Issue Date: April 13, 2008
It's a wrap
Want a meal that's flexible, healthful and complete? Just reach for aluminum foil. A quick trip to the oven or grill and dinner is done.
With your choice of chicken, pork or seafood, three flavoring options and 10 vegetables, you can create delicious dinner packets based on what's in the fridge.
As the oven preheats, simply toss and enclose the protein, flavoring and vegetable selection in foil packets, then shove them in the oven. That's it. In no more than 15 minutes (unattended time, by the way), you've got a colorful, fresh dinner. While the packets cook, make and enjoy a salad, or sit and relax with a glass of wine. How civil is that!
So that everything cooks perfectly and evenly, make sure the oven rack is at the lowest level (or the grill is good and hot) and the protein is arranged over the vegetables, each in a single layer. And before opening the packets, let them rest three minutes so that the residual heat can gently finish the cooking. Serve with a little rice or couscous to absorb all those flavorful juices.
Go to top
Dinner in a foil packet
Serves 4
Adjust the oven rack to its lowest position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Or heat gas grill, igniting all burners on high for at least 10 minutes. Or build a hot fire in a charcoal grill.
Pick and prepare a protein
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds of one of the following:
Pork tenderloin, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, in 1/2-inch slices
Extra-large (21 to 25 count) peeled, deveined shrimp
"Dry" sea scallops (untreated with additives and water)
Center-cut salmon fillets
Pick and mix a flavoring combo:
Lemon Dill
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
4 large green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. each, salt and ground black pepper
Barbecue
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
4 large green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
1 tsp. each, salt and ground black pepper
Italian
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup crushed canned tomatoes
2 tsps. Italian seasoning
1/4 cup capers
1 tsp. each, salt and ground black pepper
Pick and prepare a vegetable
1 pound of one of the following:
Asparagus, cut into 1-inch lengths
Bell peppers (2 large, 1 red and 1 yellow), stemmed, cored and cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
Bok choy, halved, cored and thinly sliced
Sliced mushrooms
Bean sprouts
Zucchini or yellow squash, trimmed and thinly sliced (halve lengthwise, if large)
Eggplant, trimmed and thinly sliced (halve lengthwise, if large)
Sugar snap or snow peas
Cherry or grape tomatoes
Fennel, trimmed, halved, cored and thinly sliced
DIRECTIONS
Mix protein, flavoring and vegetable in a bowl. Tear off 4 12-by-18-inch sheets of heavy-duty foil; divide mixture among them, arranging protein atop vegetables, each in a single layer. For each packet, bring long sides of foil together and fold over about 1/2 inch; crimp to seal. Repeat folding and crimping, lengthwise, twice more. Fold ends twice to seal. Set packets on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. If grilling, set packets on hot rack; cover and grill for 8 minutes. Let packets stand 3 minutes.
Contributing Editor Pam Anderson is the author of five cookbooks. Her latest is "The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great" (Houghton Mifflin, $27), from which this healthful, low-cal recipe comes.
|
