Tag Archives: gina’s

Sofrito Chicken Stew

Skinless chicken legs and thighs, slowly stewed in light beer (it cooks out) with scallions, tomatoes, cilantro, peppers, garlic and spices.

As the colder weather slowly approaches in the coming months, this dish will warm your kitchen and hopefully give you the same comfort it gives me.

My favorite way to eat this is served over rice with a slice of avocado. I make so many variations of this dish depending on what I have on hand; sometimes I add baby potatoes, yucca, or I’ll make it without the beer. If you are really opposed to cooking with alcohol, perhaps a non-alcoholic beer or simply adding water would work instead.

For those of you who already make this, and perhaps have this printed out, I made some slight modifications to this and previously listed the servings for two pieces of chicken, but realistically one piece over rice with sauce fills me up perfectly. I based the points off of 1 drumstick should be the same. The rice is not calculated here, that would be extra.

Sofrito Chicken Stew
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1 thigh • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 3 pts
Calories: 129.1 • Fat: 4.7 g • Protein: 14.6 g • Carb: 5.9 g • Fiber: 1.2 g • Sugar: 0.7 g Sodium: 675.4 mg

Ingredients:

For Sofrito:

1 tbsp olive oil
6 scallions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup diced red bell pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp salt
1 packet sazón or 1 tsp annatto seed powder

For Stew:

8 pieces chicken legs. on the bone, skin removed
1/2 tsp garlic powder
6 oz light beer
1 cup water
salt to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped (or to taste)

Directions:

Heat oil in a deep saute pan. Add scallions and garlic, sauté 2 minutes, add tomatoes and peppers. Season with salt, cumin, and sazón or annatto. Set aside.

Season chicken with salt and garlic powder; add to center of the pan allowing chicken to brown slightly on both sides. Combine chicken with sofrito, and add beer, water and cilantro, adjust salt if needed. Cover pan and simmer on low until chicken is cooked through, about 20-30 minutes. Serve over rice.

Spaghetti with Mushrooms, Asparagus, Garlic and Oil

I’ve been getting a lot of requests for pasta recipes lately so I though this would be a nice addition to my recipes. I love pasta, but I try not to eat it too often because it’s high in points. When I do make pasta, I use a lot of vegetables and less pasta so it becomes filling without all the extra points. Any mushrooms would be great for this recipe, or even a combination of a variety of mushrooms. Simple and ready in under 15 minutes.

Zuzu’s Note:  If you can find Ronzoni Smart Taste or Ronzoni Healthy Harvest pasta the Old Weight Watchers points dips from 6 to 5!!!

Spaghetti with Mushrooms, Garlic and Oil
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 4 • Size: 1/4 of recipe • Old Points: 6/5 pts • Points+: 8 pts
Calories: 292.6 • Fat: 8.1 g • Carb: 45.7 g • Fiber: 3.1 g • Protein: 9.9 g • Sugar: 2.6

Ingredients:

12 oz baby bella mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus, tough ends removed, quartered
3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 lb (8 oz.) uncooked spaghetti
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
salt and fresh pepper

Directions:

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until soft, about 1 minute. Add the sliced mushrooms, asparagus, salt and pepper and sauté about 2 minutes. Add white wine and cook another 3 minutes.

Before draining the pasta reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Drain pasta and toss with mushrooms, parsley and pepper. If pasta is too dry, add a little of the reserved pasta water. Serve with grated cheese if you wish.