Chicken with Caramelized Cauliflower and Green Olives

Whenever I come across recipe slideshows, usually guided by my MSN.com homepage at work, I always email myself the ones I find most appetizing, in hopes of trying them out one day.  Last night I decided to try one of the new healthy recipes I found online on Delish.com’s 50 New Year’s Resolution Eats, Chicken with Caramelized Cauliflower and Green Olives.  What initially caught my attention were the words caramelized cauliflower.  I love both of them individually, so I was excited to see them together!

Delish.com is a wonderful site.  Not only does it provide the recipe, it also provides the nutritional information, conversion chart, US/Metric measurements, shopping list, pictures, reviews, and you can also submit your own version.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 head (2 1/2- to 3-pound) cauliflower, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
  
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 pound chicken breast tenders, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 tsp freshly grated lemon peel
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1/3 cup pitted green olives, rinsed well
• 1/4 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus additional for garnish (I bought the entire bunch of parsley, but you don’t need much at all)

Ingredients

Side note: I love finding different olive oils and I hardly purchase olive oil from the supermarket.  I do believe that the oil you use makes a difference in the cooking, so olive oil is one of the ingredients I am very picky about.  For a while I was really into the Portuguese brand CARM, but recently I came across the Italian brand Partanna after trying it at a restaurant.  Both brands I have found on Amazon.com and are priced in the $20 range.  The one supermarket-bought olive oil I do like but I rarely find is the Lucini Italia Organic olive oil (it must be the organic one).

Partanna Olive Oil

On with the directions!

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. In an 18 inch by 12 inch jelly-roll pan (I lined the pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up), combine  the cauliflower, 2 tsp of oil, 1/8 tsp of salt, and 1/8 tsp of freshly ground black pepper until well mixed.  Spread the cauliflower in single layer on  the pan.  Roast 20 to 25 minutes or until cauliflower is golden brown.
3. While the cauliflower roasts, in a large bowl, combine the chicken, lemon peel, 1 tsp of oil, 1/4 tsp of salt, and 1/4 tsp of freshly ground black pepper.
4. Push the cauliflower to one side of the pan and arrange the chicken in a single layer on the other side.  Roast 10 minutes longer or until chicken just loses its pink color throughout.  (It took me 10 minutes.)
5. Meanwhile, in a food processor with the knife blade attached, pulse the almonds until finely ground.  Add the olives and parsley and pulse until almost smooth.
6. With the machine running, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil until it’s fully incorporated, scraping sides of bowl as needed. (My food processor does not let me keep it running and opened at the same time, so I stopped it, added the oil, then started it again.)
7. Add the mixture to the pan with the hot chicken and cauliflower and stir until well combined.  Transfer to serving plates and garnish with additional parsley.  (I didn’t do the garnish out of personal preference.)

Serves 4

Nutritional Information
(per serving)

NOTES

First things first, the word caramelized is misleading.  After reading the ingredients I knew it wouldn’t fit your traditional version of caramelized, but since I really like cauliflower, I decided to give the dish a try nonetheless.  This ended up being a delicious and healthy new discovery!  Could it have used more olive oil and salt?  Sure, but then it wouldn’t be as healthy as advertised.  I would definitely make this dish again.  It is easy to make, tasty, light and filling.  I also really liked the mixture that was made in the food processor.  I think it even has potential of becoming a dip.

Enjoy!

Adri

P.S.  For dessert I tried Skinny Cow’s Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwich.  At 150 calories and 2 g of fat… delish!