Chicken with Red Onions and Spinach Lemon Cream Sauce
Plus the frequently answered question as to why I don't have nutritional info in my cookbooks.
I am smack in the middle of producing and performing in the first annual Corkscrew Comedy Festival here in the Santa Ynez Valley of California.
Day 1 sold out completely, and the show was epic. Now I’m taking a moment to post this new yummy recipe between hosting fantastic comics at the house, prepping boxed lunches for our Sunday lunch show, and hopefully scribbling down a few new jokes to tell tonight on stage.
After all, just because there’s a special event doesn’t mean life and commitments stop.
Eat Happy Kitchen bidnizz reminders—
There are 7 Sauce Quad Sampler Packs left, so go gitchu some. We still haven’t decided if we’re going to make this one a permanent offering.
BOGO25 is still active at Eat Happy Kitchen where you buy one spice twin pack, get a second spice twin pack for 25% off.
If you’re still on the fence about trying the Salt Dust, you can now get it on Amazon by the single canister (the first time we’ve ever offered that option). I AM OBSESSED with the Salt Dust and use it every single day. I know you will be too.
OK, back to an FAQ that I get all the time and just saw a recent comment asking again, so I figured I’d use this opportunity to reiterate my thoughts from my site here on my Substack.
From reader Becky:
I recently discovered one of your cookbooks and I am impressed with your recipes. The lack of nutritional information is very disappointing. I found your website and hoped to find it there but nope. Is there somewhere else I can go to find the nutritional content for your recipe? Thank you!
I put a lot of time into creating yummy recipes made from real food, so it means a lot that folks like Becky like them and find value in them.
People find my work from all stages and steps in life, sometimes they’re deeply ensconced in diet culture, sometimes they’ve been told by the doctor that they have to give up gluten, and other times people just want to cut out sugars and grains.
Here’s a reprint from my site’s FAQ page that I keep active, so it’s worth reposting here in light of Becky’s Q, and then we will make your new favorite, delish, easy weeknight chicken meal.
Reposted from Anna Vocino Dot Com:
I’m going to answer questions I repeatedly receive from readers right here on the blog so that the answers can live on in Google perpetuity, and hopefully these posts can become a reference for folks to use when they are seeking the deets. I get the following question often, and usually it’s not worded as kindly as it is from Jay. Here we go…buckle up as paradigms are about to get challenged…
Today’s question comes from Jay:
Bought Eat Happy, great recipes but I cannot find any nutritional info in the book. I downloaded from Apple and looked in the glossary, but do not see anything. Would like to know what I am eating. Thanks.
Hi Jay-
Thank you so much for reaching out at my site. Thanks for your purchase of the book, that support means the world to me.
If you read the intro pages of Eat Happy and Eat Happy Too, you’ll see the section titled Why Cut The Sugars And The Grains (No Sugars No Grains). NSNG® by Vinnie Tortorich is a way of eating that doesn’t count calories or macros.
So to answer your question, when you cook recipes from any Eat Happy cookbook, you are eating real food.
I’ve posted the intro pages here, plus you can view them on the Look Inside feature on Amazon.
It is my life’s mission to use my voice to nourish people through food. Part of that mission is informed by my life experience of being a disordered eater and perpetual dieter. I had convinced myself that if I just counted enough calories, macros, grams, etc, then I would lose weight and be virtuous. But instead I created a morass of dysfunction in my habits and beliefs that I needed to spend years to unwind.
Going low carb helped me unwind that paradigm that was no longer serving me.
Now I trust my body knows how to give me satiety signals now that I focus on eating real food: meats, veg, healthy fats, nuts, seeds, full fat dairy, seasonings, spices, herbs, and the occasional fruit are the foods that work for me.
I know not everyone is ready to stop counting, and that’s okay too! But to me, the counting represents diet mentality, and the way I eat is not a diet.
ALL THAT BEING SAID…if you really don’t like my answer and absolutely must have the nutritional info, that’s okay too. Everyone is where they are!
Readers have told me that all the recipes are in My Fitness Pal, or you can copy and paste the ingredient list into Google or Whisk and get the info that way.
Thanks again for your support.
OK, TIME FOR CHICKEN!!
Here’s the downloadable, printable version of this recipe.
You want to make this immediately…
CHICKEN WITH RED ONIONS AND SPINACH LEMON CREAM SAUCE
(Serves 2-4)
2-4 chicken breasts, pounded thin
Salt and pepper (or use Salt Dust)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chicken broth
Zest of 1 lemon, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
2-3 cups packed spinach (or use 1 bag)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Season the thin chicken breasts well with salt and pepper (or Salt Dust).
Heat the olive oil in a large, flat-bottomed sauté pan to medium high heat, and fry the chicken breasts for 3-4 minutes on each side, until done through. Remove the chicken from the pan and set on a plate while completing the rest of the dish.
To the hot pan, add the red onion slices, letting soften for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth. The pan will sizzle. Stir the onions and let cook another 2-3 minutes until they soften more. Then add in the lemon zest and pour over the lemon juice and toss the onions in the lemon juice. Fold in the spinach with the onions to wilt the spinach, about 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir in the heavy cream and season once more with salt and pepper. Add the chicken breast back into the pan and cover with the veggies and lemon cream sauce. Serve immediately.
yum. making this fo sho.
Makin' my mouth water!!!