dinner last night (or i will lose those 6 pounds i gained in nyc AND still eat yummy food!)

I went to NYC in July and gained 6 pounds over the week eating my way through the city.  Let me start by saying it was the best 6 pounds I ever gained (and I've gained my share of 6 pounds.)  But now, well, it's almost 3 months later, and I'm still carrying around that amazing cheese plate from Balthazar, the quatro of paninis I nibbled to completion at Cafe Ino, and the 5 course spectacular I consumed at Gramercy Tavern.

Enjoying dessert (and a bottle of rose') with my friend Kim at Bar Pitti in NYC.

Fall has arrived (and even though we are hitting record temps here!) I'd like to fit back into my skinny jeans. Flowy sundresses and forgiving (although mini) skirts aren't going to to cut it for much longer. But, here's the thing--I pretty much suck at diets.  I like to eat, and eat well.  So I am determined to lose that 6 pounds while at the same time eating good meals.  Since I'm an amazing above average cook =), hopefully this won't be too difficult.

Dinner last night was citrus marinated, spice rubbed, pan roasted chicken with an avocado salsa, spicy white beans, and roasted corn on the cob.  

Citrus Marinade

1/2 cup of OJ

juice from one lemon and the lemon itself, cut in half

salt

pepper

one clove garlic, finely chopped

one onion, sliced

large pour of olive oil

Spice Rub (I used Emeril's Southwest Essense, but I'm sure any will do.)

Put all of the ingredients for the marinade in a large ziplock and smush it around.  Add 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts and smush it around some more.  Then refrigerate for as long as you have (an hour will work, but the longer the better and if you only have 30 minutes, that's good too.)  Pour a bunch of spice rub onto a flat plate and coat both sides of the chicken after it's marinaded.   Saute over med-high heat in olive oil three minutes, flip, and put into a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until almost done.  Cover each chicken breast with a slice of pepper jack cheese (or plain old jack if you aren't into spicy.)  Return to oven for a minute to melt the cheese. Top chicken with avocado salsa (recipe follows.)

Avocado Salsa

one avocado, diced

jalepeno, seeded and membrane removed, finely chopped

juice from one lime

Toss everything gently and refrigerate for an hour (or five minutes if that's all you've got!)

Spicy (Cheater) Beans
one can great northern white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 can of Herdez (the best non-fresh, non home made ever) salsa
Dump everything in a pot and heat through.

Roasted Corn on the Cob
Butter corn and wrap completely in foil.
Roast at 400 degrees for 35 minutes (put in 20 minutes before you start to cook chicken.) Generously salt  after roasting.

P.S.  I am completely unhappy with these photographs but am sharing them anyway.  It's really difficult for me to photograph food at dinner time.  I think food network should produce a show starring a mommy putting together a real meal, all while stumbling over an over fed 10 year old lab, negotiating with a five year old, carrying around a two year old (who otherwise would be following her around the kitchen repeating "hold you" over and over,) and counting the minutes until hubby gets home.  Oh, and sipping a glass of cab at the same time.  Now THAT would be impressive!  (Maybe I could be the host???)

I don't add the spice rub to the girlies' chicken.
I also put theirs over brown rice since they aren't
getting the spicy avocado salsa either.

Actually, I could eat this avocado salsa over a
bowl of white beans as a meal in itself.
But that's not quite enough for Sparky.