A lightened up chicken Florentine
| • | Slow, smokin' barbecue |
By Elaine Magee
Q. I was watching Paula Dean today, and she prepared chicken Florentine. I want to make some substitutions to bring down the fat and calories. Any suggestions?
A. I've had good luck lightening some of Paula's recipes, so I was happy to take this one on.
To lighten things up a bit, I used reduced-fat versions of cream of mushroom soup and cheddar cheese. Instead of 1/2 cup of real mayonnaise and 1/2 cup of sour cream, I used 1/4 cup light mayonnaise blended with 3/4 cup fat-free sour cream.
The dish is topped with a mixture of Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs dotted with a tablespoon of butter. I used the Parmesan but switched to panko crumbs and ditched the butter, because a nice spray of canola cooking spray is all you need.
The original recipe contained 700 calories, 50 grams of fat, 18 grams saturated fat, and 139 milligrams of cholesterol per serving. The lightened one is less than half the calories and fat.
If you want to freeze this entree in its baking dish for use later, wrap the baking dish with plastic wrap then foil and place in a large enough plastic freezer bag and seal. Keep in freezer until needed, then thaw in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. Unwrap the baking dish and bake as usual.
LIGHT CHICKEN FLORENTINE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 2-quart baking dish with canola cooking spray. Drain the spinach to remove excess water, then place in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the shredded chicken and set aside.
In medium bowl, combine the condensed soup, light mayonnaise, fat-free sour cream, reduced-fat cheddar, lemon juice, curry powder, black pepper and the wine together with a whisk until a sauce forms. Stir in the chicken and spinach mixture and spoon into the prepared dish. Level the top with a spatula or spoon.
In small bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the chicken mixture. Coat the top with canola cooking spray.
Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Makes 4 servings.
