Chicken Paprikash (4-6 servings) (Csirke Paprikás)
Ingredients:
1 tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion diced
2 heaping tbs. Hungarian paprika
2 ripe tomatoes
1 bell pepper
1-2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins (your choice)
salt and pepper to taste
approx 3 cups of water or broth
1 cup of fat free sour cream
2-3 tbs. flour
whole grain egg noodles
Boil water for noodles in a large pot. In deep skillet w/lid saute diced onion in oil on medium heat until translucent. Add Paprika and stir constantly until combined. Add 1/3 of the water/broth. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to pan and coat with paprika liquid. Add remainder of water/broth to just cover chicken. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and de-seed and quarter the bell pepper. Lay tomatoes and pepper on top of chicken. Sprinkle with more paprika. Cover and simmer about a half hour or until chicken is cooked through. Cook egg noodles and set aside while the chicken is simmering. When the chicken is cooked through you can remove the tomato and green pepper. Some people like to eat that too. I do. It’s your choice. In a separate bowl whisk together sour cream and flour and little by little, add about a cup of the cooking liquid until completely combined and no lumps remain. Add mixture to the pan and stir with the rest of the liquid and simmer until the entire mixture is thickened (about 5 or 10 more minutes). Salt and pepper to taste if needed. Serve over noodles and enjoy.
(Optional: Sometimes I’ll add sliced mushrooms and baby carrots when I add the tomato and green pepper. It’s totally non-traditional to this recipe but a great way to sneak in some more veggies into your diet.)
A great accompaniment to this dish would be some Cucumber Salad.
Hungarian Cucumber Salad - 4-6 servings (Uborka Saláta)
Peel one cucumber and thinly slice. Thinly slice one small onion and one clove of garlic. Combine the cucumber onion and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or more to allow the flavors to marry. Remove from fridge and sprinkle with 1/4± cup white vinegar and 1 tsp sugar (or Splenda). Serve with a small dollop of fat free sour cream and a dash of paprika.
I’m not sure about the calorie count on either of these recipes. I’ll try to figure out later but to give you an idea the original recipe from my Mom includes 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil and/or LARD, full fat sour cream, a whole chicken cut up on the bone with skin and gizzards. She’d also make home made speatzles with whole eggs, oil and regular sour cream. Plus you had to de-bone the chicken. Lots of work and lots of fat. The cucumber salad even had vegetable oil in it. The above recipe is delicious without all of the excess fat. You won’t miss it and your heart will thank you.
Enjoy! (Egészségedre!)
