Artichoke-and-Red Pepper Pizza

Ah pizza, the American staple.  Well believe it or not this pizza is meat free.  Wait let me just double check that....yep no meat in this pizza.

Given that this pizza has 0% meat, I was fairly certain that this would be one of those meals that my husband ate just to appease me. For him, pizza with no meat is like breathing without air. 

I guess they say you never stop learning things about your partner.  He loved it!  I'll admit I loved it too, but I was in such shock that he loved it that I thought I might have been dreaming--or that he was just saying it was good to make me feel better.  But he had a genuine love for this pizza.  Normally Cooking Light cuts back on the cheese, which is one method they use to make things 'lighter'. However, I felt like this was a great amount of cheese to pizza ratio.  The recipe used up most of a bag of shredded mozzarella.

Like other reviewers, I bought fresh mushrooms and sauteed them with the red peppers.  See those green spots? I also added some homemade pesto, from another great CL recipe (seen here).  It really took the recipe to an awesome level.  How do I have fresh pesto in the winter when basil is not abundant? Simple silly, I freeze it and thaw some whenever I need it.
 
This recipe was designed as a party appetizer, with 16 servings total.  We split this into 8 servings instead, to make it more of a meal portion.  The only caveat I would mention with doing this is that the crust isn't tough enough to hold a 'slice'.  So next time we will up the time on the pre-bake of the crust to see if that works. And there will be a next time.

It appears as though www.myrecipes.com is doing a redesign of their website.  Because of this, I can't give you the rating of this recipe. I think it was a 5 star rated recipe with about 10-20 reviews. 

Recipe by Cooking Light, November 1995

• YIELD: 16 appetizers (serving size: 1 appetizer)

Ingredients

• 1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza dough
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup julienne-cut red bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
• 1 (2.5-ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Cracked pepper (optional)

Preparation

• Unroll pizza dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat dough into a 14 x 10-inch rectangle. Bake at 425° for 5 minutes; set aside.
• Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add red bell pepper, basil, oregano, and garlic; saute 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in artichokes and mushrooms.
• Sprinkle half of cheese over prepared pizza crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Spread the vegetable mixture evenly over cheese, and top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle with cracked pepper, if desired. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes or until crust is lightly browned

Nutritional Information

---

• Amount per serving
• Calories: 101
• Calories from fat: 32%
• Fat: 3.6g
• Saturated fat: 1.3g
• Monounsaturated fat: 1.5g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.6g
• Protein: 4.8g
• Carbohydrate: 12.7g
• Fiber: 0.3g
• Cholesterol: 6mg
• Iron: 1.1mg
• Sodium: 256mg
• Calcium: 103mg

Spinach Salad with Gorgonzola, Pistachios and Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette

Red pepper jelly. What a weird thing.  Jelly is supposed to be sweet so why do you have this jelly that tastes a bit spicy?!  To make this salad of course!

I needed red pepper jelly for another recipe and for the life of me I cannot figure out which recipe it is.  Anyway I had this stashed in my fridge and so I figured let's give it a go. I was a little skeptical of this salad at first, I wasn't sure how the flavors would come together.  In the end this turned out to be a nice little salad.

To make this substantial enough for my lunch, I added two soft boiled eggs (not pictured).  The only other thing I changed in this recipe was to use blue cheese instead of gorgonzola.  I have issues some times navigating the Wegman's cheese department....But blue cheese and gorgonzola are essentially the same, so I don't think it made a big difference. 

The spiciness of the vinaigrette complements the blue cheese perfectly.  I'm not exactly sure what the pistachios add to this recipe but I enjoyed them nonetheless.  Maybe this salad would be better with a little sweet bite, like dried cherries.  Don't quote me on that though. :)

This salad would be a great compliment to any meal and sounds fancy when serving your guests.

As of today's post 11 people gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5.

Recipe by Laura Zapalowski, Cooking Light, November 2008

• YIELD: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup spinach mixture and 2 teaspoons nuts)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup red pepper jelly
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 1/4 cup dry-roasted pistachios 

Preparation

1. Place jelly in a 1-cup glass measure. Microwave at HIGH 30 seconds. Add cider vinegar, oil, salt, and black pepper, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cool to room temperature.
2. Combine spinach and cheese in a large bowl. Drizzle vinegar mixture over spinach mixture; toss well. Sprinkle with nuts. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

---

• Amount per serving
• Calories: 101
• Calories from fat: 54%
• Fat: 6.1g
• Saturated fat: 1.6g
• Monounsaturated fat: 3g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 1.1g
• Protein: 2.9g
• Carbohydrate: 10.4g
• Fiber: 2.3g
• Cholesterol: 4mg
• Iron: 1.3mg
• Sodium: 187mg
• Calcium: 54mg

---

Ricotta Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccoli

Look at this picture. It could be my amateur photography skills but does this look appetizing to you? The answer is probably no.  I wish it was a case of 'don't judge a book by it's cover' but unfortunately the story ends in disappointment.  This was T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E.  Now we're not ones to waste food, so we ate the leftovers, but it is a 'never make ever ever again'.  We even added in bacon for a little more protein and I added a little truffle oil and it could not save this recipe. 

We started out hopeful; I needed a recipe to use the rest of my ricotta cheese.  I thought this would be a great low-cal version of Alfredo plus a sneaky way for some veg.  I would have rather eaten plain beans than this meal.  We even used 1% milk instead of skim which should have made it creamier, but it didn't.  Please, do yourself a favor. If you see this recipe, please avoid making it. 

Surprisingly, nine people gave this an average rating of 4 out of 5.  Nine isn't a large number--seems low enough that these people may all have a rare genetic condition where they do not have any taste buds.  

So make at your own risk, but don't say I didn't warn you.....

Recipe by Cooking Light, March 1999

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

• 2  cups  small broccoli florets
• 2  tablespoons  butter or stick margarine
• 2  tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2  cups  fat-free milk
• 2/3  cup  (2 1/2 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2  cup  grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  coarsely ground black pepper
• 4  cups  hot cooked fettuccine (about 8 ounces uncooked pasta)
• 2  tablespoons  minced fresh parsley

Preparation

Steam broccoli, covered, 3 minutes or until crisp-tender.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook 15 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, salt, and pepper, and cook 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Stir in broccoli and pasta. Sprinkle with parsley.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 421 (28% from fat)

Fat: 13.3g (sat 5.3g,mono 4.5g,poly 2.4g)

Protein: 21.5g

Carbohydrate: 53.6g

Fiber: 3.8g

Cholesterol: 23mg

Iron: 3mg

Sodium: 529mg

Calcium: 437mg

New potatoes with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

First of all, I'd like to thank my mom for giving us this great pasta bowl set, which is the backdrop for this picture. Thanks mom!

We made these potatoes with the previous post, Fruit and Walnut-stuffed pork loin.  It worked out well because both of these recipes called for an hour of cook time at the same temperature (400).  We didn't have new potatoes, so we just used regular red potatoes cut up smaller.  Otherwise, we didn't make any changes to this recipe.

In a word: delish.  The white wine vinegar in this is really great. 

As of this post, 18 people gave it a rating of 5 out of 5. Can't argue with that!

Recipe by Mark Scarbrough, Cooking Light, November 2008

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup)

Ingredients

• 3  tablespoons  olive oil, divided
• 1 1/4  teaspoons  kosher salt, divided
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 7  garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 3  pounds  small red potatoes, quartered
• 3  tablespoons  minced chives
• 2  tablespoons  white wine vinegar
• 2  teaspoons  Dijon mustard

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, garlic, and potatoes in a roasting pan or jelly-roll pan; toss well to coat. Bake at 400° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until tender, stirring after 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
3. Squeeze garlic cloves to extract pulp. Discard skins. Combine garlic pulp, remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, chives, vinegar, and mustard in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add potatoes to bowl; toss well to coat.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 170 (28% from fat)

Fat: 5.3g (sat 0.8g,mono 3.7g,poly 0.6g)

Protein: 3.4g

Carbohydrate: 28.3g

Fiber: 3g

Cholesterol: 0.0mg

Iron: 1.3mg

Sodium: 335mg

Calcium: 23mg

Spinach, green onion and smoked gouda quiche

I really wanted to try this recipe but I knew that my other half doesn't like wilted spinach. Spinach salads are ok but cooked greens, no way. So I reluctantly asked him if he would try it, and surprisingly, he agreed!  Let me just say that I'm glad he did, this is sooooooooooo amazingly good.

I admit, I am a lover of quiche. I was a little worried about this being a CL recipe; would it have the same tasty goodness of a regular quiche? You can see this quiche has a crust, so it's not as healthy as a crustless quiche, but it calls for reduced fat milk.  CL has downsized the portion size, which is not filling enough for a meal. I think instead of the 10 servings this quoted, we ended up making it 6 (341 cals per serving).  Perhaps you could make it 10 servings if you served this with a salad.  I also can't remember if we used 1% as the recipe calls for, or if we used skim (we usually have skim).  If I were you, I'd just try it with 1% instead of experimenting with skim.  I'll just have to make this again using skim and report back right? :)  I also used store-bought crust since I already had it.

So I tagged this with a 'vegetarian' label which the original recipe is, but we made a few non-veg friendly modifications. First of all, we used the Yancey's Fancy Smoked Gouda with Bacon.  It was creamy and delicious and it was the only one we could find at our grocery store.  Secondly, we added in leftover rotisserie chicken (maybe 1/2 C to 1C) to give this even more protein.

This is definitely going in the book. I want to make this again...soon.

As of today's post, 10 people agreed that it's a 5 out of 5!

Recipe by Joanne Wier, Cooking Light, August 2010

Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 6  tablespoons  butter, softened
• 2  tablespoons  1% low-fat milk
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1  large egg yolk
• 5.6  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
• Filling:
• 1  tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 3  cups  fresh baby spinach
• 1  cup  1% low-fat milk
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) grated smoked Gouda cheese
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt
• Dash of grated nutmeg
• 3  large eggs

Preparation

1. To prepare crust, place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Combine milk, salt, and egg yolk in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add milk mixture to butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour; beat just until combined. Press mixture into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover. Chill for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Unwrap and place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 10-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Freeze 15 minutes. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.
4. To prepare filling, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add spinach; sauté 2 minutes.
5. Combine 1 cup milk and remaining ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk. Stir in spinach mixture. Pour filling into crust. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Cut into 10 wedges.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 205

Fat: 12.9g (sat 6.8g,mono 4.3g,poly 0.8g)

Protein: 7.3g

Carbohydrate: 15.4g

Fiber: 1.1g

Cholesterol: 113mg

Iron: 1.5mg

Sodium: 405mg

Calcium: 120mg

Triple feature: ham, mac n' cheese and veggies

So we had a dinner party with some friends to celebrate the holiday season and as part of our dinner party circuit and made this triple feature.  Fire and spice ham, smoked gouda macaroni and cheese and braised zucchini and leeks. 

If you have two people, these were easy to make all at once.  The ham just needed basting while we prepared the mac n' cheese. The zucchini and leeks only needed 20 minutes to braise.

The ham had a sweet and spicy flavor to it.  It was great to have a switch up from the regular chicken or pork. 

The macaroni and cheese called for a surprising 5 cups of spinach!  Based on the reviews, we decided to cut back to 3 cups of spinach.  This was good, it was an easy way to get a little spinach in your diet while still enjoying the guilty pleasures.

The zucchini and leeks were so simple to make. I would highly recommend this side dish for any meal.  If you like zucchini then you'll probably like it as it is.  If you like zucchini but don't love it, I think this would be great with a little addition. Perhaps some red pepper flakes, or additional herbs like oregano and thyme. 

Fire and Spice Ham

Recipe by Cooking Light, 2002

Yield: 18 servings (serving size: about 3 ounces)

Ingredients

• 1  (5 1/2- to 6-pound) 33%-less-sodium smoked, fully cooked ham half
• Cooking spray
• 1/2  cup  red pepper jelly
• 1/2  cup  pineapple preserves
• 1/4  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cloves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°.
Trim fat and rind from ham half. Score outside of ham in a diamond pattern. Place ham on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Combine jelly and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Brush about one-third of jelly mixture over ham.
Bake at 425° for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325° (do not remove ham from oven); bake an additional 45 minutes, basting ham with jelly mixture every 15 minutes. Transfer ham to a serving platter; let stand 15 minutes before slicing.

Nutritional Information

Calories:188 (23% from fat)

Fat: 4.9g (sat 1.6g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.5g)

Protein: 18.4g

Carbohydrate: 16.8g

Fiber 0.0g

Cholesterol: 47mg

Iron: 1.4mg

Sodium: 865mg

Calcium: 10mg

 

 

Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese

Cooking Light, March 2003

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

Ingredients

• 1  (1-ounce) slice whole wheat bread
• 1  tablespoon  butter
• 1/4  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 2  cups  fat-free milk
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda cheese
• 1/3  cup  (about 1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 5  cups  coarsely chopped fresh spinach
• 4  cups  hot cooked elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked)
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.
Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1/2 cup.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 2 minutes). Add cheeses; stir until melted.
Add spinach and macaroni to cheese sauce, stirring until well blended. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until bubbly.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 399 (25% from fat)

Fat: 10.9g (sat 6.2g,mono 3g,poly 0.8g)

Protein: 20.1g

Carbohydrate: 54.9g

Fiber: 3.7g

Cholesterol: 33mg

Iron: 3.6mg

Sodium: 725mg

Calcium: 421mg

 

Braised Zucchini and Leeks

Recipe by Lorrie Hulston Corvin, Cooking Light September 2001

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup)

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon  butter
• 2  cups  finely chopped leek (about 2 large)
• 6  cups  finely chopped zucchini (about 5 small)
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 2  garlic cloves, minced

Preparation

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leek; sauté for 2 minutes. Add zucchini, salt, and garlic. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook over medium-high heat 10 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Calories:52 (26% from fat)

Fat: 1.5g (sat 0.9g,mono 0.4g,poly 0.1g)

Protein: 1.7g

Carbohydrate: 8.4g

Fiber: 2.9g

Cholesterol: 4mg

Iron: 0.9mg

Sodium: 313mg

Calcium: 40mg

Apple-parsnip Soup

It's the soup of the week! It certainly feels like we're making a lot of soup lately; unfortunately this was another disappointment.  This is the apple parsnip soup in last month's issue of Cooking Light.  It seems like every cooking light apple soup recipe calls for curry powder which I don't understand. So we decided to skip the curry powder and add more nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger to this.  This also had way too much cardamom--all I could taste was cardamom. It seems like any recipe that calls for cardamom needs at least 2 days to marinate so the cardamom blends in better.

So, sorry to say, we will not be making this again. I had such high hopes for this, but they were not met. The search for good soups continue.  If you're planning to make this, I would say creme fraiche (or in our case, sour cream) is definitely needed as a garnish.

As of today's post, 6 people gave this an average rating of four out of 5.  I would give it a 2.  It could probably be better with some work, but I'd rather find a good soup recipe that doesn't need me to put my hard work into it.  I'm sure you could sub vegetable broth for chicken broth if you're a concerned vegetarian/vegan. 

Recipe by Kathy Ferrell-Kingsley, Cooking Light, October 2010

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 2 1/2  cups  chopped peeled Pink Lady apple (about 1 pound)
• 1  tablespoon  curry powder
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1  teaspoon  ground cardamom
• 1  garlic clove, chopped
• 3 1/2  cups  chopped peeled parsnip (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 4  cups  fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1  cup  apple cider
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 8  teaspoons  crème fraîche

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add apple and the next 4 ingredients (through garlic); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add parsnip, chicken broth, and apple cider; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until parsnip is tender.
2. Place half of parsnip mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat the procedure with remaining parsnip mixture. Stir in salt and pepper. Ladle about 3/4 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 1 teaspoon crème fraîche.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 136

Fat: 5.6g (sat 1.6g,mono 2.6g,poly 0.6g)

Protein: 1.8g

Carbohydrate: 21.2g

Fiber: 4.2g

Cholesterol: 5mg

Iron: 0.7mg

Sodium: 381mg

Calcium: 30mg

Apricot Pork Chops AND Butternut Squash Gratin with Blue Cheese and Sage

This is one of the easiest recipes you will ever make (and maybe one of the cheapest too)!  All we have to do for this recipe is buy pork chops and (depending on our fridge stock) some green onions.  Great for those who need weeknight meals fast, this is super easy and super delicious.  Now I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that this makes a MESS in your pan and it's not too pretty in the picture (who wants to eat that black looking pork thing) but the pan comes clean and that's just the soy sauce making it tasty. :)

While this is probably better with steamed veggies and rice (it has an Asian influence), we tend to make this at the same time we make Butternut Squash, Blue cheese and sage gratin. It's not planned and I don't know why, but we always plan to make these together. 

For the pork chops, 17 people gave this an average rating of 4 out of 5. It's definitely a 5 people.

Now as far as the Butternut Squash gratin goes, I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE this recipe. It's such a great way to get some of those fall veggies in and the flavor combination is so awesome.  I would eat this everyday if I could. Talk about healthy comfort food.

We do make some changes to this recipe.  Adding more onions and sage is a must.  I would also recommend you steam the squash until it's really really (read: fall apart on the fork) tender. It just makes everything taste better.

For the gratin, 31 people gave it an average rating of 4 out of 5.

Apricot Pork Chops
Recipe by Michele Powers, Cooking Light, July 2005

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 pork chop and 1 tablespoon sauce)

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 4  (4-ounce) boneless loin pork chops
• 1/4  cup  prechopped onion
• 1/4  cup  apricot preserves
• 1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce
• 2  teaspoons  bottled minced garlic
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  cup  sliced green onions

Preparation

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; keep warm.
Add prechopped onion to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in preserves, soy sauce, garlic, and salt; cook 3 minutes or until thickened. Add pork to pan, turning to coat. Sprinkle with green onions.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 231 (32% from fat)

Fat: 8.3g (sat 2.5g,mono 3.6g,poly 1.2g)

Protein: 23.9g

Carbohydrate: 15.2g

Fiber: 0.5g

Cholesterol: 73mg

Iron: 1.2mg

Sodium: 345mg

Calcium: 24mg

 

Butternut Squash Gratin with Blue Cheese and Sage

Recipe by Jackie Mills, Cooking Light, December 2008

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 5  cups  (3/4-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
• 1  (1 1/2-ounce) slice white bread
• 4  teaspoons  olive oil, divided
• 2  cups  thinly sliced onion
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh sage
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Steam butternut squash, covered, 10 minutes or until tender.
3. Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 12 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1/2 cup. Transfer to a small bowl; add 2 teaspoons oil, and toss with a fork to combine.
4. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion to pan; saute 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Transfer the onion mixture to a large bowl. Add butternut squash, chopped sage, salt, and black pepper to bowl, and toss gently to combine. Spoon squash mixture into an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle crumbled blue cheese evenly over squash mixture, and sprinkle evenly with breadcrumb mixture. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and crumbs are golden brown.

Nutritional Information

Calories:186 (31% from fat)

Fat: 6.4g (sat 2.4g,mono 2.9g,poly 0.5g)

Protein: 5.1g

Carbohydrate: 30.9g

Fiber: 4.8g

Cholesterol:  7mg

Iron:1.7mg

Sodium: 379mg

Calcium: 173mg

Thyme-Scented White Bean Cassoulet

Ever since I bought my cooking light cookbook, this is one recipe I've wanted to make. I love white beans and thyme, so I thought the flavors in this would be good. I was right! I served this one night while we were watching hockey and had another friend over (note: a GUY) and the two of them ate this right up! The hubs even said, 'what is this white thing in here?' (they were the parsnips).  He loved them! Oh an neither of them really cared that it was vegetarian sausage!  I would say if you are a carnivore, this would be even better with real sausage. I could definitely tell that it was veggie sausage.  But in our efforts to strive for good health, eating meatless dishes every other week are good for ya.

All of the chunky vegetables and beans make this a hearty, heart-warming dish.  And since it makes use of your slow cooker, comes together so easily!  I sauteed the veggies in the morning, threw it all in the slow cooker and set it on high. 

I am disappointed that mine looks like sludge and not at all like the picture on myrecipes.com. However I will say that the recipe posted on myrecipes is different from the one in my cookbook.

Make it easy on yourself and just do it.

As of today's post, 9 people gave this an average rating of four out of five.

Recipe by Robin Robertson, Cooking Light, October 2004

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups)

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1 1/2  cups  chopped onion
• 1 1/2  cups  (1/2-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut carrot
• 1  cup  (1/2-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut parsnip
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 3  cups  cooked Great Northern beans
• 3/4  cup  vegetable broth
• 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1  bay leaf
• 1/4  cup  dry breadcrumbs
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 2  tablespoons  butter, melted
• 2  links meatless Italian sausage (such as Boca), thawed and chopped
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, parsnip, and garlic; cover and cook 5 minutes or until tender.
Place in a 5-quart electric slow cooker. Add beans and next 6 ingredients (through bay leaf). Cover and cook on low 8 hours or until vegetables are tender.
Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, and butter in a small bowl; toss with a fork until moist. Stir breadcrumb mixture and sausage into bean mixture; sprinkle with parsley.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 314 (29% from fat)

Fat: 10.2g (sat 3.7g,mono 3.7g,poly 1.7g)

Protein: 16.4g

Carbohydrate: 41.9g

Fiber: 11.6g

Cholesterol: 13mg

Iron: 3.6mg

Sodium: 777mg

Calcium: 177mg

Cauliflower-Apple Soup with Apple-Cider Reduction AND Buttermilk-Chive Biscuits

You know how Discovery channel does 'shark week'? Well this must be 'soup week'.  Here's another soup, but this one is warm; we made it last week. 

This calls for a lot of cauliflower (maybe a head and a half) but only one apple.  The preparation is very straightforward, made easier with a dutch oven and an immersion blender (thanks mom)!  

We've made this before, but I think we liked it better the first time. Either that or we've just found better soup recipes since then.  

The apple cider reduction makes this soup look very classy; my picture does not do it justice.  You definitely should use Madras curry powder for this recipe, regular curry powder just won't do.  

As of today's post 4 people rated this a 4 out of 5.   We served it with the Buttermilk Chive Biscuits which were FANTASTIC!  I'm a big fan of the sour cream, cheddar buttermilk drop biscuits (See Heaven and I love pigs) but these were equally great.  I was able to whip them up very quickly since I had all of the ingredients in house and chives on the porch (thanks mom for the chives).

As of today's post, for the biscuits, 14 people rated them 4 out of 5. I would give them a 5.

Recipe by Jackie Mills, Cooking Light, December 2008

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1  cup  apple cider
• 2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 2  cups  chopped onion
• 2  teaspoons  Madras curry powder
• 1  teaspoon  chopped garlic
• 6  cups  cauliflower florets (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 5  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1  Gala apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/3  cup  half-and-half
• 2  teaspoons  fresh lemon juice
• 3/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• Coarsely ground black pepper (optional)

Preparation

1. Bring the apple cider to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook until cider is reduced to 1/4 cup (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat, and cool to room temperature.
2. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add curry powder and garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add cauliflower, broth, and apple; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until cauliflower is very tender.
3. Remove pan from heat; cool 5 minutes. Place half of cauliflower mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining cauliflower mixture. Return to pot. Stir in half-and-half; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Remove from heat; stir in juice, salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Ladle about 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; drizzle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cider reduction. Garnish with coarsely ground pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 98 (24% from fat)

Fat: 2.6g (sat 1g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.3g)

Protein: 4.2g

Carbohydrate: 16.1g

Fiber: 3.8g

Cholesterol: 4mg

Iron: 1mg

Sodium: 450mg

Calcium: 52mg

 

Buttermilk Chive Biscuits

Recipe by Cooking Light, December 2003

Yield: 20 biscuits (serving size: 1 biscuit)

Ingredients

• 2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1  tablespoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  cup  chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 3/4  cup  low-fat buttermilk
• 1  large egg
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh chives

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine buttermilk and egg; stir in chives. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, and stir just until moist.
Turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface; knead lightly 5 times. Roll dough to a 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place dough rounds, 1 inch apart, on a baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Note: To maximize the number of biscuits, gather the dough scraps after cutting and gently reroll to a 1/2-inch thickness. A light hand with the dough will ensure tender biscuits.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 74 (33% from fat)

Fat: 2.7g (sat 1.6g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.2g)

Protein: 2g

Carbohydrate: 10.2g

Fiber: 0.4g

Cholesterol: 17mg

Iron: 0.7mg

Sodium: 199mg

Calcium: 56mg

Blue Cheese-Stuffed Chicken with Buffalo Sauce, AND Sherried Green Beans and Mushrooms

 What do I love? Buffalo sauce. Give it to me on anything and I'll eat it. You know what would be a great idea for sushi? Buffalo marinated chicken with a chunk of blue cheese. Too bad I don't own a sushi restaurant, I think that would be a great idea. 

 Since I don't own a sushi restaurant, I'll settle for this recipe.  It's definitely healthier than going to a bar and eating a bunch of fried wings (though I wouldn't turn those down). 

The green beans and mushrooms are also great. My mom made them at Christmas last year and as Will Ferrel says as James Lipton 'they are a delight'. 

I've never made the 'buffalo sauce' with this--we just use our Frank's to stay true to the Buffalo flavor.  

As of today's post 31 people rated Buffalo chicken 4 out of 5 and for the green beans, 3 people rated it 5 out out 5.

Recipe by Mark Scarbrough, Cooking Light, March 2010

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 breast half and about 4 teaspoons sauce)

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
• 1  tablespoon  reduced-fat sour cream
• 1  teaspoon  fresh lemon juice
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 4  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
• 2  tablespoons  2% reduced-fat milk
• 1  large egg, lightly beaten
• 1  cup  panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  butter, divided
• 6  tablespoons  finely chopped drained bottled roasted red bell peppers
• 2  teaspoons  water
• 1  teaspoon  Worcestershire sauce
• 1  teaspoon  minced fresh garlic
• 1/2  teaspoon  hot sauce

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff cheese mixture evenly into pockets.
3. Place flour in a shallow dish. Combine milk and egg in a shallow dish, stirring well with a whisk. Place panko in a shallow dish. Working with 1 chicken breast half at a time, dredge chicken in flour, then dip in egg mixture; dredge in panko. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, flour, egg mixture, and panko.
4. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter to pan; swirl until butter melts. Arrange chicken in pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned. Turn chicken over; place skillet in oven. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until done.
5. While chicken bakes, combine remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, bell peppers, water, Worcestershire, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer; cook until butter melts. Remove from heat, and stir in hot sauce. Serve sauce with chicken.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 392

Fat: 12.9g (sat 6.7g,mono 3.4g,poly 1g)

Protein: 47.4g

Carbohydrate: 18.5g

Fiber: 1.1g

Cholesterol: 175mg

Iron: 2.3mg

Sodium: 421mg

Calcium: 120mg

Sherried Green Beans and Mushrooms

Recipe by Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light, December 2009

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  pounds  haricots verts, trimmed
• 3  tablespoons  butter, divided
• 1/3  cup  thinly sliced shallots
• 3/4  pound  exotic mushroom blend, coarsely chopped
• 1/4  cup  dry sherry
• 3  tablespoons  chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2  teaspoons  chopped fresh thyme
• 3/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Steam haricots verts 5 minutes or until crisp-tender; remove from heat.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots to pan; sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms; sauté 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Stir in sherry; bring to a boil. Cook until liquid almost evaporates (about 2 minutes). Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter and haricots verts; cook 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated, tossing to coat. Remove from heat. Add parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper; toss to combine.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 80

Fat: 4.3g (sat 2.7g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.2g)

Protein: 2.4g

Carbohydrate: 8.3g

Fiber: 3.5g

Cholesterol: 11mg

Iron: 0.8mg

Sodium: 256mg

Calcium: 56mg

Biscuits and Vegetarian Sausage Gravy

The hubs' family makes an amazing biscuits and gravy--I had it for the first time a few years ago.  So when I came across this recipe, I wondered if it would be as good, especially since it calls for fake sausage.  I don't know why, but I was intrigued by this recipe.  Finally, a night with a vegetarian friend who spent the night gave us an opportunity to try it. 

It was good! Even B said 'you can't tell it's not real sausage'. 


This took a looooong time to reduce but may be because I used skim instead of 1% in the sauce.  I think it took like 30 to 45 minutes to really get it reduced to the right consistency.I definitely need to work on my sausage gravy skills.   I must also admit that it took us a while to find this fake sausage in Wegman's, not being veggie people we aren't as familiar with that section. 

As of today's post, 6 people rated this 5 out of 5.  I would give it a 4.

Recipe by Lorrie Hulston Corvin, Cooking Light, September 2004

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1  (16.3-ounce) can reduced-fat refrigerated biscuit dough
• 1  tablespoon  vegetable oil
• 1/2  (14-ounce) package meatless fat-free sausage (such as Lightlife Gimme Lean)
• 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
• 3  cups  1% low-fat milk
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Prepare biscuits according to package directions.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Crumble sausage into 1/2-inch pieces; return to pan.
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and 1% low-fat milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add milk mixture, salt, and freshly ground black pepper to pan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 3 minutes or until thick. Split the biscuits in half. Place 2 biscuit halves on each of 8 plates; top each serving with about 1/3 cup gravy. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 268 (29% from fat)

Fat: 8.7g (sat 2.4g,mono 4g,poly 1g)

Protein: 11.4g

Carbohydrate: 36.9g

Fiber: 0.6g

Cholesterol: 4mg

Iron: 1mg

Sodium: 910mg

Calcium: 131mg

Fingerling Potato Salad with Gremolata Dressing

Summer is a time for great potato salads.  While I must say I do love mayonnaise, this potato salad (sans mayo) is fantastic.  If you like garlic and lemon flavors this will be a big hit in your house.  I also loooooooooooooooove capers, so to me they are the icing on the cake of this dish.

While I didn't have fingerlings this time (you can tell in the picture), I just used the small yukon gold potatoes and it worked fine.  I don't make any changes to this recipe except to add another clove of garlic because garlic is like the 7th food group to us.

You have to at least try this one recipe, you won't regret it.

11 people (including me) gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5!

I hope you enjoy this in your home because we LOOOOOOOOOVE it!

Recipe by Jackie Mills, Cooking Light, July 2008

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup)

Ingredients

• 1/2  pound  white fingerling potatoes
• 1/2  pound  red fingerling potatoes
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  tablespoon  extravirgin olive oil
• 1  teaspoon  grated lemon rind
• 1  garlic clove, crushed and minced
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1  tablespoon  capers, drained

Preparation

1. Steam potatoes, covered, 12 minutes or until tender. Cover and chill.
2. Combine juice, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; slowly add oil, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in rind and garlic; let stand 10 minutes. Stir in parsley and capers.
3. Cut potatoes into quarters; add potatoes to juice mixture, tossing to coat.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 125 (26% from fat)

Fat: 3.6g (sat 0.5g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.4g)

Protein: 2.6g

Carbohydrate: 21.4g

Fiber: 2.2g

Cholesterol: 0.0mg

Iron: 1mg

Sodium: 370mg

Calcium: 16mg

Goat Cheese Spring Rolls with Asian Pear Salad

Alright here's a way to use those leftover eggroll wrappers if you made the last recipe.  The flavors in these eggrolls are slightly different from a 'typical eggroll' due to the addition of the goat cheese.  After a while, the soon-to-be Mr. VaFoodie said that he could taste the goat cheese and it was too much for him (he's not a huge fan). So we may adjust to add more of the red chili sauce because it's delicious.  One other reviewer subbed Feta instead of GC, so maybe i'll do that next time to make my man happy. If you chop most of the ingredients for the eggroll beforehand, this dish comes together quickly.  Eggrolls are much easier to make than samosas!  


Um, can we just say the salad is a MUST make!?  The rice wine vinegar and maple syrup have the perfect sweet/bitter combination and the pear matched with the cilantro is awesome. I would make this for a dinner party as a side salad on it's own, it's that good.


As of today's post 5 people (including me) gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5!


I hope you enjoy this in your home (at a dinner party?) as much as we did in ours!!


Recipe by Cooking Light, March 2005

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 2 spring roll halves and 1/4 cup salad)

Ingredients

• SALAD:
• 2  cups  sliced Asian pear or ripe pear
• 1/4  cup  chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4  cup  chopped red onion
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  chopped fresh cilantro
• 2  tablespoons  rice vinegar
• 1  tablespoon  maple syrup
• 
  SPRING ROLLS:
• 1  tablespoon  sesame oil
• 1 1/2  cups  matchstick-cut carrots
• 1 1/2  cups  vertically sliced red onion
• 1 1/2  cups  chopped green onions
• 1 1/2  cups  thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
• 1 1/2  cups  red bell pepper, cut into (1/4-inch) strips
• 1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce
• 1  tablespoon  sweet red chile sauce
• 1/4  cup  (2 ounces) goat cheese, crumbled
• 8  egg roll wrappers
• Cooking spray

Preparation

To prepare salad, combine first six ingredients.

Preheat oven to 425°.

To prepare spring rolls, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots, 1 1/2 cups red onion, green onions, mushroom, and 1 1/2 cups red bell pepper; sauté 3 minutes or until slightly tender. Remove from heat; stir in soy sauce and chile sauce. Cool 5 minutes. Stir in cheese.

Working with 1 egg roll wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers to prevent drying), spoon about 1/3 cup vegetable mixture into center of each wrapper. Fold lower right corner over vegetable mixture; fold lower left and top right corners over vegetable mixture. Moisten top left corner with water; roll up jelly-roll fashion. Coat spring rolls with cooking spray; place rolls, seam sides down, on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until golden brown, turning rolls over halfway through baking time. Cut rolls crosswise at an angle; serve immediately with salad.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

171 (23% from fat)

Fat:

4.3g (sat 1.8g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.1g)

Protein:

5.7g

Carbohydrate

30.3g

Fiber:

3g

Cholesterol:

6mg

Iron:

1.5mg

Sodium:

267mg

Calcium:

53mg