Green Chef – Week 1 – Recipe #3
Click the images below to see full recipe card for this meal.
Ingredients and Nutritional Information
After reviewing the ingredients I would consider this meal to be keto and definitely low carb but not high enough in fat. One minor issue I have is the use of cashew in the crema because cashew are not always considered keto because they have higher carbs than pecans and almonds. But considering that the crema was in a smaller quantity I found it acceptable for the meal. Chicken breast is a leaner option for meat. This is a preferred meat for low fat diets but with keto we want higher fat cuts of meat. Click the nutritional facts image to enlarge.
Fat: 15g
Total Carbs: 15g
Net Carbs: 10g
Protein: 44g
Recreating the Cashew Crema
These are the ingredients as stated by the Green Chef nutritional label. As I mentioned in the commends above, the cashew can be replaced with almonds as a more acceptable keto ingredient and to increase the fat macros while reducing the carbs.
- Cashews
- Water
- Apple Cider Vinager
- Lemon juice
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt
- Xanthum Gum
Recreating Mustard Cider Sauce
These are the ingredients as stated by the Green Chef nutritional label.
- Mushroom broth (water mushroom, sea salt, garlic)
- Stone Ground Mustard
- Olive Oil
- Apple Cider Vinager
Macro Adjustment / Recommendations
If I were to recreate the crema, I would make it an almond crema using almond butter rather than cashew for the reason described in the Ingredients and Nutritional Information section of this post. Switching to almond over cashew give the dish a higher fat content and lower carb count than with using cashew.
Another point is the use of chicken breast. Although it went very well with this meal, boneless chicken breast does not provide the higher fat content needed to make this a low carb high fat dish. Instead, I would recommend a fattier cut of chicken such as leg quarters (leg and thigh) or bone in chicken thigh to increase the fat macros in proportion to protein. To improve the fat content of this dish, I also recommend adding a few tablespoons of butter to the dish to give it a less dry, fattier consistency while also increasing the overall fat content of the dish.
Contents of Meal Prep Bag
Very well packaged to ensure that all ingredients were fresh. Everything was organic including the chicken breast (not pictured). We prepared this meal 4 days after receiving the original shipment and the only complaint was the green beans had started to brown a bit, but were still acceptable for cooking.
Preparation
Overall, the preparation was easy. All we had to do was clean and chop the mushrooms and green beans. The chicken breast went into a zip lock bag with the spices and we used the “shake and bake” method to get them evenly coated. The pre-made cashew crema and mustard cider were a huge time saver! The meal was ready in under 40 minutes.
Recommended adjustments: With chicken breast I recommend lowering the cook time or cooking temp per side so prevent overcharred meat. When following the recommended cooking instructions, we found the heat to be too high on the first side, we we lowered the heat for the other side. We believe this may have contributed to the slightly dry consistency of the meat. Again, cooking chicken breast can be tricky!
Preparation of the green beans was made quick and simple with the easy to follow instructions and pre-made sauce.
Results
Exceptionally flavorful especially for chicken breast. The creamed cabbage and mushrooms and the green beans paired very well with the flavors of the chicken breast. Our only complaint was the portions of veggies in the dish. The photo on the provided recipe card is what we expected per serving, however the reality was that the dish needed double cabbage, mushrooms and green beans to match the picture. In other words, the recipe card picture shows more veggies than what we received. If I were to make this again … correction … WHEN I make this again, I will be sure to double the veggies. This means the carb count will be higher but considering that the carbs come from veggies, I find that perfectly acceptable for the way I do keto. More cabbage and mushroom also means more crema which will bump that fat content higher. The green beans were so flavorful but we we had so little to split between us both. I have never been a huge fan of green beans, except for Thanksgiving green bean casserole, simply because I don’t know what to do with them other than to steam and add butter. The mustard cider sauce gave them a bright and flavorful punch that married well with the other components of the meal. Overall our plates were cleared and our bellies full. This dish exceeded our expectations and we look forward to making it again with our recommended adjustments. One of the surprise benefits of this experience is discovering new flavors. The recipe card indicated that the dish is inspired by Eastern European flavors. The chicken seasonings (paprika, dill, and thyme) are Hungarian-Inspired. I have never tasted this combination before this Green Chef recipe and will be adding it to my list of seasonings. Bonus!
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