South Beach chicken jambalaya

The South Beach diet continues to go well, I am down 20 pounds from when we started on Jan. 5. There have also been a few more cheat meals thrown in here and there, earlier this week I was at a conference in Orlando and as much as I might have want to adhere to the diet it was tough. Rory and I are going to back to phase one of the diet in April to try and kick start out metabolism again.

The recipes from the South Beach cookbook have been good as well. My main complaint is that they lack complexity and can be fairly one note. When I cook, especially a one pot meal, I like to get layered flavors. You get this by cooking this different ingredients an different times and adding everything together.

Now some of this is my fault. I've been following the recipes too closely and not my instincts. this recipe for instance, I could add a couple of ingredients, some regular onion and celery and cook that with the green pepper, and that wouldn't impact the calorie count much.

Here's the recipe and what I'm going to do when I make it next time.

2 tblsp olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped
1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup of whole-grain quick cooking brown rice
1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning or cayenne pepper
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 14-ounce can dived tomatoes
salt and pepper

Heat one tablespoon of oil in large pan or dutch oven over medium high heat, add chopped vegetables and cook until clear, about five minutes.

Salt and pepper chicken add to pot and cook, stirring often. After about three minutes add garlic and cajun seasoning, cook for two more minutes. Add rice stir and cook for two minutes add chicken stock and tomatoes.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover, cooking for 30 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.