Skinny & Easy Roasted Chicken in the Air Fryer

 

Chick in a Jiff!

Roasted chicken breast is my go-to dinner.  You'll notice I say "roasted" even though I'm using the Air Fryer.  Sometimes I think they should have called them "Air Cookers" but I guess that's not as catchy a name. 

When I want something to taste and look fried - like fried chicken, I dredge the chicken through cornstarch, egg whites and panko.  Here's an example of skinless boneless chicken using this method (I'll do a step by step for fried chicken in a future post). 

Fried Chicken in the Air Fryer

But for today we'll keep it super simple and just go with roasted chicken.  Whether you're making fried or roasted chicken, the important thing is to get it as dry as possible.  I cover the breast in sea salt and other seasonings and wrap it in paper towels and let it sit on the counter for a few hours. 

Cover in sea salt and spices; wrap in paper towels

After the chicken breast has been drying in the paper towels for a few hours, marinate.  I use Ken's Zesty Italian dressing.  It might be my Boston upbringing but I love Ken's dressing.  I remember going to the actual restaurants as a child.  I love the regular Ken's Steakhouse dressing on butter or iceberg lettuce.  But I digress.  Suffice to say it makes a great marinade. 

Marinate in Ken's Dressing

Of course, you can marinate in your favorite dressing.  I also rub dried sage, oregano, granulated garlic along with the sea salt.  You could toss in red pepper flake if you'd like some heat.  I've also added Worcestershire Sauce, too.  I keep the chicken breast in the container while I dry and marinate to save on cleanup. 

Roasted chicken marinated in Ken's Dressing and Worcestershire Sauce

The Worcestershire Sauce gives the chicken a blackened look.  I was worried that I had overcooked it - but it was juicy and delicious as always.  

I cook the chicken breast for 8 minutes on each side.  I start with the skin side down and cook at 350 degrees for the first 8 minutes.  I flip it and crank the heat up for 400 degrees for the final 8 minutes.  It's important to let the breast rest.  I cover put it on a plate and tent tinfoil over it.  I let it rest while I cook the veggies in the same Air Fryer.  This another thing I love - cleanup is easy!

Cook your veggies while the chicken rests

I'll do a separate post on cooking vegetables - but it's super easy.  Once I'm ready to eat, I heat up everything at a low temperature while you set the table - and reward yourself with a glass of wine. 

Heat up everything while you set the table

Easy Roasted Chicken Dinner

Ingredients

One medium sized chicken breast per person

To taste:

Sea Salt

Dried sage

Granulated garlic (or fresh and finely chopped)

Dried oregano

Ground black pepper

Other spices as desired

Method

Pat dry chicken breasts in paper towels (discard)

Sprinkle sea salt and spices over chicken breast

Wrap seasoned breast tightly in paper towels

  and leave to dry on the kitchen counter

Cover with marinade; let sit for at least 30 minutes to an hour

Place chicken in the air fryer skin side down

Cook at 350 degrees for 8 minutes

Flip and cook for another 8 minutes at 400 degrees

  (you may want to put a bit more dressing on top)

Remove from air fryer; let rest on a plate tented with tinfoil 

Serve and enjoy!

To Air Fry or Not to Air Fry?

The Skinny on Air Fryers

Air fryers weren't on my radar until about a year ago.  I thought they were just for cooking high fat, deep fried food.  I didn't know how wrong I was!

It all started when a colleague asked if I'd be interested in buying one second hand from his sister-in-law.  Apparently, she's a hoarder and her family was staging an intervention. They were forcing her to have a yard sale to get rid of everything but the essentials. Among her other treasures were 5 air fryers, still in their boxes.   Other friends in the office overheard and said they use theirs all the time and I should jump on this.  I figured I'd it give it a try. Unfortunately, the air fryers sold out at the yard sale before my colleague arrived.  But I was intrigued so I looked on Amazon and found one that was under $80.

Contrary to creating non-skinny foods, air fryers provide an easy way to eliminate fat from your diet. They help you cook food that mimics the taste, texture and look of fried foods with a fraction of the fat and calories.  This is mainly accomplished by eliminating most of the cooking oil.  In most cases you only have to spray the food with a cooking spray like Pam.  And yet the food tastes anything but skinny!

Maybe equally important: they cook food in a fraction of the time of your conventional oven.  A large chicken breast takes 16 minutes. You can cook all of your dinner (veggies, potatoes, etc.) in the fryer and clean up is really easy.  Mine doesn't even require pre-heating. 

Here are pictures from a few skinny dinners:

You can cook good old fashioned fried chicken using a breast or thigh, bone in or boneless dredge them in flour, egg while and panko:

             Skinny classic fried chicken.  

 Boneless, skinless chicken breast, sweet potatoes and peas

But you can also keep it simple and skip the four, egg and panko and just use spices and oil:

Crispy skin, juicy meat

 

    Skinny and simple

And your options are not limited to chicken.  I will be posting recipes for fried eggplant, artichokes, buffalo cauliflower and other delicious, skinny options.  I will also have tips on what to look for when purchasing an air fryer.  They are not all created equal.  

Stay tuned for more to come!  Perhaps you'll be an air fryer convert, too. 

 

Skinny Returns!

Skinny Fried Artichokes in the Air Fryer

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The Skinny Gourmet Guy is returning!  Stay tuned for Skinny recipes in my new obsession - the Air Fryer!

Skinny Salad

Colorful salad for a skinny lunch

 

 

Our office just moved to the Flatiron District.  But I didn't have to worry about scoping out new places for lunch.  (Though Eataly is enticing.)  I'll continue to bring all the fixings and make a salad for lunch as I did in our office in the Theater District. 

 

I buy the pre-washed greens, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, English cucumbers, Spanish onions and baby carrots and whip them together.  I keep bottles of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar in a file drawer.  I bought a really nice large white bowl from Bed, Bath & Beyond for $10 - a nice presentation is important!  It's a lot less expensive than buying a salad from Chop't and this way, I know exactly what I'm getting. (Though I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the quality at Chop't.) 

 

Fancy new kitchen

 

And I have a really spectacular new kitchen to prepare my salads.  I only wish I had such a nice kitchen at home.  It's like a set from the Food Network. 

 

Did I stumble  upon the Cooking Channel?

 

Fancy Light Fixture

 

This picture doesn't do the view justice

 

 

That's the MetLife building next door

 

My Desk - temporary until my office is built

 

Sometimes I make a balsamic vinaigrette by mixing the olive oil, balsamic and Dijon mustard and whisking them together. And I vary things every so often so it's not monotonous - maybe I'll throw in sliced radishes or yellow peppers.  Or, as I did today, bought heirloom grape tomatoes - the colors are really beautiful.   The only thing missing is protein.  I do have protein at breakfast (I love peanuts).  So sometimes I throw in grilled chicken, chopped walnuts or I'll have lentil soup on the side.

 



 

Since I enjoy cooking, I look forward to preparing my salad every day.  For one, I eat lunch very late in the afternoon - so I know I'm in the home stretch of the work day.  And if a colleague passes by we usually end up talking about cooking and healthy eating. 

 

Even if you don't have a fabulous kitchen at work you can make the salad at your desk and keep the ingredients in the common fridge - or as I did in our last office, buy one of the dorm room sized fridges.  Try it!

 

 







New posts coming soon!

Chris is back soon with more fabulous posts!

Skinny Recovery: How to Stay Skinny While on the Mend

Grilled Swordfish with Broccoli, Tomatoes and Garlic

I'm on Day 9 of recovery from back surgery.  As you've seen on my previous post, I had a micro-discectomy last week - on Tuesday May 20th.  The surgeon cut away the materials that were herniating the disc.  There was also bone matter and a cyst to clean up.  I misunderstood when my surgeon said the operation would be "minimally invasive."  I thought that meant arthroscopic surgery - as I had with my shoulder surgery.  The scars looked like tiny mosquito bites.  Minimally invasive is still invasive.  While other friends who have had the surgery have scars that are about an inch long - mine scar is a good 4 inches.

On the cosmetic front, I really don't care about a large scar on my back.  But as far as recovery goes, the larger the scar the longer the recovery.  At least in my experience.  I will say that the pain in my left leg and foot has diminished significantly  It hurt 24/7 prior to the surgery.  Now, the leg and foot pain comes and goes.  But my lower back region is really throbbing.  It's hard to find a comfortable position.  Walking is really difficult.  I can go about a block before having to rest and turn around and head back home.

The trick is to steam the broccoli 

before sauteing with tomatoes and garlic

But not being able to walk or exercise is a recipe for packing on the pounds while I recover.  For the first week after surgery, I lost my appetite for healthy food.  My usual favorite fish dishes held no appeal.  It might have had something to do with the after effects of the anesthesia.  But, today I'm feeling better and will have one of my favorites for dinner: Grilled Swordfish and Broccoli.  If I stick to the Skinny Gourmet Guy template, I can get through this and keep my weight consistently skinny.  I have to skip some of the guilty pleasures I allowed when I was taking 11 classes a week - things like potato chips, ice cream, cookies . . . and in future posts I'll tell you about the skinny substitutes I'm using.

Here's the skinny recipe:

For the Swordfish

Ingredients:

1/2 lb swordfish per person
1 tbspn Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tspn Sea Salt
1/4 tspn ground pepper

Pre-heat table top grill (I use the Cuisinart Griddler) at top heat for five minutes
Marinate the swordfish in the oil, salt & pepper
Grill on one side for 3 minutes with the top open
Grill on the second side for 1 - 2 minutes with the grill shut
Let rest on covered plate for 5 minutes

for the Broccoli:

1 bunch broccoli
2 - 3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
1/4 tspn sea salt
1/4 tspn ground pepper

Cut broccoli into fleurettes
Steam for 3 - 5 minutes
Shock the fleurettes by fishing broccoli out with a spider and dropping in a bowl of iced water
Meanwhile, heat a non-stick skillet with olive oil
Pound garlic cloves and slice
Cut tomatoes in half
Saute the garlic for 30 seconds - remove from heat and keep on a plate
Add sliced tomatoes and cook until tender - about a minute stirring constantly
Add the broccoli fluerettes
Add back the garlic - stir with wooden spoon

Serve and enjoy!

Sauted Swordfish is also good with Grilled Eggplant!

Skinny Surgery: Oh My Aching Back!

As we approach the third anniversary of my Skinny Gourmet blog, I am preparing to have back surgery tomorrow.  I have a herniated disc on my L-5, S-1 Lumber Spine.  This is the very bottom vertebrae.  Besides the herniation, I also have a benign cyst and bone fragments.  All of this is pinching off my sciatic nerve.  The pain is unbearable. A colleague said it's only second to childbirth and I believe it!

This all started about a year ago.  I remember it was the weekend of the Tony Awards and while on the way home from the gym it hit me.  A blinding, stabbing pain in the back that radiates down through the leg.  First it was the right leg - with the right foot numb and tingling.  Over time it shifted to the left side.  I've tried everything to avoid surgery: acupuncture, physical therapy, chiropractic and just plain old waiting for it to heal itself.  Most everyone advised not to have surgery under any circumstances but I don't see any alternatives.

I'm having a microdiscectomy.  This is the surgical removal of herniated disc material that is impinging the sciatic nerve.  The procedure will take 45 minutes and I'll spend the night in the hospital (I'm having it done at the Hospital for Special Surgery).  The doctor said recover is about 2 - 3 weeks.  My surgeon is Dr. Federico Girardi.

Wish me luck!