Who doesn’t love a good casserole? After all, they are the ultimate comfort food, a one-dish meal, can feed a crowd, convenient and easy to make and generally freeze well! Gone are the days of fat laden, calorie-laden casseroles – today’s casseroles are full of tasty, unique and healthy ingredients.
Casseroles are great – kids love them too! If you are a parent, you may feel pressured to act as a short-order cook – cooking “diet” food for yourself and another dish (or dishes) for your family. If this is your mindset, think again and read on! Below are some tips on getting your family to try new healthy dishes.
- Healthy cooking websites offer you real meal ideas that the whole family can enjoy – just check out www.cookinglight.com or mealsmatter.com.
- Let your family know that the healthy changes you are making are good for the whole family and kindly inform them that you are not a short-order cook! After all, you are the parent and get to decide what to eat, where to eat and what time to eat. They get to decide how much!
- Children should be eating what you are eating! When introducing new food – try one new thing at time or offer a couple of vegetable choices. Remember to let them try what they like and not to force new foods – they will eat if they are hungry!
- Get your children involved in the process by teaching them about the ingredients, letting them pick out their favorite color of fruit or vegetable at the market, letting them pick out a recipe to try or having them help you prepare the dish. This really makes them feel like they have power and choices!
- Try having a “kids” night where you have “kid” food! Just give these foods a healthy make-over! For example, chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese can be made healthy too.
In the end, you’ll feel great knowing your family is learning how to enjoy and prepare healthy foods!
Moroccan Chicken Casserole
- Small amount of stock or water, for frying
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts (4oz each), cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large eggplant, cut into thin slices
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 3 tablespoons raisins
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon tumeric
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 14-ounce cans of no-salt added diced tomatoes
- 1 cup canned chickpeas
- 1 cup dry whole wheat couscous
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
Directions:
- In a large pan, heat oil and fry chicken breasts with onion, garlic, salt and pepper, until cooked through.
- Add eggplant and spices to the chicken, mix well and sauté for5 minutes. Add all ingredients into a large casserole dish.
- Add canned tomatoes, chickpeas, cilantro, couscous and raisins to the casserole.
- Bake for approximately 1hour at 350F.
Servings: 6
Nutrition Information: 315 calories , 18 g protein, 56 g carbs, 3.5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 403 mg sodium, 13 g fiber
Please note: The information in this article is not to be followed as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult with your physician or primary health practitioner for information regarding your own personalhealth and necessary treatments.
