Low-cal vs. comfort food

Lupe and I are trying to eat a little healthier lately. We're cutting out some of the fat, carbs and sugar to try and lose a little wight and maybe increase our lifespan. First the good stuff and then a little backsliding.

I wanted to prove to Lupe that I could make a tasty Mexican dish without having the requisite three starches (rice, beans & tortillas). I figured that grilled chicken breasts and chiles would be a good start. I had a package of giant chicken breasts sitting in the fridge, so that part of the menu was pretty much a no-brainer. I made a marinade from pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, sherry, olive oil, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika and various chile (Cayenne, ancho & morita). I gave the chicken a quick bath in the marinade while I got the rest of the stuff ready for diner. Oh yeah; that took about five minutes. I got the grill blazing and then added a bunch of hickory chips for some flavor. I started the breasts on the hottest part of the grill to get some nice grill marks. Because of the limited marinating time, I wanted to baste the chicken frequently. When I started to get some flare-ups I shifted the chicken to the upper rack and closed the lid. After about 45 minutes the chicken was about done. I threw a mix of chiles (poblano, Anaheim and jalepeno) on the lower grill to get some char on the skins. While the chicken was resting we peeled, seeded and cut the chiles into strips. The chicken was served simply with the chile and some crumbled cotija cheese.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

OK, now for some comfort food. This is not your typically gut busting comfort food. I'd like to think that it was marginally healthy. Well, at least it had some healthy elements. I started with some bacon (this isn't the healthy part...just want to make that clear). I cut the bacon into one inch pieces and slowly rendered them down. When crispy, the bacon was removed along with some of the grease. Into a non-stick skillet went some diced red potato and onion. This was seasoned with salt, pepper, Cayenne, garlic powder and smoked paprika. In a larger pan I sautéed some diced onion and mushrooms. Once the onion and mushroom had cooked down, I added cubed lean ham that I had spiced with Cayenne. The pan was deglazed with sherry and then I added about 2/3 cup of beef stock. As the stock came to a boil I added 3lbs of leaf spinach.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

While the spinach cooked down I steamed some sliced carrots. The potatoes had crisped up nicely on the edges and were cooked through. I added some of the crumbled bacon and then a splash of beef stock to deglaze and create a little glaze on the potatoes. These were removed to a heavy dish, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and covered to facilitate melting. When the spinach was ready I added the rest of the crumbled bacon and some cream. The cream thickened up and was ready to go. This is the ultimate creamed spinach; spicy with chunks of ham. MmmmmmmMmmm! The potatoes were a cheesy, crispy, spicy flavor bomb for your mouth. Yummy. The carrots........well somewhere along the way Lupe tossed the remainder of the cheddar cheese in with the carrots. That was interesting.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images