Healthy Version of Chicken Carbonara

Healthy Chicken Carbonara!

YUMMY YUMMY IN MY TUMMY!     

This dish is an all time favorite for some, yummy carb-o loading for others. I personally have never tried it, so why not give it a whirl. I asked my mother for the recipe and I tweaked it just a bit to make it more than healthy. 
I have five healthier switches in this recipe. 
The first healthy switch that was made was switching regular bacon to turkey bacon. I switched over to buying Jennie-O's Turkey bacon about 4 years ago. I think it tastes leaner and it is far less greasy! 3 slices of bacon is considered one serving. When comparing bacon with turkey bacon side by side, there are some noticeable differences. 

• Regular Pork Bacon has 60 calories as compared to Jennie-O which has almost half that, 35. 
• When comparing fat, regular bacon has 5 grams of fat and 1.5 grams of that is saturated fat,  Jennie-O it has 3 grams of fat and 1 gram of saturated fat. 

All of these show, Jennie-O is better.
The second healthy switch that was made changed regular noodles to whole grain noodles. It is important to use whole grain because it provides you with key vitamins and are a source of complex carbs. Whole grains are typically low in fat as well. They are also a good source of fiber. You probably eat all types of grains everyday, but making sure they are whole grains are even better. If you are unsure whether or not something is whole grained take a quick peek at the nutrition label. The word "whole" should appear in the first of the ingredients list.
The next healthy switch that was made was switching from 2% milk to skim. Comparing an 8 ounce glass of 2% and skim:

• 2% has 5 grams of fat, 3 of which are saturated and contains 130 calories.
• Skim has 0 grams of fat and 110 calories

Clearly the better choice is skim milk! NO FAT!

The fourth change I made was to not use heavy whipping cream, but instead use cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is packed with calcium and potassium. Calcium helps with muscle function as well as playing a critical role tooth and bone density and function. However there is a downfall when using cottage cheese, it tends to be high in sodium. But when comparing this to heavy whipping cream there is no doubt you will want to use cottage cheese. There is 821 calories in just one cup! Cottage cheese only has 222, nearly 1/4 go heavy whipping cream!

The final switch that was made to this yummy carbonara was using low-sodium chicken broth instead of regular. 1 cup of low sodium chicken broth has 15 calories  and 570 mg of sodium. Regular broth is even higher in sodium with 763 grams of sodium and 38 calories. While both are high in sodium, the best bet would be to go with lower sodium intake. 

Utensils needed:

1 large non-stick skillet for chicken and sauce

1 smaller non-stick skillet for bacon

Sharp knife

Spatula or a fork (used for turning and cutting chicken, so whichever you prefer)

Medium sized pot

Colander

A whisk

A wooden spoon

And a big bowl for serving

Ingredients include:

2-3 Chicken breasts, depending on how many you are feeding and the size of the chicken boob

3 Strips of turkey bacon (Healthy switch #1; Turkey bacon not regular bacon)

1/2 Small box of noodles (Healthy switch #2; I switched regular for whole grain)

4-6 Quarts of water (boiling noodles in)

3 Cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 Cup skim milk (Healthy switch #3; Switch 2% milk for skim)

1/8 Cup fat free cottage cheese (Healthy switch #4; use cottage cheese vs. heavy whipping cream)

1 Cup low sodium chicken broth (switch #5; low sodium, not regular broth)

3 Tablespoons of flour

3/4 Cup Parmesan shavings

2 Tablespoons Parsley

Salt & Pepper to taste

Not a huge list of things, some of which you probably already have and if you don't you should consider having!!

Down to making this pasta dish!!

Preparing the meat: You are going to start by, simultaneously, cooking the chicken breasts and bacon. The chicken can take about 6-9 minutes on each side depending on size. The bacon on the other hand takes like, 4-6 minutes on each side, depending on if you like it more crispy or soft, I went for a bit crispy because I figured the sauce would soften it up a bit. So I cooked it for 5 minutes on each side. While this is taking place, put the water in a pan with a tiny bit of olive oil (to prevent the noodles from sticking. I was taught this from an early age and never questioned it)

Preparing the noodles/sauce: Once the water is boiling; put the noodles in and set the timer for 9 minutes. I would say make about half of the box, depending on how many people you plan on serving this too. The recipe feeds six, but I only used about ½-2/3 of the box and then had a lot of cooked noodles left over. Depending on what you want. Then begin to make the sauce. I thought omgosh this sauce is going to be done wayyy before the noodles, but that was not true, I was still actually making the sauce when the noodles got done! 

Anyway, I digress, start by frying up the 3 cloves of minced garlic (I actually have a jar that is already minced, so I don't have to get the smell on my hands. There is a conversion on the jar, 1/2 teaspoon per clove. So I added 2 teaspoons, because I love garlic!!) You only want to fry this for 2-3 minutes on LOW heat, otherwise the garlic will brown to quickly and turn into a bitter taste, took me a few tries before I nailed it!

After the garlic is cooked, add skim milk (3/4 cup). The garlic is a bit brown in the picture because I got organic garlic in a jar, and it comes in a darker shade. However make sure to keep an eye on it, so it does not get any darker and turn bitter!

Then, instead of adding heavy whipping cream, which is LOADED with saturated fats, I switched to fat free cottage cheese. The original recipe called for 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream, but when using cottage cheese as a thickening agent you only want to use half of what the original calls for, so I added 1/8 cup. The brown things floating around in the picture are the garlic floating in the milk. J

Then whisk in 1 cup of chicken broth, Low Sodium! At this point there will now be white clumps floating, do not worry. When on medium heat the cottage cheese did not curdle, it is just the curds; they will disappear as they melt.

Continue whisking while you add the 3 Tablespoons of flour. This will again be used as a thickening agent. Continue whisking for about 2 minutes or until you can feel the sauce starting to thicken. (Believe me, you will be able to tell!) This shows a better picture of the curds in the milk! Not curdled, just not melted yet.

Once the sauce just begins to thicken, add 3/4 cup of the Parmesan shavings. It will quickly thicken as the cheese melts. This a good time to tell you the rest of the time will go by quickly, so continuing to whisk the sauce will help keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Then add 2 Tablespoons of parsley. I didn't have any fresh, so I used dried leaves we had in the cupboard. But if I were to make it again, I would try it with fresh parsley instead.

Then add the salt and pepper to taste!

By now my timer has beeped at me twice, so I take the noodles, run them through a colander.

I turn around and the sauce is real nice and thick. Add the noodles, with a SMALL amount of the water and mix the noodles with the sauce.

Toss the two together until the noodles are completely covered, then pour sauce over the chicken/bacon mix (which is already in the serving bowl). Toss a bit more until everything is covered. 

AND WAMM BAMM THANK YOU MA'AM! It is done!! This was really yummy and may just make its way into the dinner rotation!