Photos by Richard Melick

Bringing Some Color to the Healthy Plate

This post is brought to you courtesy of your friends at NatureRaised Farms® & Alexia® but all the opinions and content are mine. #farmtoflavorrecipes

Okay New Years resolutions, I will not let you out of my grasp this time.

Yes, I know I say that every year, but things have changed, situations better, and now I feel ready to take on my arch nemesis in my goal to be healthier – food.

I love to cook, love trying new and delicious recipes, eating meals packed with flavor and if I must be honest, being a bit of a glutton when it came to finding that next incredible dish. Is this okay every now and then? Absolutely. But every night? Well of course not. But I love flavor, hate the bland, and that tends to be where I fall off the health wagon.

But it doesn’t have to be that way anymore, especially with so many different culinary options out there. All it takes is a bit of time to find the right mix without losing that delicious, desired flavor.

So shopping around at Target for this week’s groceries (hello Cartwheel Offers), mixing and matching unique combinations for dinner, I stumble on NatureRaised Farms® Gluten Free Grilled Chicken. Now, I’m not too worried about gluten free, but what caught my eye was the fact that here was some 100% all natural, quick-prep chicken with no added hormones that hit on the nutrients I was looking for in a protein. Now, chicken being the most versatile protein on the market, I wanted to find something packed with flavor for a side.

What goes well with grilled chicken? Potatoes, and specifically sweet potatoes. Now, I could pick up a fresh yam, steam and cook it, but I know I would just load it up with brown sugar and butter which would be a tad counterproductive. And a nice roasted sweet potato hash sounded really good. Perfect.. Alexia® Sweet Potato Fries will hit the spot.

I’ve always loved the Alexia® brand of frozen goods, so this was an easy choice, and while there would be a tad bit more prep involved, I knew I would get the exact flavor I craved from these every time. And with the Cartwheel app, I get to save 15% on both NatureRaised Farms® frozen chicken and Alexia® frozen products, saving me a bit of money while putting good food in my freezers.

Now let’s get to the delicious part. Starting out and chopping up 2 servings (as I need to feed the girlfriend as well) of the fries into cubes, I baked these in the oven for about 15 minutes, bringing out more of the color and allowing the natural sugars to deepen in flavor. I didn’t need to add any seasoning or oils to get them nice and crispy and keep them from sticking to the pan (another reason I love Alexia® brands).

While the potatoes are cooking, I tossed the chicken into a small skillet and cooked them up, adding a pinch of salt, pepper, and olive oil (about a teaspoon) to the whole thing for about 6 minutes. As the chicken picked up some of the brown coloring I love, I pulled the skillet off to let the meat rest. As it is all pre-cooked, this was merely a cosmetic and flavor adding step.

With the sweet potatoes done, it was time for the little secret ingredient to make this dish really pop. After pulling the tray out, I sprinkled the hash with red curry powder and plated. Why curry powder? Well, the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes combined with the bitters and spice of the curry really places a melody on the tongue without overwhelming, while also bringing a fun kick to the dish as a whole.

All in all, this has become an incredibly easy, delicious, and healthy meal to make. Pairing the NatureRaised Farms® Frozen Chicken and Alexia® Sweet Potato Fries together and the little curry powder really brought a savory dinner that can be made in 20 minutes. With my Cartwheel Offers app at Target, I was even able to save 15% off the price of both, putting some money back in my pocket and letting me bring home something delicious to cook.