I love the traditional Hungarian dish called Chicken Paprikash. It is made by adding sour cream to the broth that is created from roasting a chicken and typically that gravy is poured over your chicken (cut up) and homemade dumplings. It is delicious, but depending on how many dumplings you eat, it can be very high carb, and it contains wheat and dairy.

I recently came up with this recipe as a way to enjoy the flavors I love without the wheat and dairy, and by using peas you have a lower net carb, yet very nutritious, substitute for the dumplings. One cup of peas has about 20 grams of carb, 7 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein, so the net carbs are in a very acceptable range of about 13 grams per 1 cup serving.

Serves: 16

Time to Table: 60 minutes

Healing Nutrient Spotlight

Excellent source of niacin, vitamin B-6, selenium
Good source of riboflavin

Ingredients*

1 16-oz bag frozen organic peas
3 pounds chicken breast tenderloins
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp Hungarian paprika
6 oz. tofu-based sour cream
Dash of red pepper
1 tsp arrowroot powder

*Use organic ingredients for optimal nutrition.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°. Place chicken into a glass baking dish and set aside. Heat oil in frying pan, add chopped onions and sauté. While sautéing, add paprika, salt, black and red pepper. Stir and cook until onions are clear and softened, about 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Spoon oil and onion mixture onto the chicken breast meat and spread it around to coat the chicken with the onion mixture. After you have spooned out all of the oil that you can, put 1/2 cup of water into the frying pan, swirl it around to collect the remaining onions and seasonings, and pour the water into the baking dish with the chicken. Bake the chicken in oven uncovered for about 40 minutes.

While chicken is baking, cook your peas. Peas do not need to cook for very long at all. The best way to cook them is to bring your water to a boil first, add peas and cook for only 1 or 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Remove the chicken from the baking dish, and cut up into bite-sized pieces. Pour drippings from the baking dish back into the frying pan, and stir in the arrowroot. Add sour cream and stir with whisk. Turn burner onto low and heat the gravy mixture to thicken and blend ingredients. Add peas and chicken and mix well. Serve and enjoy.

Nutrition

350 calories, 43 g protein, 14 g carbohydrates, 13 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 5 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 105 mg cholesterol, 5 g sugar, 3 g fiber, 333 IU vitamin A, .2 mg riboflavin, 12 mg niacin, .6 mg vitamin B-6, .3 mcg vitamin B-12, 5 mg vitamin C, 2 mg iron, 34 mg magnesium, 270 mg potassium, 30 mg selenium, 350 mg sodium, 2 mg zinc

[Ed. Note: Laura B. LaValle, RD, LD is presently the director of dietetics nutrition at LaValle Metabolic Institute. Laura and her husband, Jim LaValle, R.Ph, CCN, ND have developed the powerful and life-changing Metabolic Code Diet - containing step-by-step, easy to follow recommendations for harnessing optimal metabolic energy and turning your body's chemical make up into a fat-burning furnace. To learn more click here now.]