One of the things I used to declare to the world was how terrible of a cook I am. I think it’s quite easy to dismiss yourself from participating in something you’ve never been properly instructed on or tried of your accord. Right now I’m looking at you, fellow Dads!
Through my weight loss journey I learned a lot about nutrition and portion sizes. That has helped immensely in our life because my wife is a corporate woman who is often too busy to cook although she enjoys doing it and is an absolutely amazing one.
Total time from prep to dish: 25 minutes
Serves: Four 225 lb Vikings
Ingredients
4 Chicken Breasts,
(2) 3 oz packages of Prosciutto
5 Zucchini
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Lime juice
Preheat your oven to 170F. Coat a pan with some olive oil, like 2 tablespoons. I pre-cook my chicken breasts en mass in a pot with a sous vide (if you do not know what that is or how it is used, I will include a brief description below). If you use one as well, simply brown both sides for a couple minutes and move on. If not, season the chicken with salt & pepper and cook your breasts until they are cooked close to 165 degrees F. You will get a chance to check your REQUIRED internal temp at the end of this preparation but it does help for your internal temperature to be as close to 165 degrees Fahrenheit as you can. While the chicken is cooking, thinly slice the zucchini and set it aside. After the chicken breasts are cooked, toss them into a baking tray placed inside the oven.
Cook time: 5-10 minutes
Now cook that prosciutto until it is brown and crisp (about 10 minutes). Leave all that leftover oil and deliciousness in the pan when you remove the prosciutto to add flavor to the zucchini. Toss the prosciutto in the baking pan (in the oven) with the chicken then begin sauteing your zucchini until it’s tender. Season it generously with garlic powder. It’s good for you.
Hopefully you remembered to preheat your oven at the beginning of this process. If not, don’t sweat it man, because it’s one of the most common mistakes we all make when cooking. Just get that oven up to temp and be cool with adding an extra couple minutes to your final cooktime. Once the zucchini is cooked, throw the remaining ingredients together in your baking pan and put it in the the oven while you start cleanup. Fellow Vikings, you gotta do cleanup as you go and finish most of it right before you serve dinner. TRUST ME, just do it. The time your food spends in the oven is just enough to equalize the temperature and performs a “rest.” My people, I cannot insist enough on the performance of a rest when smoking and grilling (stay tuned for future videos and posts on those, I LOVE to grill and smoke meat). I still try to institute a few minute rest with my dinners.
After 5-10 minutes of the baking pan sitting in the oven you can take an internal temp reading of the chicken and if the temp has reached 165 degrees F you are good to serve. You made it.
You’re welcome. Internet.
The Sous Vide
Alright people, I use a Sous Vide for most of my meals. Essentially it is a heatstick with an impeller and is capable of slow-cooking a large pot of stuff at once. I stuff my food into 1-gallon ziplock bags and slow-cook fish, chicken, steak ANYTHING. You can even reheat an entire meal in the bag by bringing it up to cook temps. Because you are cooking the food in water, you won’t ever scorch anything. This thing is amazing. You can connect to your Wifi and turn on the unit if you are away. Why you wanna do this is beyond me since you can keep your food immersed in water at the proper temp for hours with no negative effects. Give it a try!
