Pre-Prepared Foods... Not all bad!

Focus on good nutrition while making use of pre-prepared foods and you'll find that healthy eating is easy!

For protein, you can buy fish or poultry that’s already seasoned and ready for quick grilling or frozen pre-cooked shrimp that can be tossed with some pasta and veggies for a quick dish.  And don’t overlook canned tuna, salmon or chicken breast that can be added to salad greens, rice dishes or soups.

You can also boost the nutritional value of condensed soups by mixing them with nonfat milk or soy milk instead of water.  As the soup is heating, toss in some frozen mixed vegetables, or some loose pack spinach to add nutrition, flavor and bulk.  Frozen-loose pack vegetables allow you to use only what you need and are ready to eat in minutes.

Salad preparation can also be quick thanks to pre-washed salad greens, all sorts of pre-sliced and chopped veggies and baby carrots.  Add a splash of low-fat bottled dressing and some pre-cooked chicken or shrimp and you’ve got a quick and healthy meal.

Fresh, pre-washed and cut veggies are available in the produce section, and if your market has a salad bar you can often find them there, too.  Pop them in the steamer, toss with some pre-chopped garlic or onions when they’re crisp/tender, and you’ve got a gourmet dish in minutes.

BBQ Chicken En 

Papillote

This quick and easy recipe combines chicken, sweet potato, butter beans, green beans and tangy BBQ sauce. It’s simple, the meat turns out tender, and there’s virtually no clean up!

Be sure to slice the sweet potato very thin, as you want it to be tender at the end of the 30-minute baking time. This is also why we are using thin sliced chicken breast, in order to make sure that the meat is cook through.

Courtesy of RealHealthyRecipes.com

Servings: 4

Here’s what you need

• 2 shallots, thinly sliced into half moons
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced into half moons
• 1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 (16 ounce) can butter beans
• ½ cup natural BBQ sauce (avoid ones with added sugars)
• 4 chicken breast, thin sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400º F.
2. In a large bowl toss the shallots, sweet potatoes, green beans and butter beans with half of the BBQ sauce. Rub the remaining sauce over the chicken breasts.
3. Cut four 12-by-16-inch pieces of parchment paper and fold each in half. Open the parchment paper and arrange ¼ of the sweet potato and green beans and a chicken breast in the center of the top half of each parchment. Generously season with salt and pepper. Top with a sprinkle of chives.
4. Fold the bottom half of the parchment paper over the chicken and veggies. Start folding and crimping the parchment paper ends together from one end all the way around to the other end, creating a sealed envelope. Fold the end under the packet. The packet should be fully encased, with no breaks in the parchment paper for steam to escape – we need that steam as part of the cooking process! Place the packets on a pan.
5. Bake the chicken and veggie packets for 30 minutes and remove from the oven. Serve the packets on plates, tearing them open just before serving. Enjoy!

Nutritional Analysis

One serving equals: 268 calories, 4g fat, 22g carbohydrate, 3g sugar, 625mg sodium, 5g fiber, and 35g protein.

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