Another conference in the books. My presentation went well, but I didn’t know it until after it was over. The audience didn’t seem to be interested while I was giving it. However, after I was finished, several people came up to me afterwards telling me how interesting the presentation was. I’ll definitely take it. All in all, I had a great time and was able to connect with partners I haven’t seen in a while.

This week’s recipe is a simple one, because I am tired from travelling and will be travelling again next week. I am starting with a recipe from Lavender and Macrons for Mustard Chicken. When I did the stats for this recipe, the sodium was really high. When using mustard in a recipe, to keep the sodium low, use mustard with 55mg of sodium or less per serving. Gulden’s makes a great Dijon mustard in that range. Grey Poupon is double that. This recipe calls for bone in chicken thigh. I will be omitting the chicken broth, which also add sodium. When you have the bone, you will automatically get chicken broth when you cook it. I will be removing the skin.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I removed the skin from the chicken to lower the saturated fat
• I deleted the added salt to reduce the sodium.
• I deleted the chicken broth to reduce the sodium.
• I replaced the creme fraiche with dairy free heavy cream and sour cream to remove the dairy.
• I added red bell pepper to increase the vitamin C.
• I added carrot to increase the vitamin A.
• I added quinoa to bulk out the recipe.

Here are the final stats:

Here’s the final recipe:

Mustard Chicken

Serves 8

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1.5 pounds chicken thigh, bone in, skin removed
• 6 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 55mg sodium or lower
• 1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard, 55mg sodium or lower
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2.5 tablespoons dairy free heavy cream
• 2.5 tablespoons dairy free sour cream
• 1 cup water
• 10-15 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small onion sliced
• 1 small shallot sliced
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 tablespoon parsley chopped
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Add the quinoa to 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave covered for an additional 5 minutes. Set aside
3. Season chicken with pepper and rub with both mustards.
4. In a Dutch oven or big oven-proof skillet melt butter on a medium high heat. Add chicken and brown from both sides, about 4-5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a plate.
5. To the same pan add shallot and onion and sauté for about 5 minutes until translucent.
6. Add the bell pepper and carrot. Cook until soft.
7. Add water, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
8. Add thyme and bay leaves and bring a mixture to a boil.
9. Stir in cream and sour cream and return chicken back to the pan.
10. Cook uncovered in the oven for 50-60 minutes until chicken is completely cooked through and no longer pink in the middle.
11. Remove the bone and shred the meat.
12. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately!