Chicken with Aubergine Sauce (Bekki)

Here’s a recipe I liked so much I had it twice in two days last week.

Fried chicken with pepper eggplant saute

Chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
Whole grain breadcrumbs
Parmesan cheese, grated
Fresh oregano leaves chopped
Olive oil
Milk
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Red pepper
Aubergine

(There aren’t any quantities in the original recipe either, but it’s so simple, I’m sure you can make it up!)

Mix breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper and oregano leaves. (I used dried)
Heat non stick skillet/frying pan with a little olive oil.
Coat the chicken in a little milk and dip in the breadcrumb mixture.
Fry until golden and cooked through.
While it’s cooking, peel and chop aubergine into 1 cm dice. Chop red pepper.
Cook the pepper and aubergine together in some olive oil, adding salt, pepper and oregano to taste. Since I was only cooking for one, my chicken and veg fitted in the same frying pan.
Once the veg are tender, put all but a few in a blender, or into a bowl and use a hand held blender. Whizz until smooth. I added a little creme fraiche.
Serve the chicken with the sauce over it and those bits of veg you saved on the top.
The blog it comes from, Five: Four is full of yummy stuff. Four chefs take five ingredients and come up with a recipe, all of which are South Beach friendly. It looks like they haven’t posted anything on it since last October, but what’s there looks good and there are links to the cooks’ own blogs which have lots more recipes.

« Hot Fun in the Summer »

1. Sounds interesting. When we next have an aubergine I might have to make everyone try this. I’m sure there’s a couple of Daddy’s (gluten-free) rolls kicking around in the freezer that are too old to do much but make breadcrumbs with.

Coconut Custard Pie

(Originally posted by Brandi)

I made this pie last week and have really enjoyed it. Here is a link to the recipe:
(Debs, can you do that thing that you do to make it light up?)

(All fixed, D)

My modifications are as follows:
I did not use a crust. Just sprayed the pie pan and baked the filling.
I used 2 T Splenda and 2 T fructose in place of the sugar.
I used unsweetened coconut
I served it with feresh whipped cream and shaved chocolate on top. It’s also good by itself or with ice cream

I am used to enjoying “less sweet” things, but you may want to add more sweetener. For me, it was perfect.

Enjoy!

Baingan Bharta (eggplant curry)

(Originally posted by Tami)

Not really BUT I did tell Debs that I was leaving OWOA about 2 weeks ago. I haven’t been around or weighed in a few weeks. I started school and am still struggling to juggle my time and thought it best to leave the group. I’ve also been dealing with a great bit of home sickness. Yes, I know that I was born and raised here in Western WA and only lived in TN just over 2 years but it’s home. The south is deep in my blood and always has been. My grandad was born and raised in Arkansas. Still loves it to this day but never moved away from WA after he retired from the airforce because my Grandmother detested the south. Not me. His blood, his love runs deep in these veins. Any hoots! My longing to get back there isn’t helped by the cool grey days we’ve had here. Summer seemed to skip us over…until yesterday. Now it’s like 70 but still breezy. I don’t know if that can be considered summer.

I just make something yummy and before sending the recipe to Debs to ask that she share it with y’all I thought I’d see if I still had posting priveledges. Guess what?! I guess I do. So, without further ado I would like to share something that I found at Allrecipes. I had one lowly eggplant sitting in my fridge and since Jeff hates the thing I thought I’d use it for lunch.

Baingan Bharta (eggplant curry)

1 large eggplant

2 tablespoons veggie oil (I used olive oil)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (I used ground cumin)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (I just minced 4 gloves of garlic and sprinkled in some ground garlic)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tomato, diced (didn’t have any because of the recall so I used sundried tomatoes in oil…I was skeptical but it worked well)

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 fresh jalapeno, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 450F. Place eggplant on a medium baking sheet. Bake 20-30 mintues until tender. Remove from heat, cool, peel, and chop. (I placed the hot eggplant immediately into a brown lunch sack and put it in the fridge. I was hungry and didn’t want to wait forever for the skin to seperate from the meat) Heat oil in a medium saucepan (skillet) over medium heat. Mix in cumin seeds and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender. Mix ginger garlic paste, curry powder, and tomato into the saucepan, and cook about 1 minute. Stir in yogurt. Mix in eggplant and jalapeno pepper and season with salt. Cover and cook 10 minutes over high heatRemove cover, reduce heat to low and continue cooking about 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

It supossedly feeds for…um…I ate half of it…not in one sitting mind you. I put 1/4 of it in a bowl, sat and ate it then got back up, put more in my bowl, sat back down and ate that bit. So see, I ate 1/2 the recipe in 2 sittings.

Cookout Suggestions?

(Originally posted by Brandi)

We are having a Lifegroup cookout tomorrow night and need to bring something. We are the last to sign up and can bring whatever we want. It will be hamburgers (we will bring our buns) and somebody else is already bringing baked beans (sugary, I’m sure) so I don’t think I should bring beans. Any suggestions for a South Beach friendly side dish to bring? Feel free to make suggestions even if you don’t post a recipe. I’m just drawing a blank and I want my Bird-man to have a yummy meal!

« Weigh away Wednesday check-in »

1. How about a cold veggie salad? My aunt used to cut up fresh broccoli and cauliflower and toss it with ranch…you could use the fat free ranch.

   Comment by Cristina — June 23, 2008 @ 8:03 am

2. Is anyone likely to be taking salad? As in lettuce and stuff.. I know that sounds a bit boring, but you can stick all sorts of stuff in it and make it really interesting, and then you can fill up on salad if there’s no much else you can eat. Assuming of course, that you actually like salad!

   Comment by Debs — June 23, 2008 @ 8:03 am

3. Kalyn’s Kitchen Spinach, Bacon, Feta Salad sounds good at the moment. And we love the Romaine & Yellow Beet Salad.

   Have fun at the cookout!

   Comment by Anita — June 23, 2008 @ 9:06 am

4. This goes great with burgers

   http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/08/black-bean-and-pepper-salad-with.html

   Comment by blestwithsons — June 23, 2008 @ 9:22 am

5. I had a really tasty mayo-free coleslaw at a cookout once. I didn’t get the recipe, but it was petty spicy, and I believe they used some vinegar and olive oil for the saucy part. It wasn’t sweet at all, but was VERY yummy!

   Comment by Kate — June 23, 2008 @ 1:55 pm

6. kalyns kitchen had a recipe up just a couple days ago with cucumber, yogurt, and dill. That would be fantastic to me!

   Comment by Stephine — June 23, 2008 @ 6:29 pm

7. Pizza might be a good option.

   Comment by Bird — June 24, 2008 @ 4:46 am

8. You not into salad, bird?!

   Comment by Debs — June 24, 2008 @ 5:36 am

9. :-D

   Comment by Brandi — June 24, 2008 @ 6:09 am

10. Thanks for all of your suggestions! Blest, I really wanted to make yours, but I would have to douple it and I am too much of a cheap-skate to buy those peppers for $1.50 each!

    I ended up making Chickpea salad II from allrecipes.com. (I used diced Roma tomatoes and added black olives and pepper.) So far it tasted great and it hasn’t even marinated yet!

    Comment by Brandi — June 24, 2008 @ 11:36 am

11. I get my colored peppers at Sams Club. It’s usually $6 a bag for six red, orange, and yellow. And earlier this week they had bags of six red for less than $4!! YUM!

    Comment by blestwithsons — June 24, 2008 @ 5:55 pm

12. I guess the real question, Brandi, was whether bird ate any of it?

    Comment by Debs — June 25, 2008 @ 4:40 am

13. Two servings! Everyone else liked it too…it was all gone and I made a double recipe!

    Comment by Brandi — June 25, 2008 @ 9:01 am

14. Excellent

    Comment by Debs — June 25, 2008 @ 9:27 am

Fresh Corn Salsa

(Originally posted by Christina)

Prep Time:
25 min

Total Time:
25 min

Makes:
3 cups or 24 servings, 2 Tbsp. each

1-1/2 lb. tomatoes, chopped

1 cup fresh corn kernels (Note: I used canned with no salt added)

1/4 cup finely chopped red onions (Note: I don’t care for onions, so I left these out)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro or fresh parsley

1 medium jalapeño pepper, chopped

1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing (Note: I used the fat free version)

COMBINE all ingredients except dressing in large bowl.

ADD dressing; mix lightly.

This salsa was so good and easy to make. I’ve made it twice, the second time I added some lime juice to it.

I’ve used it over baked chicken and over baked tilapia…yummy!

Oh, you can find the recipe here.

Sweet BBQ Chicken Kabobs

(Originally posted by Christina)

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces

2 cups 1-1/2-inch fresh pineapple chunks

1 each: red and green pepper, cut into 1-1/2-inch chunks

1/2 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce (NOTE: I used the KC Masterpiece Classic Blend BBQ Sauce that has only 10 calories per serving)

3 Tbsp. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

PREHEAT grill to medium-high heat. Using eight long wooden skewers (two, side-by-side, for each kabob), thread chicken alternately with pineapple and peppers onto skewers, to make four kabobs.

MIX barbecue sauce and juice concentrate; brush some of the sauce mixture onto kabobs.

GRILL 8 to 10 min. or until chicken is cooked through, turning and brushing occasionally with the remaining sauce mixture.

Prep Time:
15 min

Total Time:
25 min

Makes:
4 servings, one kabob each

I got this recipe from the Kraft Food & Family Magazine but it can be found here.

BBQ Sauce

(Originally posted by Bethany)

Okay, I’m gonna cheat! I haven’t tried this yet. Christy just sent me the recipe for this today! I am a huge fan of BBQ sauce, and well, well all know it’s just not the best thing as far a sugar goes. This one is fairly low on sugar. It’s in the Hungry Girl Cookbook, but she has it on her site!
I will be trying it out, so I’ll get back to you on the taste later.

HG’s Not-So-Secret BBQ Sauce

PER SERVING (half of recipe, about 3 tbsp.): 37 calories, 0g fat, 347mg sodium, 9g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 8g sugars, POINTS® value 1*

Ingredients:
1/4 cup canned tomato sauce
2 tbsp. ketchup
2 tsp. brown sugar (not packed)
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:
Mix well. (That’s it!)

Happy BBQ-ing!

My Current Addition

I love love love aubergine at the moment. Some of you may know it as eggplant, but anyway, it’s sooo simple to prepare, and really yummy. There are all sorts of ways to cook it, but my favourite at the moment is to cook in on the griddle pan.

I slice it into medium thinkness slices or chucks (maybe 1/4 inch think. I’m hopeless at knowing things like that, I just do it so it looks righ!). Then either brush/spray the aubergine with olive oil, or put a thin coating on the pan. Get the pan nice and hot, and then shove on the aubergine (I hope you like my technical terms!)

Salt and pepper liberally, and turn over every few minutes. Spray with a bit more oil if it gets too dry. Once it’s beginning to get soft, add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar over the top, and try to get all the bits of aubergine coated in it. Cook just a little longer, and then serve. Goes with lots of differnet things. I had it with beefburger and salad last night.

I think the thing I like about it is the salt&vinegar taste, it satisfies a craving for chips (fries to y’all) without actually needing to comsume all that fat

My Yummy Oatmeal

(Originally posted by Stephanie)

So ever since I was little and we’d go to the fair I’d always get the roasted almonds that were roasted and carmelized in cinnamon and sugar. So. Stinkin’. Good.

Take a good thing and turn it into something that isn’t so bad for you and Bam, here you have my oatmeal that I’ve learned to LOVE.

• 1/4c steel cut oats
• 3/4c water
• 2tsp splenda (or sweeten to taste)
• 1 heaping tbsp Almond butter (all natural preferred)
• 1/4-1/2tsp vanilla extract
• 1tsp cinnamon (more or less to taste here too)

I’ve been using McCann’s quick and easy steel cut Irish Oatmeal. (can someone teach me how to make links on here?) make according to direstions, well, bring 3/4c water to a boil, stir in oats, reduce, cover, cook stir regularly for 5-7min. Meanwhile, in a bowl mix together remaining ingredients. When oats are finish add to nut mixture, blend well, adjust to taste, eat. Enjoy!

I really love this stuff! I hope you guys try it and like it as much as I do.

Good Day Sunshine

(Originally posted by Tami)

Happiness is:

1 banana

1 orange sliced, seeded rind left on

3/4 of a pineapple

2 cups water

Throw the above ingredients in a blender, pour into a glass, add a sprig of mint, sit back and enjoy the fire (yes, it’s cloudy, windy and cool but it doesn’t matter ’cause I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day!) This drink is PACKED with good for you stuff like manganese, vitamin C and B1, potassium, and other goodies.

*For whatever reason the picture doesn’t want to upload here so you can see it over at my blog if you want

(*Debs waves her admin wand and fixes the link*)

Kind of a cross between cookie dough & muffin batter

(Originally posted by Brandi)

For dessert after lunch I mashed up 1/2 a banana, stirred in about a tablespoon natural peanut butter and then added 1/4 C oats. It was really yummy!

Carrot Spice Muffins

(Originally posted by Brandi)

From Whole Foods for the Whole Family; La Leche League Cookbook.

(Photo by Bird)

Don’t let the raisins scare you, Blest. Bird hates raisins and loved these. (Of course you can omit them or sub something else.) Enjoy!

1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. each ginger and allspice
1/3 C honey (I used fructose and in the future I will prob. add about 2 T more liquid to compensate. The recipe said I could sub sugar for honey but didn’t say to add more liquid…I think the batter should have been a bit more wet.)
1 egg
1/2 C sour milk (1/2 T vinegar or lemon juice and the rest milk)
1/3 C oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C grated carrots (about 2 large)
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C chopped pecans

Combine dry ingredients and spices in large bowl. Mix fructose or honey, egg, milk, oil, vanilla, carrots, raisins and pecans in medium bowl. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fill greased or lined baking cups 2/3 C full. Bake 400 deg. 15 minutes (check after 10 min.) They say this makes 18, but I divided it among 12.

FYI, each has 137 cals, 2 g protein, 18g carbs, 2g fiber, and 7g fat

Perfect Pork Chops & Pursuing Pumpkin Bread

(Originally posted by Blest)

Yeah…well…okay!

Just wanted to let you know that these pork chops are absolutely faboo. My husband was thrilled. His exact words “These taste like the ones at Macaroni Grill but without the sugar…and that’s an improvement!” I think he’s getting beachified! Kudos to Kalyn’s Kitchen, of kourse!

And…I’m in pursuit of pumpkin bread. The ultimate pumpkin bread. I almost have it. But not quite. But when the recipe is perfected I shall share it and you can all gasp in awe and heap accolades on me accordingly. No really!

Marinated Veggies

(Originally posted by Tami)

I really enjoy this on days like today when it’s too hot to actually turn the stove or oven on. You can use your own veggie mix but here’s what I did for my last batch.

2 leeks (whites part only, sliced)

3 tomatoes

broccoli florets (as much as you prefer)

1 yellow pepper sliced

1 red pepper sliced

prebagged coleslaw veggies (as much as you’d prefer)

Throw the about in a bowl and mix. Add a little EVOO and then add some apple cider vinegar. You could add any herbs that you might like at this point but this time around I ate it just the way it was. Let marinate for a few hours before eating.

Saucy Parmesan Chicken

(Originally posted by Christina)

Here’s a recipe that I got from the Kraft Food and Family magazine. It sure does give a good flavor to the chicken! Yummy!

4 small boneless chicken breast halves (1lb)
1/4 cup Kraft Light Zesty Italian Reduced Fat Dressing
1/2 cup Kraft 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese (i used the reduced fat here too)

Place all ingredients in large resealable freezer-weight plastic bag; seal bag. Turn bag over several times to evenly coat chicken with remaining ingredients. Lay flat so chicken does not overlap.

Refrigerate chicken 30 min. to marinate. Preheat oven to 425F. Remove chicken from marinade; discard bag and marinade. Arrange chicken on foil covered baking sheet. Bake chicken 20 min or until cooked through.

Makes 4 servings.

CAL 180, FAT 6g (Sat 2.5g), SODIUM 430mg, CARB 1g, PROTEIN 27g

Kitchen Sink Quinoa

(Originally posted by Anita)

I was winging it tonight, using up vegetables that were in the fridge. What came out of it all tasted pretty good, so I thought you all might like to try this too. Too bad I didn’t take a picture of it because it even looked pretty good. I served it with pork loin chops on the grill.

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup chicken broth
1 large sweet potato (not yam), diced
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
2-3 cups beet greens (or any kind of spinach-like greens), chopped
1/4 cup raisins
2-3 tablespoons honey
olive oil
seasonings of choice

In a small pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Add quinoa, stir, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until all the broth is absorbed and the quinoa looks soft.

In a medium pot, boil sweet potato until about 3/4 done - soft on the edges, but firm, not cooked all the way through - maybe 5 minutes? Drain and set aside.

In a large frying pan, drizzle about 2 turns around the pan with olive oil. On medium high heat, saute the onion just until it starts to caramelize. Turn down the heat to medium and add the red pepper and cook a minute or 2 longer. Add the sweet potato, beet greens, raisins and honey, stirring to mix all of the ingredients together. Cover and steam for a couple of minutes or until the greens have wilted.

Add the cooked quinoa and season to taste. I added sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and a couple of shakes of Emeril’s Creole Seasoning.

Enjoy.

Tex Mex Enchiladas

(Originally posted by Christina)

Tami, here’s that recipe you asked for. It’s really very Tex Mex. My Mom used to make these for us when she was low on time.

I’ll post the original and the way that I’ve modified it.

Original Tex Mex Enchiladas

Oil
Corn Tortillas
Shredded Cheese
Onions
Can of hormel chili beans (or whichever brand you prefer)

Pour some oil in a pan and warm the oil. Put 1 or 2 corn tortillas in there at a time to warm up. Place the tortillas on some paper napkins to soak up the oil.

Spray a 13×9 with cooking spray (if not making enough enchiladas to fill a 13×9 you can use an 8×8 or 9×9). Heat oven to 350.

Put shredded cheese and diced onions in the tortillas and roll them up. Place them in the 13×9 as you roll them up. Once you’re done with the tortillas, pour a can of chili beans over the top of them. Put the enchiladas in oven for about 30 minutes or until warm all the way through and cheese is melted. Take out and sprinkle more cheese on top and place in oven until cheese in melted.

Modified Tex Mex Enchiladas

I have since modified the original recipe. I don’t warm the tortillas in oil. I warm the corn tortillas in the microwave. Just enough that they are easier to role.

I use reduced fat or fat free cheese. I sometimes I added shredded chicken.

Instead of using the regular hormel chili beans, I use the hormel turkey chili with beans.

There you have it. Enjoy!

Speedy Fajita Salad

Slightly late, but I just got this recipe from South Beach online, and thought I’d share the link.

It’s for Speedy Fajita Salad

Carne Guisada

(Originally posted by DebbieBoo)

I adapted this recipe from one I found at allrecipes.com. Hmm . . . I’d post the link but my little nifty toolbar is missing at the moment . . . maybe later . . .

2 pounds round steak, cut into bite size pieces (I buy the family-sized stew meat package from HEB, so it’s usually a bit more than 2 lbs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 Tablespoon pepper (maybe a little less)
Salt to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat)
1 1/2 cups water
1 onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced

Place oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the meat and season with the garlic, cumin, pepper and salt. Saute meat until browned on all sides.

Slowly add the flour, stirring well, and saute for 1 more minute. Gradually add the water, making sure to crush any flour lumps. Then add the onion and bell pepper, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes (the longer you simmer, the more tender the meat becomes). Add salt to taste.

This goes GREAT with the Mexican Rice recipe. They both take time to make. I usually start cooking the rice and while it’s simmering I make the carne guisada. Both finish cooking about the same time and they’re DELISH!

Mexican Rice

(Originally posted by DebbieBoo)

Well, I have no nutrition info for this, but I consider it a SB friendlier recipe since I use brown rice. It’s my regular recipe with that only substitution. Oh, and I cook A LOT of rice, so I guess you can cut the recipe in half. Maybe someday I’ll post the charro beans recipe I just figured out to go along with it.

Ok, forgive me if this is unclear; I’ve never written this recipe out before.

2 cups brown rice
2 T olive oil (you MAY need a bit more once it starts browning)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 can tomato sauce (the little can; is it 8 oz?)
1/2 tablespoon salt (you can reduce this if you wish)
1/2 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning (OK, I know this isn’t Mexican, but it gives it a nice kick! You can also use less of this)
Dash (or 2 or 3) of cumin
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water

Pour oil into a very large and deep skillet (yes, skillet, not saucepan). Add rice, onion and garlic, and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until rice is browned. Poor in 3/4 of a small can of tomato sauce (I usually never use the whole can). Add water and chicken stock, at which point there’ll be a nice loud and steamy sizzle! Gently stir in spices. Cover and simmer for an hour and a half. Yeah, you heard that right — an hour and a half! Occasionally check to make sure there’s enough water.

This is one of those dishes you may not get right the first time you attempt it. Or the second or third. But you’ll eventually get it. It’s tricky because sometimes some of the grains won’t cook. But if you keep trying it you’ll learn the trick — not something I can explain or describe over the internet.

Hope you likey!

Modified Brownies

(Originally posted by Christina)

Instead of making brownies out of the box, try this version.
1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 can solid pack pumpkin (15 oz.)

Mix the two ingredients together. Don’t add anything else that may be mentioned on the box, such as eggs, oil, or water. The mixture will be very thick and you will be tempted to add in other things to make the batter smoother. DO NOT DO THIS AS IT WILL RUIN EVERYTHING! Place batter into muffin tins (or mini muffin tins) lined with paper, or sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 12 regular or 36 mini muffins.

Note: I got this from the Hungry Girl website.

Chicken Quesadillas

(Originally posted by Christina)

1/2 tsp. Extra Spicy Mrs. Dash
2 whole wheat tortillas
1 cup fresh spinach
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 minced garlic clove
1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheese
salsa

Sprinkle chicken with the Extra Spicy Mrs. Dash and grill. Slice and set aside. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and saute garlic and spinach. Spray one side of each tortilla with cooking spray and place one in the skillet.
Place cooked chicken, spinach and garlic on the tortilla. Add cheese on top and follow with other tortilla, sprayed side up. Cook on low until browned and flip to other side. Top with salsa.
Note: I got this recipe from my nutritionist’s recipe book.

Edited to change subject from Chicken Enchilada’s to Chicken Quesadilla. I had enchilada’s on the brain because I was originally going to post a recipe for that.

Spanish Rice & Beans

(Originally posted by Anita)

Adapted from the Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook, I have made this recipe a little bit healthier by adding beans and using brown rice. But it could be even less calories if you use reduce fat bacon, cheese, etc. And… in case anyone is wondering I also post my recipes over at http://mangiamo.wordpress.com. {Serves 4}

Spanish Rice & Beans

6 slices bacon (we use center cut, or you could use a turkey bacon.)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 28-ounce can tomatoes, cut up
1 14-ounce can black beans, drained
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup water
3/4 cup rice (brown or white - but we like the brown)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (or substitute with your sweetener of choice)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
dash hot pepper sauce

In a large skillet, cook bacon till crisp; drain on paper towels and set aside. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings from the pan.

In the reserved bacon drippings, cook onion and green pepper until tender. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to medium-low and cover; simmer 30 minutes for white rice, 45 minutes brown rice or until rice is done and most of the liquid is absorbed, stirring often. Be careful that the bottom doesn’t stick and burn.

Serve with (or reduced-fat) shredded cheddar/jack cheese and sour cream if desired.

Taco Soup II

(Originally posted by Stephanie)

TACO SOUP

16 oz. can chili beans
16 oz. kidney beans
16 oz. can black beans
8 oz. can tomato sauce
15 oz. can diced stewed tomatoes
16 oz. can whole corn
16 oz. creamed corn
pkg. taco seasoning
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 sm. can chopped green chilies

Do not drain any of the canned foods. Add all ingredients to a crock pot and add taco seasoning to the soup. Brown the ground beef in a pan with the chopped onion and add this combination to the crock pot. Simmer for at least a couple of hours. Serve warm and garnish with optional toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips (cooked in frying pan with olive oil and grated parmesan cheese).

Credit goes here for the recipe. I would probably tweak this some by using vegetarian or FF chili, using ground turkey (or veggie crumbles) for the meat, and FF cheese, sour cream etc. This soup is super yummy and extremely filling!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

(Originally posted by DebbieBoo)

I got this off the box of Traditional Ancient Harvest Quinoa:

1 cup Traditional Quinoa
2 cups Water
4 large or 6 medium Green Peppers
1 medium Onion, diced
1/2 lb. fresh Mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. Butter
1 - 28 oz can Tomatoes, coarsely diced (reserve juice)
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 - 12 oz jar Mexican Salsa (I used homemade)
2 Tbsp. Dry Sherry (I didn’t have this)
10 oz Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Cook traditional quinoa following the directions on side panel.
Steam 4 large or 6 medium green peppers until soft but not limp (I boiled mine). When cooled enough to handle, cut off tops and scoop out seeds and veins.
In a large skillet, saute the onion and mushrooms in butter. Add the diced tomatoes (reserve the juice). Add the crushed garlic and Mexican salsa. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add the sherry and simmer 10 more minutes.
Fold in quinoa.
Place peppers in baking dish and fill with quinoa mixture. This will take about half the mixture. Thin remainder with reserved juice and pour around peppers.
Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over peppers and back in 325 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

This is YUMMY! The dish I baked it in was a bit small so I didn’t get to pour all the remaining quinoa mixture in the pan (plus I cooked way more than 1 cup of quinoa). But that’s OK, because it was good as side dish to a meal! A nice alternative to Mexican Rice.

Mediterranean Sweet Potato Pizza

Anita, this ones for you!

So I made this up for lunch today and it truly is delish. Because of the sweet potato and whole wheat flour I wouldn’t eat it every day but it really is an amazing alternative to pizza. The recipe is too long and detailed for me to care to write (I’ve must go exercise…cut me some slack ) so you can find it here.

The only thing I did differently was to add about 1 1/2 TBL light mozzarella cheese to each pizza. I like the taste of cheese but knew I didn’t need what pizza typically has.

Enjoy!

Lean Lasagna & Marinara Sauce

(Originally posted by Christina)

Lean Lasagna

4 cups marinara sauce
spinach, zuchinni, or fresh vegetables of choice (i used spinach, zuchinni, shredded carrots, green bell pepper)
12oz container fat free cottage cheese, strained
8oz container fat free of low fat ricotta
4oz shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese
oven ready lasagna noodles
reduced fat parmesan cheese to taste

1) Combine cottage cheese and ricotta and set aside.
2) Place a layer of marinara sauce in a 9×13 pan.
3) Layer uncooked lasagna noodles, 1/2 the cottage/ricotta mixture, 1/2 the vegetables.
4) Repeat step 2 and 3
5) Cover and bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
6) Top with mozzarella and bake uncovered until cheese is melted.
7) Let stand to cool about 15 minutes before cutting.

Makes 6 large servings.

NOTE: You can also add meat to this by adding 1lb extra lean ground beef, drained and rinsed to the marinara sauce.

Here’s a recipe to the marinara sauce that I got from my nutritionist. You can use this marinara for the Lean Lasagna recipe and also for the Texican Lasagna that I posted last week. By the way, I got the lasagna recipes from my nutritionist as well.

Marinara Sauce
2-48oz can crushed tomatoes in puree
1-15oz can diced tomatoes
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup red wine
1 package fresh pre-sliced mushrooms (i left these out because i don’t care for mushrooms)
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground thyme
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
(Use fresh herbs when available but double the amounts)

Place all ingredients in a crock-pot on low and simmer for 6-8 hours. If you need faster, put on high for 3 hours.

FYI: This marinara sauce recipe made a lot! I used the same batch for the Lean Lasagna and 2 recipes of the Texican Lasagna and I still have marinara sauce left over.

Risotto with Acorn Squash

(Originally posted by Anita)

Once I learned how to make risotto, I make variations of the same recipe quite a lot during the winter. Use barley instead of arborio rice if you want a nuttier flavor and a healthier dish. The barley takes a little bit longer to cook than the arborio rice. I also use chicken stock, but you could use vegetable stock to make it truly vegetarian. And roast any kind of vegetable - it doesn’t have to be squash. It’s just what we had on hand at the time.

Risotto with Acorn Squash

2 cups Acorn Squash, peeled,seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice (or any root vegetable)
1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup arborio rice (or pearled barley - it just takes a little longer to cook)
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups vegetable stock (I usually use chicken stock)
1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
1/4 cup milk (leave out if you are using barley)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place squash on a small baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with your favorite seasoning. It could be a garlic seasoning or just plain salt and pepper. Toss squash to coat. Roast in the oven until tender, about 20 - 25 minutes.

Bring stock to a simmer in a heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to low and keep warm. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in another large saucepan over medium to medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until it begins to look transparent, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add the rice and stir another 2 minutes. Add wine and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock; simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently. Continue until 3 cups of chicken stock have been absorbed. Add the remaining cup of chicken stock and squash, stirring frequently until the arborio rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat and add the sage leaves, chives and 1 tablespoon butter and milk, stirring until the butter is melted. Stir in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with more Parmesan cheese at the table.

Strawberry Cloud

(Originally posted by Christina)

I found an alternative to the Starbucks Strawberries & Creme Frappucino. I haven’t tried it yet but it sounds yummy and thought I’d share.

By the way, I found the recipe here.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup frozen strawberries (plain — NOT in syrup!)
5 oz. light vanilla soymilk
2 tsp. Fat Free French Vanilla Coffee-mate powder (dissolved in a n oz. of warm water)
1 oz. Torani Sugar Free Strawberry Syrup
3 no-calorie sweetener packets (like Splenda)
3 large ice cubes
2 tbsp. Fat Free Reddi-wip

Directions:
Place all of the ingredients in a blender, except for the Reddi-wip. Blend on high speed for 30 - 45 seconds. Pour, and top with the Reddi-wip.

PER SERVING (entire recipe): 119 calories, 1g fat, 102mg sodium, 21g carbs, 2g fiber, 14g sugars, 4g protein

SpicyMeatyMexicany Chili

(Originally posted by DebbieBoo)

I make this at least once a week because it’s so stinking easy and yummy. There’s really no recipe — I just throw everything together:

2 lbs ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (I love garlic so lot’s of time I end up using more)
spices: cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper (as much of all of this as you can handle; maybe at least a tablespoon of cumin and chili powder, a little less cayenne pepper)
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can Rotel (or any canned chopped tomatoes with green chiles)
2 8oz. cans tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef along with spices, garlic, onion and bell pepper. Drain.

Add both cans of beans (I never drain or rinse; too lazy), Rotel (again, not drained), tomato sauce and extra spices to balance out the taste (rather scientific, huh?). Cover and let simmer until it’s hot and yummy; about 20 min.

Serve by itself or with brown rice/Mexican rice. Top with grated cheese and/or sour cream.

It easily serves 6-8 people, depending on how much they eat. It also freezes nicely if you have too much left over.

Sometimes I’ll add peas or a chopped zucchini as it’s simmering. I used to add corn before I started SB.
If it sounds spicy, rest assured that it is spicy. But the spiciness is what makes it yum.

Coconut Chicken

I was going to share with you all this recipe for Coconut Chicken, which I received in an e-mail from the South Beach Diet wedsite. However, I searched the site and discovered my family has shared it before. So, I’m going to share it again, because it is yummy, and I think that half the OWOA-ers won’t have seen it before, and I’ll rack my brains for something different to share later in the weekend, when I’m, hopefully, feeling more awake.

Coconut Chicken

Texican Lasagna

(Originally posted by Christina)

I made this earlier this week and it was awesome! Enjoy!

6 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups shredded light cheese
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, boiled and sliced
3 cups marinara sauce
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. crushed red pepper

Mix spices with marinara sauce. Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray and place a layer of corn tortillas in pan. Next add a layer of marinara sauce. Add the chicken and black beans on top of this. Next add layer of cheese. Add another layer of tortillas, sauce and remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.

Cut into 6 servings.

Cream Cheese Dessert

(Originally posted by DebbieBoo)

Don’t ask me how it tastes ’cause I just found it in a recipe book and haven’t tried it yet. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it, actually. It’s exactly 200 calories a serving which sounds like a heck of a lot to me! But that was the calorie limit, right?

Ok, without further ado here’s the recipe straight from Quick & Healthy Recipes & Ideas by Brenda J. Ponichtera:

1 tub (12 oz) light cream cheese (room temp)
1 large box (1.4 oz) sugar-free vanilla instant pudding
3 cups skim milk
1 can (20 oz) light cherry filling*

In a small mixing bowl, combine pudding mix and milk. Beat on low speed to mix ingredients. Add cream cheese. Increase speed and beat until smooth and thickened. Pour into individual or large serving dish. Top with pie filling, and refrigerate.

Yield: 8 servings
One serving: 1/2 cup pudding mix
1/4 cup filling
Calories per serving: 200
Fat: 8 grams

*The cherry filling contains sugar and should be limited by people with diabetes.

If I ever do make it I’ll prob sub the pie filling for fresh or frozen fruit.

Bird's Old-Fashioned 'Niller Punnin'

(Originally posted by Bird)

2 tablespoons of Splenda

1 tablespoon of cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1 cup 2% milk

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons of butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstartch and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat.

Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolk; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in butter and vanilla.

Cool for 15 minutes, stirring occassionally. Transfer to dessert dishes. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Consume an obscene amount.

Actually, Bran Muffin made this dessert last night for the first time and it was YUMMY. I highly recommend it. I hate that this thing doesn’t have a spell checker, by the way … or am I just missing it?

Apple Cake (with a hat-tip to the oatmeal muffin)

Several things inspired me to try this. First of all, HP was talking about making apple cake last week (in the end she made something else I think), but that reminded me of the yummy combination of apple, cake and of course cinnamon. Then I was having porridge cravings yesterday, I belive it was - and the way I cook that is to add an apple, finely chopped with the oats, and then cook in the microwave.

Anyway, that led me to think about the oatmeal muffins. I made some of those the other day, and decided I would like them more if there were slightly less ‘airy’ and had a bit more crunch or bite in them somehow. I though about adding chucks of apple to the muffins, but then decided to try using the batter instead of ‘normal’ cake mix, and then sticking the apple bits in and topping with cinnamon.

I took the recipe blest posted (I believe from the South Beach Diet Cookbook) Here’s a link to that and this is what I did

3/4 cup oats
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour or whole grain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon + more to shake over the top
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup applesauce (I made this myself by gently stewing some bramley apples, because I’ve not found it sold here like it is in the States)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large apples, with the skin left on. Cored, and cut into thin slices

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180C / 350F

Line a tin (I used 7″ by 13″) with baking paper or grease well with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine the oats and the buttermilk. Let soak for 30 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and walnuts. In a large bowl, stir together the oil, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in the oat mixture. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the baking tray and arrange the cut pieces of apple in the mix, so that the apple skin points out to the sky. Dredge Sprinkle with cinnamon (I like lots!).

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool on a rack and then cut into pieces.

Originally I cut them so that I had 16 bits, but having eaten one of those I would say that actually it would be better to make 24 or even 32 bits (They are very filling). I have no idea of the nutritional info on those, so I shall stop typing now!

(I can’t get the pictures to show up, buthere’s a picture of the piece I ate over on my food pics blog)

Strawberry Pie

(Originally posted by Stephanie)

… Weight Watcher style

Crumble 2 full length chocolate graham crackers and sprinkle over bottom of 8″ pie pan. Place 2 cups of fresh sliced strawberries over cracker crumbs. In small saucepan mix 1 T. cornstarch, 1 small box sugar-free strawberry jello, 1 c. diet ginger ale. Stir and bring to a boil. Cool to lukewarm and pour over berries. Chill to firm and top with cool whip.

4 WW points for the ENTIRE pie. Yum.

Baked Apple

(Originally posted by Bekki)

Take one apple.

Core it and score it round the circumference.

Mix together a teaspoon of saltanas, a teaspoon of flaked almonds, a pinch of cinnamon and a little freshly ground nutmeg.

Stuff the fruit and nut mix inside the apple. Put in in something oven proof.
Bake at 180C (350F)  for about an hour (cook something else at the same time, like roast veg and sausages or chicken.)

Serve with low fat yoghurt or creme fraiche.

Heavenly Lemon Mousse

Ok, so this is a recipe I got from South Beach Daily emails. (I signed up for them a long time ago, and I get an email every day, sometimes they’re just ads trying to get me to ‘do’ South Beach through the website, but they also send recipes and exercise ideas). I’ve never tried this recipe, but I thought I’d share it, so that if my current experiment which is taking place in the kitchen right now all goes to pot, I’ve still shared a dessert recipe with you! It has splenda in it, so I don’t know if it will count for the challenge, but hey.! (The tag at the beginning is what they said about it)

Who doesn’t enjoy a refreshing dessert to cap off a nice dinner? This delicious concoction certainly fills the bill!

Makes 6 servings (1/2 cup each)

Ingredients:
6 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
3/4 cup Splenda® or sugar substitute
1 tablespoon lemon peel (from 1 large lemon)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
1 1/2 cups South Beach Diet®-approved whipped topping

Instructions:
1. In medium stainless steel saucepan over medium heat, combine yolks, whole eggs, Splenda®, peel, and juice. Cook 4 minutes, whisking constantly, until thickened to a custard consistency.

2. Remove from heat; pour into medium bowl and refrigerate until cold (about 30 minutes). Just before serving, fold in whipped topping until combined and lightened. Spoon into serving bowls.

Nutritional Information:
136 calories
5 g protein
10 g carbohydrates
0 g fiber
8 g total fat (4 g saturated fat)
275 mg cholesterol
32 mg sodium

Peanut Butter Whips

(Originally posted by Christina)

1/2 cup reduced fat peanut butter and 18oz tub fat free cool whip

Mix together and freeze in lined muffin tins.

Makes 12.

For those on WW, 2points each.

Chapati Bread

I just found this recipe linked to from a blog I read (Days to Come).

Thought I might experiement with it sometime (Monday night is curry night in our house, so this might make an interesting carb to go with it)

No-Pasta Pasta Pepperonata

(Originally posted by Missy)

I’m temporarily changing my name to “Pinkie” for this challenge. 

This is a staple for my frequent vegetarian escapades. 

Cut a small spaghetti squash in half, scoop out seeds and rub a little salt inside. Place cut side down in caserole dish half-filled with water, cover and cook in microwave for 10 minutes.

While that’s cooking, saute a chopped onion, a couple cloves of minced garlic, and two sliced red-peppers in olive oil til soft.  Add a can of diced tomatoes and a tablespoon of basil, simmer for five minutes.

Scrape out the squash from the shell with a fork, top with veggies and a little parm.  Enjoy.

E is for Eggs

(Originally posted by Elly)

A quick recipe when inspiration and time are lacking.

chop one or two onions and similar quantity of courgettes (zucchini)

Saute gently in olive oil (or what ever is your favourite), a little soy sauce, pepper and salt to taste. i usauly cover the pan after the initial coating with oil . Stir occasionally.

After around 20 mins add a tin of chopped tomatoes or fresh tomatoes chopped, depends what is available in season, cheap etc.

Finally beat some eggs (how ever many you have or dependent on how many people you are feeding. stir into rest of ingredients in pan until lightly scrambled. Serve immediatley with or without rice, or mashed potatoes (my husbands choice) or bread. sometimes we leave out the tomatoes for a change.

This was a standby on camping trips years ago and has remained an occasional option ever since.

My favourite packed lunch

(Originally posted by Elly)

Ok haven’t been participating in this challenge so far but thought I would try this time. I have packed lunch several times a week and it rarely varies that much. this is what I do.

Wash lettuce and tear into small peices. I try different sorts, somtimes a little young spinach if we have any

Add chopped into small pieces any combiunation of the following: one or two radishes, some red or yellow pepper (bell pepper) or whatever colour is in the fridge, a few baby tomatoes or a large one chopped, celery, cucumber, salad onion (scallion?), beetrot occasionally.

For protein I add a slice of ham chopped or some turkey (we buy quick cook steaks rather than ready cooked and some form of low fat cheese (feta or cheddar or Edam) cubed.
Then add a few sponfuls of french type dressing (mine has rather more vinegar than olive oil, mustard, salt pepper and mustard (dijon or multigrain) and pinch of sugar substitute. Occasionally i throw in a few pumpkin or sunflower seeds or a few beans or chick peas.
And that is what I make almost every time. It varies a little according to what is in the fridge but it amazes me how satisfying I find it. i follow up with a piece of fruit and I am full. It takes a little longer than making a sandwich but not much as I just fit it in round making breakfast (often porridge) and I just love it and I don’t miss the bread.

I put it in a clip top container which is leakproof and pack it in a small cooler bag with an ice pack. I usually add a small snack for midafternoon, often houmus and veg sticks or a baby bel cheese and an apple. That gets me past that end of school time (4 pm) when I do my planning for the next day and saves me from the biscuits or other goodies that might be lurking in the staff room.

My Breakfast Stand-by

(Originally posted by Brandi)

I eat this every single morning.  I love it!

Combine in a deep microwave-safe bowl:

1/3 C oats
1 T ground flaxseed
1/2 C milk
1/2 C water

(for my microwave, this is what I do…yours may be different:)
Cook on high 3 minutes.  Stir.  Cook for 1 minute.  Stir.  Cook for 40 seconds.  Stir.

Add:

salt to taste
stevia or other sweetener to taste
cinnamon to taste
1/2 banana, chopped

Stir well and put in the freezer so it will cool down 

Dal

This is actually a link to a recipe that I’ve been meaning to share with y’all for ages. It’s for dal, and I found it over on Kalyn’s Kitchen, but I’m hoping that Tami will let me count it as my D recipe.

Kalyn uses red lentils, but the almost everytime I’ve made it I’ve used dal lentils (hence the D). (I think we’d originally bought the huge packet as a cheap filling for beanbags, but when I saw the recipe I decided to try it out!)

Here’s the link.

Peanut Butter Banana Crunch Cookies

A recipe by Blest!! 

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup Kashi 7 Whole Grain Flakes cereal, lightly crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup natural peanut butter (I use Smuckers)
1 tsp vanilla

2 bananas
1 tbsp oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Using your mixture, combine bananas, peanut butter, vanilla and oil til well-blended. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add the dry to the wet and mix ‘em up!  Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-15 minutes.  Makes about 20

Of course, for even more crunch you could add some chopped nuts or use crunchy peanut butter.

Easy Pasta

(Originally posted by DebbieBoo)

Here’s my go-to when I haven’t eaten too many carbs:

1/2 bag of whole wheat pasta (I typically use angel hair pasta)

3 garlic cloves (minced, crushed or pressed; and FRESH, not jarred)
1 chopped Roma tomato

2 T olive oil

3 T balsamic vinegar

Parmesan cheese (freshly grated is best)

salt to taste

Cook the pasta according to directions.  Drain.  Add garlic, oil, vinegar and mix together (you may add more or less depending on how dry you like it).  Season with salt to taste.  Top with desired amount of parmesan cheese, and enjoy!

This easily serves 3-4 people.  Don’t ask about the calories and other nutrition info, ’cause I have no clue!

Fried BROWN Rice

(Originally posted by DebbieBoo)

This will count as the recipe involving a main ingredient that starts w/ the first letter of my name here (I’m using “Boo” in this instance). I posted this at my blog a couple of months ago:

Easy Fried Rice

This recipe is a variation of one I found at All Recipes. It’s hard for me to write up a recipe since I throw things together and season as I see fit, never measuring. But I’ll give it a try!

INGREDIENTS
* 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
* 2 T vegetable oil
* 2 T soy sauce
* 3 green onions and tops, chopped
* 1/2-1 cup frozen peas or snap peas
* 1/2-1 cup fresh cut string beans (I usually boil these a bit first)
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 4 cups cold cooked brown rice
* 3 tablespoons Teriyaki Sauce (I used an organic one w/ garlic & ginger)
* Salt, pepper and garlic to taste.

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut chicken into thin strips.
2. Heat oil in hot wok or large skillet over high heat. Add chicken, green onions , and soy sauce. Stir-fry 3 minutes, or until chicken is nearly cooked. (I always add seasonings in this step and may had more later, after the rice has been added to the meat.)
3. Add veggies. Cook 3-5 minutes more.
4. Add eggs; cook, stirring gently, until firm. Stir in rice and cook until heated through.
5. Add teriyaki sauce; remove pan from heat. Stir mixture until well mixed. Serve immediately.

I know it’s not true fried rice, but it’s still yummy. Hope you enjoy!

Bekki's Black Eye Bean Burgers

This recipe is a sort of work in progress ‘cos I’m not completely happy with it, but I think this works.

1 tin of black eyed beans (black eye peas)

Half a red onion

Half a red pepper

Tabasco sauce

A beaten egg

Cayenne pepper

Preheat the grill. (Now I’ve never sure of the US translation of the UK grill. Broiler maybe?)
Chop the onion and pepper finely (I use a mini food processor).

Chop/mash the beans with a fork or the same mini food processor.

Mix the beans, onion, pepper, some Tabasco and cayenne pepper.

Add enough beaten egg to make the mixture stick togther.

Form into cakes and grill until browned.

Serve with salad and something tomato-ey.

Makes 4 burgers. I usually cook all 4, eat 2 for dinner and eat the other 2 cold, crumbled up in salads.

Another Stir Fry

(Originally posted by Bekki)

Like Debs, my cooking on auto-pilot standard is stir-fry, though usually with a Thai-style sauce.

Chop up lots of veg into same sized pieces. (Usually onion, brocolli, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, whatever else is lurking in the fridge).

Chop ginger and garlic very small.

Mix 1 teaspoon of peanut butter and 1 teaspoon of red or green curry paste (Actually I haven’t had any of this for months, so I make a mixture of soy sauce, lazy chillies and chopped Kaffir lime leaves, ground ginger and ground coriander) and some soy sauce to make a paste.

Heat up your wok.

Add some oil (groundnut usually). Add the ginger and garlic and fry for a bit.

Add the veg and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

Add a small can of reduced fat coconut milk. Simmer until it looks thick enough.

Add the peanut/curry paste, maybe a little hot water (swirl it round the mug or whatever you mixed the past in).

Cook until it looks edible.

Serve on its own or over millet or brown rice. Sprinkle with fresh coriander if you’ve got it.

Stir-fry

In this house a simple stir-fry is one of our go-to dishes. Especially for Sunday lunchtime, because we don’t usually get home from church until after way one, and usually don’t eat until two.

We would probably have it with brown rice, or brown rice noodles, which you stir in a couple of minutes before the end. I don’t really have a recipe, cos it’s different every time, but as a rough guide…

• An onion or two (could use one white, one red for a bit of colour)
• A clove or two of garlic
• Chicken or Turkey breast, cut up into the sort of shapes you find in stirfry!
• Some carrot, pealed and cut into long slivers. (don’t know what the technical term is, but long thin bits!)
• At least one thing green - green beans, mange tout, broccoli, courgette
• Probably some red\yellow\green pepper (depending on what we’ve got)
• Mushrooms
• Sweetcorn
• Anything else you have that looks like it wants to be in a stirfry
• Soy Sauce

Start by heating some olive oil in a big pan (we have a wok, but a large frying pan will do). Once it’s heated, add the garlic (either finely chopped, or put through a garlic crusher) and onion, and cook for a couple of minutes. If you’re using raw meat (which I don’t always) add it now as well.

Cook until the meat is looking cooked all over (if it’s still pink inside that’s ok, because it’ll be cooking a bit longer). Start adding the rest of the vegetables. I would probably put the carrot and green beans etc in next. Keep stirring, and add a little more oil if it needs it. Add the rest of the vegetables, probably putting things like mushroom, pepper and sweetcorn in towards the end.

Splosh in a good splash of soy sauce, and stir it all together. Basically, I would go by instinct, but you can taste something like the onion or carrot to see if it’s done to your taste. If you’re using ready cooked meat (for example, we might use the leftovers from a roast pork or beef joint ) they mix that in towards the end, and make sure it gets heater through. If you’re using noodles you might like to add them now.

That’s about it. Sometimes I’ll add a small handful of pine nuts or cashews. Serve with rice, or without, and with the soy sauce bottle handy for if people want to add some more.

If you’re feeling adventurous you can experiment with marinating the raw meat in some interesting concoction for a couple of hours before you cook it.

If you want a more detailed recipe, try this one I just found over at Kalyn’s kitchen.

Chocolate Haystacks

(Originally posted by Christina)

Thank goodness my name starts with a C!  Thank goodness for the bonus point challenge!  And I wish I didn’t love chocolate as much as I did!  

fiber one cereal (one pouch)
12oz chocolate chips (sometimes i use semi-sweet, other times dark, sometimes milk chocolate and sometimes i mix them all up)

Melt chips in microwave.  Mix in cereal.  Drop on waxed paper.  Put in frig. 

Makes 27 generous servings.

WW = 1 point

Picadillo

(Originally posted by Christina)

This is a Mexican dish that I make quite often.  If you’re having trouble pronouncing it, it sounds like “picadiyo”.  

1 lb extra lean ground meat
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tomatoe, chopped
salt free lemon and pepper (put in as much as you’d like)
worcestershire sauce (put in as much as you’d like; sometimes I leave out since it’s high in sodium)
1 potatoe, peeled and diced (sometimes I leave this out depending on how many carbs I’ve already had)
4 tomatoes and 1 jalapeno blended in blender

Put the extra lean ground meat in a skillet and add the lemon and pepper and worcestershire sauce.  Cook the meat.  About 5-10 minutes before it’s done, add the chopped tomatoe and green bell pepper.  Once the meat is done, add in the diced potatoes, the tomatoe/jalapeno mixture and some water.  Enough water so that the potatoes can cook (approx 1 cup).  Cover and cook until the potatoes are soft. 

I love it!  Hope you do to.  

 *Edited to add:  You can also add in chopped onion and some garlic powder or minced garlic. 

Roasted Veggies

(Originally posted by Tami)

I love to roast veggies. I don’t have a particular amount of anything, just throw in more or less of what I’m craving. 

Typically it consists of

1 each red and yellow pepper and a sweet onion

1/2 an eggplant

1/4 of a bunch of asparagus

I cut everything into bite size pieces and toss with some olive oil, red wine vinegar, and pepper.  I bake in a casserole dish at 425 until everything is warm and just beginning to soften…about 20 minutes.  Then I flip the oven to broil and let the veggies sit until they get as dark as I like.  My husband does not like the eggplant because it does get very soft…it’s a texture thing with him.  I love them because with the red wine vinegar it’s like candy to me.  Yummy sweet.

Red Cabbage

A fair while ago, last year sometime, I believe, we got a red cabbage delivered in our organic fruit and veg box (We have a box delivered once a fortnight) so I decided to look for ways to cook it. I googled, and searched on Kalyn’s kitchen, and collected ideas from lots of different places, and came up with my own version.

I haven’t made this recipe since before I went to Texas, although we did buy a red cabbage to make it sometime this week, so my recipe isn’t as precise or exact as it could be. If you’d rather follow an exact recipe then check out this one on Kalyn’s Kitchen, if you’re happy to follow some vague ideas then keep reading.

A lot of the recipes I found used vingar or some sort, apples, and chicken stock\broth. So here’s what I did.

• Red Cabbage.
• A couple of apples.
• Olive Oil
• Red Wine Vinegar
• A chicken stock cube and hot water (you could use a couple of cans chicken broth, or some homemade chicken stock)
• Salt and Pepper

Chop the cabbage finely and peal and chop the apples.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a pan with a lid. (I used a big frying pan, but any pan that you can put the lid on would do). Put the cabbage and apple in and saute for about 5 or 10 minutes (I would generally start thowing the cabbage and apple in the pan once I’d begun to cut it up, to get it off the chopping board so I could keep cutting the next bit)

Once it’s begun to wilt add about 5 fluid ounces (about 2/3 cup) red wine vinegar and enough chicken stock\hot water to cover the cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until tender. (I think maybe 30-40 minutes. As I said, I haven’t made this in a long time!)

The vinegar combined with the sweetness of the apple give this dish a sort of sweet and sour taste.

Yellow Squash & Zucchini Spice

(Originally posted by DebbieBoo)

So easy.  So yummy.

2 yellow squash (or is it squashes?)
2 zucchinis (or is it zucchin-i)

3 sizable roma tomatoes

at least 1/2 chopped onion

olive oil

tons of pepper and some salt

Slice the zucchini and squash to your liking (but i wouldn’t recommend going too thin).

In a pan, preferably a cast iron,  put olive oil (abt 1-2 T depending on amount of veggies).

Spread onions over the bottom of the pan.

Layer: 1 sliced squash, 1 sliced zucchini, 1 1/2 roma tomatoes, salt and LOTS of pepper.  Repeat layer.

Cover pan.  Turn burner to medium.  Cook until it smells good.  Stir, then cover and cook some more.

It’s best when the veggies are squishy rather than still firm, so if you’re a picky texture eater then you might not like this one.  Also, what makes it so yummy is the spice from the pepper.  So if you taste it and it’s not spicy, add some more!

Green French Fries

(Originally posted by Blest)

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Get some french green beans from Sam’s. (actually - you should get the green beans before you turn the oven on)  Put about half a pack in a bowl. Drizzle in some olive oil, garlic, lemon pepper, and salt…  or whatever floats your boat.  Spread on a cookie sheet.  Bake the daylights out of ‘em. 

They come out crispy crunchy and rather Fry-like.  Or at least, this Fry* likes ‘em.  

 

*my maiden name

Broccoli Blest Style

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Put some broccoli in a pyrex dish, or a cast-iron skillet, or on a cookie sheet…whatever.  Drizzle with a little sesame oil, sprinkle on some soy sauce, and dash with garlic and pepper.

Bake the daylights out of it.  Or rather, til it’s black and crunch on the tips.  Or not…whatever you prefer.

Chow down.

Spicy Sweet Potato Cakes

(Originally posted by Bekki)

This is more of an algorithm than a recipe, but it’s yummy.

• Take a sweet potato (or more, depending on how many you’re cooking for).
• Make holes in it with a sharp knife so it doesn’t explode.
• Cook it in the microwave until soft (10 minutes? 20? Depends on the potato, the microwave. Use your common sense).
• Wait til it cools enough to handle and cut the potato in half.
• Scoop out the innards into a bowl and mash with a fork.
• Add some ginger. If you like ginger a lot, then add a 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated up small. If you’re less keen, add a small pinch of ground ginger.
• Form the ginger-potato mixture into cakes.
• Add a small amount of groundnut oil or oil spray to a frying pan.
• Heat the frying pan until smoking.
• Fry the potato cakes until brownish. (until they look like you’d want to eat them, basically).
• Serve with Thai-style stir-fryed vegetables.