Low-Calorie Tarragon Chicken for the 5:2 Diet and Pinot Gris:
Today I got a craving for Tarragon Chicken. One of the challenges with any diet, including the 5:2 diet, is that weird psychology that kicks in and makes you really want what you shouldn’t be eating. I cared for my diabetic mother for some time and I know that she had a constant yearning for chocolate – which she excused by telling me that she was really just trying to emulate Judi Dench in Chocolat. And, I do understand, albeit in a lesser way, on a 5:2 diet fast day while I don’t crave chocolate, I do really want something rich and creamy…and if possible a glass of wine too.
Now, I avoid the wine. It’s not the calories in wine, it’s the fact that any alcohol has a tendency to slow your metabolic rate. And, for me having two days a week when I avoid drinking alcohol is no bad thing. But…rich-tasting creamy sauces? Well, if I can get away with it…why not. I love tarragon too, and my plants did very well this summer, so I had plenty of tarragon in the freezer. So, why not try re-inventing tarragon chicken. Traditionally I would have made this dish with a lot of butter and double cream. By cutting out most of the oil and fat, it’s perfectly possible to make a low-calorie version that comes in under 300 calories.
A delicious, creamy low-calorie tarragon chicken recipe
- 200 g Raw skinless chicken Cut into 2cm cubes. Breast is lowest in calories, but can be dry treated this way. I've used thigh meat here
- 100 ml Bouillon or chicken stock
- 100 ml Dry white wine Extra bouillon or stock can replace the wine
- 1 Medium Onion Peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic Peeled and finely chopped
- 30 ml Low-fat creme fraiche
- 3-4 Sprigs fresh tarragon Or dried or frozen if fresh is not available
- 6 Small New potatoes scrubbed and halved
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2-3 shots 1-cal oil Or use a little butter or olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Cornflour
- 50 g Peas
- Spray a heavy based pan with 1cal and gently soften the onion for 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic for the last 2 minutes then remove and set to one side
- Brown the chicken pieces in the same pan till the edges just start to caramelise
- Return the onion and garlic mix to the pan and top up with the stock and wine. Add in most of the tarragon and the bay leaves, reserving one sprig of tarragon for garnish and add in the new potatoes
- Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook on the hob for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft
- Remove the meat and potatoes from the pan and set to one side, keeping warm. Reduce the liquid down by a third
- Stir through the creme fraiche and add in the cornflour mixed with a little cold water. Stir until the mixture thickens slightly
Return the meat and potatoes to the pan and heat through gently. Cook the peas for 2-3 minutes in boiling water, then add to the pan.
Serve garnished with the remaining tarragon sprigs if available
In fact, I made enough of this 5:2 diet Tarragon Chicken to freeze one serving for later. It freezes quite well (although like all dishes with cream or creme fraiche, it is better to freeze the dish before you add the cream) and you can reheat it gently too. So, I managed to enjoy one helping with wine. I’d been given a bottle of Dopff & Irion Pinot Gris to review and I was looking for something that might work well as a pairing. And, at least for me, it did work. Pinot Gris is a grape which produced in Italy is known as Pinot Grigio and is considerably lighter. The wine I was tasting from Alsace was really quite fruity, slightly sweet and at 13% not particularly light. Robust enough to stand up to the tarragon in my dish – and to cut through the creamy sauce. But it still had lovely citrus and smokey notes. I enjoyed my pairing with a light, fresh but creamy tarragon chicken, but I suspect it might work well with a seafood pasta dish or even with something like fish pie.
I’ve tasted a few wines from Dopff & Irin now, a vineyard in Alsace. You may well find them on Restaurant wine lists and they are well worth trying – rather more full-bodied than their German cousins and very easy to drink.
As a 5:2 Diet Recipe, this works rather well. at around 280 calories per serving. If you are using frozen tarragon then it’s worth adding a green vegetable for a prettier plateful of food. I ate this creamy tarragon chicken on my fast day with peas and a rocket salad and I’d recommend adding a strong flavoured green vegetable – spinach, broccoli or asparagus would all work very well.
I tend to only eat two meals on a fast day, so allowing myself 300 calories for my main meal is perfectly reasonable. If your 5:2 diet regime involves three meals, try making this dish with chicken breast instead of chicken thigh and omitting the wine. That way this dish will be around 225 calories per portion.
I had no idea it was possible to create such a decadent sauce for under 300 calories! Learn something new from you every time, Fiona!:-)
It really is a lovely recipe
Yummy! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe sounds ace and I love chicken and tarrogen, in fact I made a warm salad with them tonight!
My food friends will like this one.
love the recipe. the wine looks divine.. and I think I could do this one!\
Doesn’t it look lush? Who would have guessed it’s the low cal variety?
Sounds fabulous – must try it. When eating the potatoes can you taste between them having been cooked in the sauce compared with being cooked separately (e.g. boiled in water) and then added back at the end? Just thinking it might be easier to control the cooking of the potatoes if they’re boiled in water.
it would be fine to do that. I like letting the potatoes cook in the sauce because they pick up some of the flavour.
this looks very yummy, you could also also make it in a Swiss Diamond Saute Pan
Tarragon and chicken has to be one of my favourite combinations. This would work well cooked in a Swiss Diamond Saute Pan.
Sounds delicous and should work well in the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan.
I like this recipe and it would go well with white wine.
Sounds great x yummy photos
I think this recipe would work well cooked in a Swiss Diamond Saute Pan.
Thank you for sharing a great and sensible recipe.
Would work a treat with the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan.
This looks great. I don’t like cream in savoury dishes so this is a lovely recipe for me.
Sounds divine!
have never tried tarragon before but this recipe makes me want to try it! – looks delicious
it has just a little taste of aniseed
this is an ideal recipe for the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan
amazing I am a huge tarragon fan 🙂 this would be great for the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan !
I often rustle up a chicken and tarragon recipe like this – just through a bit of this, a bit of that – but always use cream. I’ll definitely give this a go and save the calories. Thanks!
This looks lovely
You could use a Swiss Diamond Saute Pan to cook this.
This recipe would work well in the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan, I think. 🙂
Looks delicious – bet it would be great in the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan 🙂 xoxo
I love this and thank you for such clear instructions especially the freezer tip too this would be lovely cooked in the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan.
This sounds really tasty. Will add the ingredients to my shopping list so we can try it next week.
this would be great in the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan
looks delicious!
This sounds absolutely gorgeous – would be fab in the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan 🙂
This sounds great – and doesn’t seem at all as though I’dbe dieting when eating it! It would cook very well in the Swiss Diamond Saute Pan.
This looks lovely
Looks Lovely! This recipe would work well cooked in a Swiss Diamond Saute Pan 🙂
It sounds yummy, and you wouldn’t think it was a diet recipe ! I will have to try out this one, thank you 🙂
I don’t want to think about dieting, but this recipe looks delicious anyway.