Katie Lee Biegel Shares Her Favorite Morning Snack—and It's Packed with Antioxidants

Plus, Biegel explains how she makes her best-ever chicken recipe in this interview.

Reviewed by Dietitian Victoria Seaver, M.S., RD

When The Kitchen co-host Katie Lee Biegel brings up tannins, you might think she’s about to promote her recently co-founded wine company, Kind of Wild Wines. But for the holidays this year, “tannins” makes her think of tea.

This December, the Food Network chef and board member to the Food Bank for New York is partnering with Milo’s Tea Company, maker of sweet tea and lemonade products, to help Feeding America, a nationwide food bank and meal program network. Every time someone downloads the free Share the Joy cookbook, Milo’s will donate a meal (up to one million) to Feeding America. The cookbook is packed with some delicious sounding recipes, including Biegel’s Sweet Tea Brined Oven Fried Chicken.

Needless to say, we were super excited for the opportunity to sit down with Biegel and talk about tea-brined chicken and her favorite holiday rituals. She even shared tips on the fruit she eats to recharge after Christmas, how to manage oven space on a busy day of cooking and the exercises she loves during the winter season.

EatingWell: Do you have a favorite food to help you reset after the holidays?

Biegel: I'm a big believer in loading up on fruits and vegetables. I feel like it's a really great way to start your day with a big bowl of fruit, getting a lot of vitamins and antioxidants straight away, and it's easy on your body. Then, I like to do big salads with about 75% vegetables, then 25% other stuff. That way, I don't even really have to think about cutting something out. I'm just thinking about adding in. And if you're eating that much of the fruit and vegetables, you're crowding out the space for ‘bad stuff.’

Related: 6 "Bad" Fruits You Should Be Eating, According to a Dietitian

EatingWell: What fruit would be in your ideal fruit bowl?

Biegel: I like to have kiwi. I'm really into those new golden kiwis at the grocery store. January is sumo season, which is my favorite thing. Plus, it’s a good way to crowd out a bag of chips. But back to my fruit: kiwi, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries—I love to have berries. Mango’s one of my favorites, and I always have a banana.

Related: Healthy Fruit Salad Recipes

EatingWell: Can you talk about the chicken recipe you contributed to the Share the Joy cookbook?

Biegel: I am obsessed with this recipe. When I tell you that it is—without a doubt—the best chicken recipe that I've ever created, I'm not even exaggerating. The ticket is a brine made with Milo’s sweet tea. I added soy sauce for its salty depth of flavor and onion and garlic. The tannins in the tea tenderize the chicken, and the sweetness from the tea and the soy sauce infuse into the chicken. This makes it so incredibly flavorful and almost impossible to overcook. All you have to do is take a sheet pan, put butter on the sheet and heat it in the oven until the butter melts. Then, lightly coat your chicken in flour. Put it skin side down onto the sheet pan into the oven for half an hour. Take it out, flip it and cook it for another 20 minutes. It tastes like it came out of the fryer. It's super crispy, colorful and fantastic. Usually I make it with bone-in chicken, and yesterday, I made it with boneless, skin-on chicken thighs. That was next-level.

EatingWell: What’s your favorite Christmas morning ritual?

Biegel: I make cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. We really like to stay in our pajamas as long as possible, open presents, be with family and stay super relaxed. I like a really low-key holiday without any pressure.

Recipe to try: Make-Ahead Cinnamon Rolls

EatingWell: Any tips for managing oven space during holiday cooking?

Biegel: The oven is very valuable real estate for holiday cooking. If you're making a big holiday roast, ham, prime rib or turkey, all of those foods can rest to give you space to use the oven for something else. Turkey, for instance, will stay hot for a good hour and a half, and it needs that hour at least before you carve. Then, use your oven for other things.

And look for recipes that don't require the oven. A few years ago, I always roasted Brussels sprouts. I switched and started making a raw Brussels sprout salad. That way, I was still getting my traditional Brussels sprouts, but I was having it in a salad form that freed up my oven space.

Related: The Only Make-Ahead Salad You'll Want This Holiday Season, According to a Food Editor

EatingWell: How do you stay fit during the holiday season?

Biegel: I try to go to the gym twice a week to lift heavy weights, but for the most part, I work out at home. I use the Obey fitness app. I really like their sculpt classes. And I have a SoulCycle at-home bike that I use. I've been going to SoulCycle for like 17 years now. And my longtime favorite instructor is on the at home bikes. I feel like I'm right there in her class.

Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Read the original article on Eating Well.