Recipe Review: Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Creamy Chive sauce

I am something of a "hobby chef."  No culinary training, I just enjoy cooking!  I love looking up recipes and am addicted to Pinterest.  Since I have started counting calories, I have been making it a point to look up low calorie recipes.  I found this recipe from EatingWell and decided to try it out:

Sauteed Chicken Breast with Creamy Chive Sauce (full recipe below)

The recipe called for pretty much everything I already had on hand.  I did make a few exceptions.  What attracted me to this recipe was the calorie count.  The taste seemed kind of bland, so I did add some extras.

1. Place chicken between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until flattened to an even thickness, about 1/2 inch. Season both sides of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place 1/4 cup flour in a shallow glass baking dish and dredge the chicken in it. Discard the excess flour.     This is where I made my first change.  Instead of using all purpose flour, I opted to use whole wheat flour.  In addition I add a half a teaspoon of smoked paprika and a teaspoon of garlic powder.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover and keep warm.

3.  Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon flour; stir to coat. Add wine, broth and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil, stirring often.  In addition to the shallots, I added some minced garlic. Instead of using canned chicken stock, I used my own turkey stock left over from Thanksgiving dinner.  I poured WAY too much in.  It left my end sauce a little more soupy than would be desired.  Once again I substituted whole wheat flour. 

It was at this point I also realized I was way under on my calorie limit for the day and decided to pour myself a glass of wine since I had to open a bottle anyway!

4.  Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until heated through and no longer pink in the center, about 6 minutes. Stir in sour cream and mustard until smooth; turn the chicken to coat with the sauce. Stir in chives and serve immediately.  I choose to use nonfat sour cream.

Like I mentioned earlier, I used WAY to much turkey stock.  I just assumed it would thicken and it didn't.  My final sauce was very soupy.  To compliment my chicken, I added a side salad of field greens and spritzed some Wishbone Italian spritzer dressing onto the salad.

The total calorie count for the meal ended up being:

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Creamy Chive Sauce:  244 Calories

Side Salad:  5 Calories

Wishbone Salad Spriter: 20 Calories

8oz Glass of White Wine: 193 (I treated myself today)

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Creamy Chive Sauce

From EatingWell:  December 2005/January 2006, The EatingWell Healthy in a Hurry Cookbook (2006)

4 servings

Active Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (about 1 pound), trimmed of fat
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 large shallots, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup chopped chives
• 
  

PREPARATION

1. Place chicken between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until flattened to an even thickness, about 1/2 inch. Season both sides of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place 1/4 cup flour in a shallow glass baking dish and dredge the chicken in it. Discard the excess flour.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover and keep warm.
3. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon flour; stir to coat. Add wine, broth and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil, stirring often.
4. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until heated through and no longer pink in the center, about 6 minutes. Stir in sour cream and mustard until smooth; turn the chicken to coat with the sauce. Stir in chives and serve immediately.

NUTRITION

Per serving: 244 calories; 9 g fat ( 3 g sat , 3 g mono ); 72 mg cholesterol; 1 g carbohydrates; 26 g protein;0 g fiber; 679 mg sodium; 334 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Niacin (50% daily value), Selenium (31% dv).

Carbohydrate Servings: 1/2

Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 4 very lean meat ,1 fat