Lighter Creamed Chicken & Cornbread is a recipe make-over from a woman that I work with at the art center. The original recipe called for 8 TBSP of butter and heavy cream but we fixed that!
I love when friends, family, co-worker or you send me recipes that they just love but know that they aren’t good for them. They want a recipe that still tastes good and like the original, but doesn’t have the fat, calories and waistline-expanding capabilities of that favorite recipe. I love the challenge of taking that recipe and giving it a Becky’s Best Bites’ make-over!
This recipe went from 8 TBSP of butter and heavy cream to only 2 TBSP of butter, 2 TBSP of extra virgin olive oil and healthy alternatives to the heavy cream like greek yogurt and butter milk. I have never had the original recipe, but I have had my Lighter Creamed Chicken & Cornbread recipe. I don’t think the original could be much better!
I am not much of a baker, so for the cornbread, I used a recipe that I found from one of my trusted healthy recipe blogs, Skinny Ms. This is one of their contributors Gale Compton’s Old Fashion Cornbread. I followed her ingredients and directions pretty much with the exception of switching canola oil for extra virgin olive oil.
- 2 cups corn meal (yellow or white corn meal will work)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon raw honey (optional)
- 1¾ cups low fat buttermilk
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Non-stick cooking spray
- 1 tablespoon montreal steak seasoning
- ½ cup sliced green onions
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 8 ounces sliced baby portobello (cremini) mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup low fat buttermilk
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- 1 cup unsalted chicken broth
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 cups green peas (if frozen, thawed)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- 12 ounces steam-in-bag green beans
- 1 tablespoon montreal steak seasoning
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add olive oil to a 8" cake pan. Ensure oil is rubbed on sides as well as bottom of skillet. While preparing cornbread, place skillet with oil in the oven for 5 - 7 minutes.
- Combine dry ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl. In a small bowl whisk together honey, buttermilk and egg, add to dry ingredients and stir just to combine.
- Remove skillet from oven and pour hot oil in cornbread mixture, stir. Sprinkle the bottom of the skillet with 1 teaspoon of cornmeal. Pour cornmeal mixture in the skillet, place in the oven on middle rack and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden in color. Keep the oven on to bake the chicken. Slice cornbread when cooled slightly.
- While the corn bread is baking, place chicken breasts in a 2 quart baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Season the chicken with 1 tablespoon montreal steak seasoning and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until juices run clear. Set aside but keep warm.
- Put eggs in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine buttermilk, yogurt and broth. Set aside.
- Saute the green onions, celery and mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat until tender (3-5 minutes). Add the remaining olive oil and the butter to the pan. Once butter is melted stir in flour and whisk until smooth (1 minute).
- Add buttermilk, yogurt and broth mixture to the saucepan and whisk for 2 minutes or until hot and then reduce heat to low.
- Temper the eggs by taking a big ladle-full of the hot milk mixture and pour it into the eggs as you whisk continuously. Adding the milk in this slowly prevents the eggs from being cooked instantly from exposure to heat. Then pour eggs and milk mixture back into the saucepan.
- Continue to whisk the mixture over low heat until thickened.
- Place the steam-in-bag green beans in the microwave for 4 minutes on high.
- Chop the cooked chicken into bite size pieces and add to the "cream" mixture. Add peas and stir to combine.
- Put cooked green beans in a medium bowl and season with montreal steak seasoning.
- Serve the hot creamed chicken over halved cornbread slices and serve green beans on the side.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments:) Also if you have a recipe that you would like me to make-over and feature on the blog, send it to me a becky@beckysbestbites.com.