types of salt and there are no magical health and healing properties in the more expensive or organic salts. However, the trace minerals or other fancy things that may be added to the more expensive salts may change the flavor.

In the end, choose whichever type of salt you prefer that best fits your budget.

Butternut Squash Agnolotti

Carbohydrates, cooking, Dietitian, Food, Greens, health coach, Healthy Diet, HelloFresh, home cooked meal, kale, meal delivery, Recipe, Vegetarian, , , , , , , , ,

This is a #HelloFresh meal delivery review of the Butternut Squash Agnolotti with Kale in a Sage Brown Butter Sauce. HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. This post is therefore #sponsored. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.

Okay, first, do you love every single word in the recipe name? OMG yes! Butternut is a good friend of mine and a long-time Thanksgiving meal staple growing up. If you don’t know agnolotti, it is a type of ravioli – ravioli and I also go way back thanks to Chef Boyardee and this great restaurant in Brooklyn that I believe was called Cinzino’s (or something like that…). Then add kale (yes, how cliché, an RD who loves kale, I know), and brown butter sauce – heaven!!! Yes, please, get in my belly! Um, so it is safe to say I was just a bit excited going into this recipe.

The flavors of the pine nuts and butternut squash is what took this dish over the top for me. I love pine nuts but they are so expensive, even when bought in bulk so you can just get a small portion! All the pine nuts were used in the recipe but there was a fair amount of leftover kale, which was sliced into thin strips making it quick to cook and got rid of the thicker stems that can be so fibrous and chewy. I’m a fan of leftover ingredients and this kale was an addition to the next day’s salad.

Butternut-Agnolotti-2-HelloFresh-October-2017

I did make one mistake (as usual!) since I was multi-tasking with filming and taking pictures while I cooked. I added the whole 1-cup of reserved pasta water to the sauce when the recipe clearly says to start by adding 1/4 cup and add more as needed. Whoops! No harm, no foul as I just cooked the sauce down longer to evaporate some of the extra water (and left some liquid behind in the pan when serving…).

Nutritionally, one serving has 640 calories, 15 grams of saturated fats, 59 carbs, 9 grams of fiber, and 24 grams of protein.

What would I change? 

Since I’m currently typically eating five times a day (yep!), this dish is simply too much food/calories for one meal for me. This meal would fit nicely into many people’s meal plans with a satisfying number of calories and fairly balanced nutrition – or it could be split into two servings (bonus – no cooking the second night!) and served with a veggie side to get more bites per meal.

What did I love? 

This is one of HelloFresh’s 20-Minute Meals and it is such an easy recipe to make! The only chopping is to slice a shallot and mince garlic. That’s it! Chopping and prep work is the worst part of cooking to me so this is a big check in the win column for this recipe.

Lessons Learned?

Read the directions. Then read the directions. Then read them again.

HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. This post is therefore #sponsored. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.

 

Pork Tenderloin

Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

cooking, Dietitian, Food, health, Healthy Diet, HelloFresh, home cooked meal, meal delivery, pork, Recipe, , , , , , , ,

This is a #HelloFresh meal delivery review of the Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans. HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. This post is therefore #sponsored. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.

This is such a simple, classic meal – meat, starch, veg – and it reminds me of the meals I would have growing up so this plate brought big flavor and down-home comfort.

Now, I had never cooked a pork loin prior to making this dish and while it was oh-so-gross (I’m one of those “ewwww raw meat don’t make me touch it” people) it was also oh-so-delicious and the final verdict was: the gross-factor of handling raw proteins is sometimes worth it!

But it will always be better when I can get hubs to do this part!

If you’ve seen my previous reviews, you may have noticed I have an issue with timing these meals and sometimes mess up the measuring.  I’m not only making the meal but also trying to video and take some photos as I go which throws the proverbial wrench into the timing-and-measuring machine. But this one is the first one that I mastered the timing with and didn’t mess up a single measure! I was so excited!!

The only difference between the instructions and my reality was that I let the pork cook for an additional five minutes for it to come up to food-safety temp. Unfortunately, the spices were past their prime when I got around to this recipe as it was the last one I made. I simply subbed out the fresh thyme for dried Italian seasoning.

Pork Tenderloin

Nutritionally, this dish comes in at 590 calories, 56 grams carbs, 41 grams protein, and 8 grams of saturated fats. I tend to stick to lower-carb dinners and try to keep my daily saturated fats under 12 grams so this meal was a little much for a dinner for me. But, quick fix was using less oil in the recipe and saving some sweet potato to go with tomorrow’s breakfast omelet (win!). In the plus column is 8 grams of fiber, no trans fat, and more than half the plate is colorful vegetables which is a great, easy way to gauge the nutrition quality of a meal.

What would I change?

I typically reduce the oil and salt in the recipes. In this dish: I did not use oil for roasting the potato or green beans but kept the butter for the glaze (because butter = delicious!). I also did not salt the meat prior to searing and found I had to add some at the table.

What did I love? 

The glaze – oh my goodness – the glaze is divine!

This is not only a gorgeous meal but also a very generous serving and – finally – I got enough vegetables on my dinner plate to satisfy my veggie-lovin appetite!

Things I learned?

I can conquer the ick of working with raw meat!!! And pork loin is something I will be adding into my meal rotation.

Roasted green beans are so good! I have never roasted them before!

HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. This post is therefore #sponsored. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.

 

Presto Pesto Panko Chicken

chicken, chicken recipe, cooking, Dietitian, Food, health, Healthy Diet, HelloFresh, home cooked meal, meal delivery, Meal Prep, Recipe, , , , , , , , ,

This is a #HelloFresh meal delivery review of the Presto Pesto Panko Chicken with a Green Salad and Roasted Potatoes. HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. This post is therefore #sponsored. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.

Admit it – you just said, “Presto Pesto Panko Chicken” out loud, didn’t you? No? Well, say it because it’s kind of fun to say! And it is good to eat too! That presto panko crust goes on top of pesto which goes on top of chicken – this layering results in a wonderfully moist chicken with a crispy crust!

Mangia! And mangia you will as this is one big plate of food!

 

Did you realize that chicken recipes are the most googled recipes? While I’ve said this for years and it makes total sense because have you had plain baked chicken? Bland and chewy! But… I actually have no evidence to back up this claim. So… I googled it. Google says “chicken as food” has been in the top 10 for 146 months. That’s a lot of people looking for chicken as food so I stand by this statement.

Google-Chicken
Image from: https://trends.google.com/trends/topcharts

Back to the dish…

Nutritionally, one serving comes in at 630 calories, 6 grams saturated fat, 50 grams carbs, 8 grams fiber, and 52 grams protein.

What would I change?

What I’m finding with HelloFresh meals is that – for how I eat – the calories, oil, and salt are too much for my preferences. It is easy to fix the oil and salt as I cook and I do this with every recipe. Fat and salt makes food delicious so I get it; it’s just not my cooking style and doesn’t fit in with my personal health goals.

Also, I would like more veggies! I’m a mostly-veg-for-my-meals type with a side of meat/protein and a small portion of carbs. This is also a quick fix by eating half the meal one night paired with some extra veg and saving half for the next night.

What did I love?

Easy peasy – the only chopping is the potatoes and the clean up was super fast.

The extras! Leftover ingredients included half the panko, half the pesto, and half a lemon. Score!

The crispy. I mentioned the chicken had a nice crunch but the potatoes were also soooo crispy. I love crunchy food and this dish delivered lots of crispy crunching.

Lessons Learned?

Okay. There is a definite trend. I need to read the directions better while multi-tasking with video and pictures! I used and entire HALF of the lemon when the recipe called for A SQUEEZE of juice on the greens! The salad was very puckery-lemony (totally on me, not HelloFresh!

HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. This post is therefore #sponsored. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.

A Pumpkiny Good Time

cooking, Dairy-free, Dietitian, Food, gluten-free, health, health goals, Healthy Diet, Heart Healthy, home cooked meal, mason jar, meal plan, Meal Prep, nutrition, pumpkin, Recipe, Smoothie, Vegan, Vegetarian, , , , , , , ,

I had so much fun today sharing my new pumpkin recipes at the N.E.W. Motivation Coaching Pumpkin Love Make & Take!

These lucky ladies joined the fun and made a tangy pumpkin vinaigrette, a pumpkin-nilla-chai smoothie with no added sugar (thank you very much!), and some sweeeeeeet and healthy pumpkin power bites.

But I’m really just writing this blog to share the pictures. So, here they are!

A.Carla-SaraA.KelleyA-SaraA-Pumpkin_power-bitesA.Group

Recipe: Spicy Mexi-Bowl (Gluten-Free!)

celiac disease, cooking, Dairy-free, Dietitian, Food, gluten, gluten-free, Grains, health, Healthy Diet, Heart Healthy, home cooked meal, Lunch, mason jar, meal plan, Meal Prep, Quinoa, Recipe, Vegan, Vegetarian, , , , , , , , , , ,

Here is another delicious gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan recipe. This spicy Mexican-inspired quinoa and beans bowl is a quick to prepare, heart-healthy, and nutrition-rich meal that can be made ahead for take-to-work lunches or you can mix up a big batch for a family dinner.  You could even top it with an over-easy egg and make it a breakfast (although it won’t be vegan with that egg on it!).

Spicy-Mexi-Bowl

And, before I forget – if you join up for our email newsletter before October 1, you will get a special offer on the Go Gluten Free or the Get Started Coaching Packages! Join today!

Here is the printer-friendly PDF: Recipe -Spicy Mexi-Bowl

Spicy-Mexi-Bowl

A Mason Jar Meal-Prep Workshop Recipe by Alexia Lewis RD / N.E.W. Motivation Coaching

Makes 1 serving

INGREDIENTS & SUPPLIES

1                          Mason Jar, 2-cup size

1 Tbsp                Red wine vinegar (or to taste)

1 tsp                    Lime juice

1/4 medium      Avocado (Florida), peeled and chopped

7                          Grape tomatoes, halved

1 Tbsp                Red onion, chopped (or to taste)

1 Tbsp                Jalapeño, deseeded and chopped

1/2 cup               Quinoa, cooked

1/2 cup               Black beans, low-sodium canned, rinsed or cooked from dry

1 tsp                   Cilantro, fresh, chopped

DIRECTIONS

  1. Layer all ingredients in mason jar in order listed.
  2. Store refrigerated for 3-5 days depending on quality of mason jar seal
  3. To serve, shake food from jar into a bowl, toss to combine, and enjoy!

Nutrition per serving:

365 calories, 10 grams fat (1.5 grams saturated fat, 0 trans fat), 0 cholesterol, 153 milligrams sodium, 59 grams carbohydrates, 13 grams fiber, 4 grams natural sugar, 14 grams protein.

Notes:

We recommend making four servings at once – that way you use up the whole avocado – and can cook 3/4 cup of dry quinoa which should give you about 2 1/4 cups cooked.

HelloFresh Meal Review: Sweet and Savory Plum Flatbreads with Ricotta, Charred Onion, and Arugula

cooking, Dietitian, Food, Grains, health, health goals, Healthy Diet, Heart Healthy, HelloFresh, home cooked meal, meal delivery, meal planning, Recipe, Vegetarian, , , , , , , , , ,

I love every single word in the name of this dish! Color me excited to make this one!

If you want a deal, I can offer you this:  Get Cooking Today With HelloFresh And Get 50% Off!

HelloFresh categorizes this meal as a breakfast according to the recipe card. I think this would make a divine breakfast but it is just a little too much work for me to do while on my first cup of coffee. Don’t get me wrong, I love a hot breakfast. In fact, I have a hot breakfast pretty much every day! I can cook a veggie omelet with one eye closed and one hand on that coffee mug; but this recipe was just a bit too involved for that level of attention (or rather that lack of attention…).

As the video shows, there are not that many steps but there is some multi-tasking. Once again, I turned to my non-stick pan so my plums did not get any delicious carmelization action… and my onions did not get charred. I think I was a wee bit heavy-handed with the oil (which you may notice in the video!).

What would I change? Well, per the recipe card, this recipe calls for 5 teaspoons of olive oil for 2 servings. I love me some healthy oils but this was too much for me. Reducing the oil could easily be done by omitting from arugula and not coating the flatbreads and I think the recipe would be just as good without this much oil. I also found this dish to be flavorful enough without the honey drizzle – which was fun to do – but omitting honey would reduce the sugar which comes in at 21 grams. For my taste buds, the extra sweetness is not needed and doesn’t add any extra nutrition.

What did I love? Once again – this is a meal of delicious flavors that I would never have thought to put together. I love that HelloFresh is introducing me to new flavor combinations! I got excited a while back mixing blackberries and blue cheese (uh, yeah, so good!) but plums and red onion? No way! Totally works. I also love the small amounts of leftover ingredients. This time I had some pomegranate balsamic vinegar and almonds that got tossed onto the next days lunch salad… and there was leftover arugula which hubs and I ate on the side with the flatbreads.

Things I learned:

Non-stick pans – once again – are not always the best option

There is a world of flatbreads outside of my stand-by FlatOut wraps

I really have to double-check that my video shots are centered before I film!

Here’s that info again if you want to take advantage of the discount I can offer you to try out HelloFresh! Get Cooking Today With HelloFresh And Get 50% Off!

4-Plum-Flatbreads-Pic

HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. This is #sponsored and I was so impressed that I have joined their #affiliate program. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.

HelloFresh Meal Review: Emeril Lagasse’s Herby Dijon Chicken Breasts with Zucchini and Red Potatoes

chicken, chicken recipe, cooking, Dietitian, Food, health goals, Healthy Diet, HelloFresh, home cooked meal, meal delivery, meal planning, , , , , , , , ,

HelloFresh provided a Meal Delivery Box containing three meals to me free of charge. I was so impressed that I have joined their #affiliate program. As always, all opinions in my reviews are mine and I if love it or hate it, I’ll let you know.

Take advantage of this discount – Get Cooking Today With HelloFresh And Get 50% Off!

I was so excited to make this meal! The pictures on the recipe card look amazing and I (like many others) am more comfortable cooking chicken than I am with cooking fish, which was my first HelloFresh meal.

This recipe was prepared on a work-night and did not take much time from start to finish. All that was needed from my kitchen was olive oil, pans, a strainer, and a small bowl – oh and a cutting board and knife of course! Prep time didn’t take long as there was very little chopping involved, just half a shallot, a few potatoes, home herbs, and a zucchini. Although, I must chop faster than the average person (thank you Food Lab in undergrad nutrition program!) as I found myself waiting on the chicken to cook. I admit to starting Step 3 (cook chicken) before Step 2 (prep/chopping) and the chicken took a little longer to get to temp than expected.

Now, I do not typically cook chicken on the stove-top. So, I will warn those of you who also typically bake or grill you chicken: beware the oil splatter! I have a mesh screen to prevent the splatter but by the time I realized I needed it, the splatter had happened so I let it go. You could easily bake the chicken instead and end up with less cleaning (splatter and one less pan) and this also would be nutritionally less fat and calories if that’s important to you. But you would lose the searing which gives the meat some flavor as well as leaves those tasty little brown bits in the pan to get incorporated into sauce – and the sauce makes this meal!

I’m also kind of a food safety and sanitation freak so be sure to sanitize anything that contacts the raw chicken. I cut all that out of the video but make sure to do that at home! Oh, I also cut out a lot of wine sipping. Oh my gosh, so many edits to take out the wine sipping!

Another random tip is don’t use a non-stick pan for potatoes like I did or they won’t get crusty-crispy. I was smart enough to use a regular pan for the chicken because I knew I wanted those brown bits for the sauce; but I did not bring that logic over to the vegetables pan.

This recipe is definitely more cost effective from #HelloFresh than if you had purchased ingredients from the store! All that was leftover was half a lemon, half a shallot, and some tarragon– bonus. My pictures do not do this dish justice… that’s what happens when drinking wine with dinner – I got too excited about the food and didn’t take good pictures!

Final review: This meal is flavorful yet subtle and is made with familiar foods – I will be making this meal again!

Things I learned

A mesh splatter screen is a useful kitchen gadget

Non-stick pans are not always the best choice

Emeril may have some more recipes out there that I need to try!

Here’s that info again if you want to take advantage of the discount I can offer you to try out HelloFresh! Get Cooking Today With HelloFresh And Get 50% Off!