Peter Crosta | Special Features
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It seems fitting that the first real installment, though technically the second, of my column be about the center of most people’s meals: protein. Beef is a staple of many people’s diets, and it shouldn’t be.
A quick comparison of the fat and calorie content of a skinless chicken breast and a cut of beef is staggering. According to my “Calorie Fat and Carbohydrate Counter”, a must have for any diabetic, a five-ounce chicken breast has 130 calories and 2 grams of fat; a steak of comparable weight with its fat has 383 calories and 22 grams of fat. Even a piece of beef with the fat trimmed off has 282 calories and 12 grams of fat (and would be intolerably tough).
Chicken breasts are also much cheaper. I buy mine at Costco, about $16 for 13 frozen breasts.
As far as the actual cooking equipment goes, I usually suggest a barbecue. It allows for the fat to drain off, but you don’t lose much flavor.
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The simplest way to flavor a chicken breast is to sprinkle a little garlic salt on it before it’s cooked.
When I make marinades, I stick to a simple set of rules: I always use an oil base and an acid and let the chicken marinate for at least an hour, but the more time the better. The healthy and inexpensive base I invariably go back to is olive oil. (about $22 for four liters at Costco) For an acid, when I’m not feeling experimental, I like to use oil and vinegar salad dressing or regular balsamic vinegar. The vinegar caramelizes to give the chicken a sweetness that sits on the back of the tongue without making you feel you dipped it in gooey sweet and sour sauce.
You can use most liquid fats as bases. Stay away from butter because it’s full of cholesterol and saturated fat. When branching out with acids, feel free to experiment, but I advise against lemon juice. Use lime juice instead. It isn’t overwhelmingly sour like lemon juice.
My current favorite is olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pepper, garlic and minced rosemary; barbecue over indirect medium heat for seven minutes on one side and three minutes on the other.
There you have it, a healthy and delicious entrée for about $2. Now take all that money you saved and buy yourself a bottle of unoaked chardonnay to drink with it.