Healthy Meal: Brandy and Orange Chicken Breasts Topped with Stuffed Shrimp

You asked for it, and you got it: my meals and recipe modifications are back!

After a grueling race yesterday (halfway done with the race report), my muscles are pretty sore and in need of some recovery. Combining that with the fact that I have a ton of frozen proteins I want to start using up, the solution was to use crab, shrimp, and chicken in this recipe from Rachael Ray for Brandy and Orange Chicken Breasts Topped with Stuffed Shrimp.

I wanted to make the recipe for two servings instead of four, but I also wanted to use up certain portions of my ingredients, so I basically just used the flavors/ingredients and then played the proportions by ear. I also made a few substitutions, namely: green bell pepper for red bell pepper, imitation crab meat cooked and flaked instead of lump crab meat, wheat bread instead of white bread, triple sec instead of brandy and orange zest, and most significantly, large shrimp instead of jumbo shrimp. This last change is important, because it meant I couldn’t stuff the shrimp but was instead mixing them into the stuffing. (Can you call it stuffing if it’s not stuffing anything?)

To make the recipe, I sprayed a skillet with olive oil using my Misto, then added just 1 tsp of butter in order to saute the veggies. Not having a toaster since I set mine on fire a few months ago and never bothered to replace it, I pulled out my trusty George Foreman grill, slapped the bread on, and toasted it that way – this has saved me on many occasions. I used just one slice of the wheat bread, so divided up into two portions, it’s definitely not too carb-heavy.

When it came time to “stuff” the shrimp (which I couldn’t do because I was using cheapo shrimp instead of jumbo sized ones that I could butterfly), I simply used a spray of olive oil to coat the bottom of my baking dish, then took the tails off my shrimp and spread them in a layer on the bottom of the dish. I spooned the stuffing on top in one big layer, and then popped it into the oven for about 8 minutes until it browned and got just a teeny bit crunchy.

As for the chicken breasts, these were seasoned and then cooked on the Foreman – healthier and quicker than pan frying them. For the sauce, I first started with about 1/2 tsp of olive oil, then added about an ounce of triple sec and let it cook down (it took a while since I had put so much triple sec in – what can I say, I like my alcohol). To that, I added about 1 tsp of butter, and then tossed in just a splash of orange juice for good measure.

To plate it, I also steamed some green beans, and then topped them and the chicken breast with the orange sauce. I put the stuffing on the side instead of on top of the chicken, because I wanted to be able to see the beautiful grill marks and sauce rather than having them hidden under the pile 🙂

483 calories per serving (recipe here)

Review: 4/5 stars
This was a little higher in calories than I first thought it would be (though actually, it’s probably a bit lower than that calculation, as a lot of the alcohol is burned off). However, when I realized it contains a whopping 57 grams of protein, it all made sense. That is a TON of protein! Probably more than I need, but it was delicious and my muscles need to repair themselves, so I don’t care 🙂 As for the taste, I thought the stuffing was just okay – not anything super special, but decent, and it paired well with the chicken. However, the orange “brandy” butter sauce was really delicious, and I’d consider making that again on its own as a topper for various meats and veggies. Tasty!