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!