Light Eating: Braised Chicken with Shallots

This photo, and everything about the accompanying recipe, too, makes our mouths water. Eating light doesn't mean avoiding meat entirely; protein is still essential, and chicken thighs are a frugal, tasty way to put it in your diet. But you do still want to avoid heavy sauces and lots of fat, which is where we come back to this recipe.

The recipe is simple. Brown a pack of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Then create a base sauce with some shallots, garlic, dry mustard, and wine. Return the chicken thighs to the pot, and braise over low heat until they're melting and tender.

Chicken thighs get so soft and melt-in-your-mouth when treated like this; we can hardly wait to put this recipe in our menu rotation. We have a couple modifications we'd like to try, too, so check back later this week for our review.

• Get the recipe: Braised Chicken with Shallots at Martha Stewart

Previous Light Eating: Giant Chipotle White Beans

(Image: Martha Stewart)

Comments (14)

I bet that this would be a great crockpot recipe (still browning the chicken, first). I'd use boneless thighs instead of bone-in.

oo, this looks like good "I have no time!!" food. It makes me want to cook tonight.

this looks like a perfect winter meal. my only problem is the boyfriend won't eat anything resembling onions... any recommendations on how to recreate something as flavorful without any onion family members?

He won't eat onions? Make this for yourself and give him a bowl of steamed rice.

nikihawthorn, mince them up and cook them in the sauce until they are mushy and blend right in (or if you have a hand mixer, blend it into the sauce before the herbs and tomato go in)... he won't even notice!

darn! i took a package of boneless, skinless thighs out of the freezer this morning and wanted something other than my typical lemon, herb, olive oil, s&p, throw in the oven routine. i missed this post by five minutes!! next time i won't be so quick to leave work early.

nikihawthorne - leeks? if you just use the white part, and chop 'em up real good, they'll cook down to an unnoticeable but delicious mush.

I hate to say it, but if you're trying to eat healthy, chicken thighs are a really bad choice. They actually have more fat than many lean cuts of steak.

Mmm, chicken cooked in sauce is awesome anyway you cut it--cacciatore, paprikash, au vin--even if it's light, it's decadent.

Thanks for the advice guys!
I've been shredding onions into soups so he can't find them. I'll try leeks sometime and see how that goes.

STH--it may be true that they have a little more fat but the total is like 11g so you can still eat them and consider it light, it just depends on what the rest of the recipe includes---this one has some olive oil and that adds----but some people don't really care about olive oil because its considered a healthy fat---it depends on your personal perception of healthy and I imagine what is healthy for one person is different from another and that's why scientists just haven't pinned down a truly ideal way to eat.

Mmmmmm chicken paprikash.... LOVE IT!

Actually, no, sally599, the saturated fat in chicken thighs isn't healthy for anyone, while the olive oil is healthy for everyone (assuming you don't overdo it and take in too many calories). That doesn't change from person to person, and I doubt you'd find any nutritionist that would disagree.

Respectfully, one 2oz boneless, skinless chicken thigh has approximately 5 grams of fat, of which only about 1.5 are saturated. With some veggies and whole grains, I'd say that could easily fit into anyone's moderate, healthy eating plan.