Recipe Rehab: Coq au vin, healthy style

Our weekly feature, Recipe Rehab, takes a recipe -- sometimes basic, sometimes decadent and sometimes just plain unhealthy -- and turns it into a scrumptious and healthy dish, pumped up with nutrition. Sometimes all it takes is a few alterations to cook a dish that would make even your nutritionist proud.

How can you improve on a good coq au vin recipe? It doesn't take much, and to retain that distinctive taste, you will need to keep some of the fat, but you won't need it all. I'll give you some optional ideas to make this classic French stew more nutritious as well.

Ingredients (adapted from original recipe):

• 1 broiler fryer, cut up, about 3 to 3 1/2 pounds, skin removed
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 3/4 cup chopped onions
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• 2 tablespoons sprouted spelt flour
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• dash dried leaf thyme, crushed
• unrefined sea salt and pepper to taste
  
• optional: handful of kale or spinach leaves or 1-2 c. finely chopped broccoli

Directions:
Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp; remove bacon and set aside. To the bacon drippings in skillet add butter; brown chicken slowly until all sides are golden brown.

Add the 3/4 cup onion and mushrooms; sauté until tender. Add green onion and garlic. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat; blend in the flour then gradually add the wine. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and bubbly. Add parsley and thyme. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until chicken is tender and juices run clear. Serve with a garnish or parsley, if desired. Serves 4.

Rehab Rundown

Why remove the skin from the chicken? It is extra fat you don't need. There is plenty on the bones, and the bones themselves add tremendous flavor to this dish. FYI, I also cut bacon from the original recipe; you won't need it for your stew to taste great.

Olive oil is a choice that is heart-healthier than the original butter.

So you might be tempted to use that white flour in your pantry, but go the extra step and use the whole grain or sprouted flour I recommend. You'll be adding fiber, vitamins, minerals and even some veggie and protein if you use the sprouted version.

Adding any of the optional ingredients will change the classic taste of the stew a bit, but it will also modernize it and add lots of nutrition (see Reveal below).

Rehab Reveal

1 c. of kale leaves adds 2.6 grams of fiber, over three and a half times the RDA of vitamin A, nearly all the vitamin C you will need in a day, as well as a significant amount of calcium and iron.

1 cup of spinach is also a vitamin A powerhouse (377% of the RDA), and has the most calcium and iron of the optional ingredients I recommend.

One large stalk of broccoli adds over 9 grams of fiber, over 8 grams of protein, almost double your daily recommended vitamin C, well over the recommended amount of vitamin A, as well as a significant amount of calcium and iron. Wow!

Rehab Roundup

Whole grain wheat flour is widely available, although I recommend spelt, which can be found at your local health food store, food coop or the natural foods section of your supermarket, as well as online. Sprouted spelt flour is the healthy pinnacle you are striving to reach; I have only found it online.

My favorite unrefined sea salt is Orsa Pink Mineral Salt.

All other ingredients are widely available at your local supermarket, so what are you waiting for? Go and cook that stew -- it is perfect for a brisk autumn day.