Fiesta Lime Chicken is a simple to prepare yet extremely tasty chicken main course dish which has a characteristic tangy lemony flavour. It is essentially part of Spanish and Mexican Cuisines. Although this is a restaurant favourite, it is fairly simple to prepare at home too. In fact this Mexican flavoured Fiesta Lime Chicken may be served as such or topped with some shredded Mexican cheese and green onions. It may be presented along with Mexican or Spanish rice with a bowl of guacamole and lettuce with sour cream alongside to complete the meal.
Ingredients and Preparation
Main ingredients needed are skinless, boneless chicken breasts divided in 1/2, salsa, Fat Free Ranch Dressing, minced garlic cloves, 2% Cheddar cheese (shredded), lime juice, salt and pepper. A skillet is sprayed with some cooking oil, Chicken pieces are browned in it along with plenty of finely minced garlic and seasoning of salt and pepper. Salsa, lime juice and dressing are mixed well in a bowl and then spread generously on top of the chicken pieces. Shredded cheddar cheese is sprinkled on top. A lid is placed on the skillet and chicken is simmered until it becomes tender. The flame shouldn’t be too high, else the cheese could burn. Grilling or oven-baking would also work well for the final roasting of chicken pieces.
Nutritive Value
A serving of ~ 150 g supplies- o 214.7 calories with 78 calories from fat
o Total Fat content is 4.9 g with 2.3 g saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat 0.4 g and monounsaturated fat of 0.4 g
o Cholesterol content is 79.1 mg
o Sodium content is 564.4 mg and Potassium 405.2 mg
o Total carbohydrate content is 9.8 g with dietary fibre content of 0.7 g and 1.8 g sugars.
o Protein content is 31.6 g.
Fiesta Lime Chicken is a high protein main course dish that serves as a good source of Vitamin C, B6, Niacin and minerals like calcium and selenium.
Nutritional Improvements
1. To cut back on the total fat and cholesterol contents, low fat cheese and fat-free dressing options must be used.
2. In order to increase the fibre value, simply stir-frying a bunch of spinach leaves in the skillet, in the olive oil along with the garlic and seasoning would not only provide fibre but also increase the Vitamin A, K and iron content of the dish. Also a final garnishing with chopped cilantro would further enhance the dish.
3. Serving with brown rice would enhance the B-vitamin and fibre components.
4. Using mushrooms as a flavourful addition may be a good option since these are low in calories, cholesterol-free, fat-free, and quite low in sodium, yet they supply important nutrients, such as B-vitamins, riboflavin, niacin, selenium, potassium, vitamin D among others. Mushrooms are studied for their anti-cancer activities as well as their rich anti-oxidant content which helps boost immunity, thus being useful to all.
5. Toasted sesame seeds dropped over the chicken would provide useful increments of Vitamin E, healthy unsaturated fats, B-vitamins and several important minerals like phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium.
Best Place to Buy
Applebee’s serves the best Fiesta Lime Chicken and this is an extremely popular entree here which is ordered by most diners.