Colorful Kale with Peppers+
- 1 bunch of kale
- a handful of small red and yellow sweet peppers, sliced
- 5-6 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1-2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Set a large pot of water to boil. In a large skillet, saute the shallots and garlic over medium heat for a few minutes in oil. Add in the peppers and eventually the mushrooms – don’t overcook since you’ll add the kale in for a final few minutes.
Submerge the kale leaves in the boiling water and let cook for 2-3 minutes. They turn a lovely bright shade of green. Remove from water and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add to shallot mix and saute for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Malaysian Chicken Pizza+
Beef Braised with Red Wine and Mushrooms+
Pecan-Crusted Pork with Red Onion Marmalade and Roasted Sweet Potatoes*
Photo by: Randy Mayor
- Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cutlets, 1/4 cup onion marmalade, and 3/4 cup sweet potatoes)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds peeled sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- Cooking spray
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
- 1 bacon slice, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium red onion, sliced and separated into rings (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
- 1 pound pork tenderloin
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/3 cup ground pecans
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine
- 4 teaspoons finely chopped pecans, toasted
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.
Arrange potato slices in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar; arrange bacon on top. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes. Turn potatoes over; bake an additional 30 minutes or until tender. Keep warm.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and 2 tablespoons sugar; cook 6 minutes or until onion is tender and lightly browned, stirring frequently. Stir in water, vinegar, and ginger; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes, and remove from heat.
Trim fat from pork, and cut crosswise into 8 pieces. Place each piece between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and flatten to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin.
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup. Place 1/4 cup flour in a shallow dish. Combine 1/4 cup flour, ground pecans, and pepper in a separate shallow dish. Dredge pork in flour, shaking off excess. Dip pork in egg whites; dredge in pecan mixture, coating both sides.
Melt butter in pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Arrange pork in pan in a single layer. Cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Top pork with onion mixture; sprinkle with chopped pecans. Serve with sweet potatoes.
- Calories: 685
- Calories from fat: 30%
- Fat: 23.2g
- Saturated fat: 5.4g
- Monounsaturated fat: 11.4g
- Polyunsaturated fat: 4.9g
- Protein: 33.2g
- Carbohydrate: 87.3g
- Fiber: 9.1g
- Cholesterol: 86mg
- Iron: 4.5mg
- Sodium: 190mg
- Calcium: 89mg
No Bake Cookies+
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
Waxed paper
Directions
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.
My original recipe calls for 3 Tbsp cocoa, 1/2 c peanut butter and 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla. Not much different.
Jerk-Rubbed Catfish with Spicy Cilantro Slaw+
Ingredients
- 3 cups cabbage-and-carrot coleslaw mix
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped habanero or serrano pepper
- Cooking spray
- 4 (6-ounce) catfish fillets
- 4 teaspoons Jamaican jerk seasoning*
Preparation
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well to coat.
2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle fish evenly with jerk seasoning. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from heat; serve fish with slaw.
*I made up my own jerk mix based on allspice and spicy red pepper – then you can include cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, salt & pepper
Nutritional Information
- Amount per serving
- Calories: 256
- Fat: 12.6g
- Saturated fat: 3.1g
- Monounsaturated fat: 6.5g
- Polyunsaturated fat: 2.8g
- Protein: 26.6g
- Carbohydrate: 6.2g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Cholesterol: 76mg
- Iron: 0.3mg
- Sodium: 426mg
- Calcium: 24mg
Spaghetti with Caramelized Onion and Radicchio+
8 plus points
Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/4 cups pasta mixture and 1 1/2 tablespoons cheese)
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cups thinly sliced yellow onion (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 pound uncooked spaghetti (used Pappardelle’s Garden Spinach angel hair pasta)
3 1/2 cups thinly sliced radicchio (about 1 head)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 15 minutes or until almost tender, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until deep golden (about 20 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add red pepper and garlic. Cook 3 minutes; stir occasionally. Add wine; cook 4 minutes or until liquid evaporates.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Add reserved cooking liquid, pasta, radicchio, parsley, and oregano to onion mixture. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper; toss to combine. Top with cheese.
CALORIES 300 ; FAT 5.8g (sat 2.3g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.7g); CHOLESTEROL 9mg; CALCIUM 160mg; CARBOHYDRATE 49.7g; SODIUM 468mg; PROTEIN 12.1g; FIBER 4.1g; IRON 2.5mg
Polenta Squares with Gorgonzola and Pine Nuts+
I would use a larger pan for the polenta so that it is more like 1/2 inch thick. Also, rather than drizzling the reduced vinegar on top, I would let the bottoms of the squares soak in it to give in a nice dark bottom (like the photo in Cooking Light 12/2010 mag.). The flavor is great, but they look a little “dirty” with the dark vinegar soaking in on top.
Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 3 topped polenta squares)
4 cups water
1 cup quick-cooking polenta
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon butter
Cooking spray
1/4 cup boiling water
3 tablespoons currants
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Gradually add polenta and salt, stirring constantly with a whisk. Reduce heat to low, and cook for 4 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in butter. Spoon polenta into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray, spreading evenly. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of polenta; chill for 1 hour or until polenta is very firm. Cut into 30 squares.
2. Combine 1/4 cup boiling water and currants in a small bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes or until currants are plump; drain. Combine currants, cheese, pine nuts, and orange rind in a small bowl.
3. Heat vinegar in a small saucepan, and cook over medium-low heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons (about 10 minutes). Cool slightly.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add half of polenta squares to pan, and cook for 6 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove polenta squares from pan, and keep warm. Repeat procedure with the remaining polenta. Top each square with rounded 1/2 teaspoon of cheese mixture, and drizzle with about 1/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar. Garnish with parsley.
CALORIES 130 ; FAT 4.2g (sat 1.7g,mono 1.1g,poly 1g); CHOLESTEROL 6mg; CALCIUM 33mg; CARBOHYDRATE 19.8g; SODIUM 268mg; PROTEIN 3.1g; FIBER 1.9g; IRON 0.7mg
Fall Apple Salad
Yield: 4 servings
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups torn butter lettuce
- 1 c sliced endive
- 1 c torn radicchio
- 1 c thinly sliced apple
Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl (through garlic). Whisk in oil. Toss with remaining ingredients.
Calories: 91; Fat 6.9 g