I *heart* Soup

This week I have an abundance of carrots, and a curiosity for something original to do with them. I have a GIGANTIC vegetarian cookbook that I get inspiration from. The basis for this recipe comes from the book, of course I tweeked it to make it my own. It got 3 thumbs up at dinner tonight. (Mine, my Moms, and my Sister-in-Law's)

I added yellow lentils to this recipe (yellow split peas) the addition gives the recipe some texture, a little added protein too. If you don't have them, never fear you can leave them out. Better yet, get thee to the market and get some! It's well worth the effort, I promise!


Carrot Cumin Soup

(8) 1 cup servings
164 calories, 33 calories from fat

• 2 tbsps butter (yes, I used butter again!)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic crushed or chopped
• 1 lb carrots sliced (about 10 - 12 medium carrots)
• 4 stalks celery chopped
• 1 potato peeled and diced
• Juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1 tsp)
• 8 cups chicken stock - use vegetable stock if you'd rather, or what I actually used was 8 cups of water and 4 tbs better than boulion chicken flavor)
• 1 1/2 inch piece ginger chopped fine
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 2  bay leaves
• 3/4 cup yellow lentils
• 1 1/4 cups skim milk

Directions

Melt butter in large soup pot, add the onion and garlic, cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook again for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, lemon juice, seasonings, and lentils. Cover and let simmer until the vegetables and lentils are tender.

Remove from heat, fish out the bay leaves and discard (I actually forgot to take out the bay leaves, so they ended up pureed into the final product. OOPS, it still tasted fantastic).Let cool for a few minutes.

Puree the soup in a food processor, blender, or with a stick blender. Oh how I love my stick blender! Once there are no longer any chunks in the soup add the skim milk and stir to blend.

Enjoy!

Much love,

Alisha xoxoxo

Turkey Meatballs and Spinach Salad

I've had a couple of much needed days off, and neglected to post, so here's something to make up for it. :)

385 calories on the plate, nummy too!

Turkey Meatballs

 6 servings (5 meatballs each)
176 calories per serving 50 calories from fat

• 1 lb. 99 % fat free turkey breast
• 1/4 c kraft parmesan
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 oatmeal
• 1Tbs chopped oregano
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion grated
• 3 tbsps ketchup
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chicken stock

Combine all ingredients except olive oild and chicken stock, mashe together with hands until well blended, form into 30 equal sized balls.
Heat oil in non stick skillet, add meatballs in batches browning on all sides. Once all meatballs are browned, add them all back into the skillet, do not clean out the pan, add the chicken stock and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed.

I served these "bare" with a spinach salad (recipe to follow) but you could just as easily add marinara (even use the marinara instead of the chicken stock to simmer if you wanted) and serve over whole grain pasta. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination!

Spinach Cauliflower Salad w/Strawberry Viniagrette

4 servings
46 calories each

1 bunch spinached, washed and torn into bite sized pieces
1 small head cauliflower cut into bite sized flowerettes
10 strawberries, sliced

Mix all these together and top with Strawberry Balsamic Viniagrette

Strawberry Balsamic Viniagrette

4 GENEROUS servings
73 calories each 46 calories from fat

10 strawberries
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

blend all ingredients together until smooth, add some water if you'd like it thinnner.

Low Cal Alfredo... Oh yeah...

I'm so counting this as a success. Of course it's not going to coat your tongue with fatty goodness the way "real" alfredo does. But it's packed full of flavor, and I'm impressed. The recipe that inspired this version can be found here, and I'm sure that left alone it would be good too. I'm just partial to my own creation. :)





Entire meal is 372 calories



• 1 tbsp butter *
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup low fat ricotta
• 1/4 cup fat free sour cream
• 1/4 cup frigo parmesan cheese **
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• dash nutmeg
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 dash salt
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 8 oz whole grain penne pasta

Heat butter in sauce pan, add garlic and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, remaining ingredients except pasta, heat over low heat until warmed through and cheese is melty. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta to desired doneness. Drain the pasta, add the sauce and enjoy like it is... 281 calories 60 calories from fat.

or add some goodness to it like I did:

2 oz broccoli per serving 20 calories
10 medium shrimp per serving 72 calories.

* omitting this reduces the calories per serving by 25, but also compromizes flavor. Remember real butter is better for you than that icky margarine stuff.
** up this to 1/2 cup if you like the flavor of parm, it adds 25 calories per serving

Balsamic Glaze... Good with Everything!

Last night I didn't feel like cooking, but wanted something tasty. What I came up with was not only a hit for my tastebuds, but my VERY picky 8 year old daughter too. I love it when she tries something new!

Balsamic Glaze

It's simple. Balsamic vinegar + heat. Reduce the balsamic vinegar until it's thick, almost syrupy. Then you can drizzle it over just about anything. (One recipe I found even suggested ice cream...) I don't think I'm that extreme. Yet.

Pictured here is grilled chicken breast, ala George Foreman grill, cooked spinach, and roasted tomatoes. I drizzled the balsamic glaze over the whole thing. 300 calories of  'num!

To roast the tomatoes, cut roma tomatoes in half, place on parchment lined baking sheet, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary. place some unpeeled garlic cloves on the baking sheet as well, the aroma is intoxicating. :) If you don't like rosemary, leave it off. As with just about anything, if you don't like it, leave it off, substitute it with something you do like. Have FUN with it!

Eggplant Satay Lettuce Wraps

I was really surprised at how tasty this turned out to be! Completely vegetarian, hearty and healthy to boot. Hooray for nummy eggplant. My 2 1/2 year old liked it too!

• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1" piece ginger grated
• Juice of one orange
• 1 unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1 inch dice
• 1 container fresh mushrooms cut in 1/2
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine the first 7 ingredients, (you can reduce the sodium by using lower sodium soy sauce w/out compromising flavor, if desired). Place eggplant and mushrooms in container suitable for marinading. pour the marinade over the veggies and let marinate for at least an hour, and up to 24 hours in the fridge. Turn the oven on to broil and line a baking sheet with foil. Turn the marinated veggies out onto the sheet and spread into a thin layer. place under broiler for 15 to 20 minutes, until the eggplant is done and the mushrooms just begin to caramelize.

Peanut Sauce

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• Juice of 1 lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup water

Combine all ingredients except water, place in small sauce pan, heat over medium heat, whisking in the water, cook until slightly thickened.

To serve place equal portions in lettuce leaves, drizzle with the peanut sauce.

If you are putting 2 T of the peanut sauce on each lettuce wrap you're looking at around 288 calories each. Though I had 2 servings of the marinated eggplant, and only used 2 T of the sauce total. My entire meal (2 stuffed lettuce leaves) was 473 calories.

Looking back on it now, I suppose the oil could be replaced with more juice, or even water in the marinade, but remember this, some fat is good for your body. I tend to be fanatical about the oil/fat in my diet, and I forget to remember to use good for me oils. Do as I say, not as I do!

:)
Much love,
Alisha xoxoxo

Cold Days Deserve Hot Soup

Minestrone was just the ticket yesterday. This version is 160 calories for a cup. Feel free to mix and match your favorite veggies in your own soup, adjust the seasonings too! Make it your own, and have some fun.

Minestrone Soup

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 1 medium zucchini diced
• 1small sweet potato diced
• 1 small red potato diced
• 1 Qt. tomatoes
• 1 can great northern beans
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
• 6 cups water
• 4 t. chicken base
• 3/4 cup small pasta
• 1 cup spinach chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. add the carrot, celery, potato, sweet potatom and zucchini, cook for about 5 minutes. Add the totmatoes, water chicken base, rosemary, beans and pasta.
Cook until the potatoes and pasta are done. Add the spinach and remove from heat.

Serve this with some freshly grated parmesan cheese on top. Add some crusty italian bread to round out the meal. (I got some really good italian olive oil bread from Bountiful Baskets last time we ordered.)

Please feel free to post comments, suggestions, what were you thinkings!? on any and all posts. I look forward to your feedback.

Much Love,
Alisha xoxoxoxo

Butternut Squash Turkey Chili

This is one of my very favorite meals.

1 lb. 99% fat free ground turkey breast

1 medium onion coursely chopped
3 stalks celery coursely chopped
1 anaheim chile chopped
1 medium greep pepper coursely chopped
1 medium red pepper coursely chopped
1 medium green pepper coursely chopped
1 jalepeno chopped (leave the seeds and veins in if you want the added heat)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 lb. butternut squash cut into 1" cubes
2 Qts tomatoes
2 cans dark red kidney beans
2 cans black beans
1 Tbls Chile powder
1/2 Tbls cumin
Salt and Pepper

Spray the bottom of the pan w/non stick spray and add the onion, celery, and peppers, cook until just beginning to get soft, add the Turkey, and cook until done. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat, let simmer until the squash is tender, but not mushy.

Adjust the spices to your taste, use less or more of something to adjust the heat level. Don't have an ingredient? (like butternut squash) leave it out. It's good without it too.

This makes between 14 and 16 1 cup servings.
1 cup = 179 calories
                 8 calories from fat
                 30.2 grams carbohydrates
                 16.33 grams protein

Taking on fried chicken and mashed potatoes

A while ago I asked my facebook friends to give me ideas on things they make that they'd like to make healthier. I think I have a hit here. Tonight I made a classic chicken dinner. I took on fried chicken (typically anywhere from 340 to 510 calories per breast(, and mashed potatoes (weighing in at 174 to 365 calories in a cup)

This chicken is coated in crushed cashews and baked to perfection (just ask my picky-eating daughter, she loved it!) That alone was worth the entire experience, finding a healthy food that she likes is always a plus. I know you're wondering how many calories... well, it's 264 calories for a 4 ounce breast. wahoo!

Cashew Crusted Chicken Breast

• 3/4 cup roasted unsalted cashews
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• (4) 4 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place cashews in food processor and pulse until fine crumbs/powder is formed. Add the seasonings and mix well. Rinse the chicken breasts but don't dry them, dredge them in the cashew "flour" and place on aluminum foil lined baking sheet. You may also want to spray the foil with non stick cooking spray, just to make sure your coating doesn't stick.
Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, turning once, until chicken is done and coating is golden brown. I turned on the broiler for the last 5 minutes or so, just to make sure I got a good crispy coating.

A low calorie, waiste conscious potato? Nah, throw out the potato and replace it with cauliflower! Yes, cauliflower. This version is only 60 calories per serving! You can add milk and butter to yours if you choose to, and that would make each serving appx. 116 calories, and 80 of those calories will be from fat.

Mashed Cauliflower

1 large head cauliflower
2 cups water
2 tsp chicken base
salt and pepper to taste

Cut cauliflower into cook-able (is that a word?) sized pieces. place in pot with water and chicken base and boil until done. Drain off the liquid, but reserve it so you can use some of it to get the consistency you want for your mashed cauliflower. Using an immersion blender, puree the cauliflower until it's the consistency of mashed potatoes. Season to taste.

I finished off this meal with a tossed salad, use whatever veggies you have on hand. I used romaine, salad savoy, zuchinni, cucumber, and tomato. I topped it off with this yummy dressing

Honey Balsamic Dressing

1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
1/2 T. honey
salt and pepper

combine all ingredients, warm in the microwave appx. 10 seconds in the microwave, mix together well.

Enjoy your dinner!

Healthy-fied Chicken Enchiladas

I'm not sure why it is I didn't share this recipe on the blog a week ago, but it slipped by... So here it is today. I know of at least one friend who tried it and her hubby loved it, so give it a try tonight!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless chicken breast
• juice of 3 limes
• 7 anaheim chiles roasted and skins removed
• 1 jalapeno roasted and skin removed
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 package fat free cream cheese
• 1 large can green enchilada sauce
• 1 package shredded fat free cheese
• 16 small corn tortillas *

Directions:
1. place chicken breasts and lime juice in crock pot, cook on high until done (about 3 hours) (or you could cook it how ever you wanted really, just don't use oil! ) remove chicken from crock pot, and shred. (this can also be done a day or two in advance, so it's a great way to have good protien on hand) place in a large bowl, you'll be adding other ingredients to this.
2. Roast the peppers until skin is blackened, place in a plastic bag and allow to sweat, once they are cool enough to handle, remove the skins, seed and chop. (I suppose you could use canned green chiles but where's the fun in that?)
3. Saute the onion and garlic in some non stick cooking spray, add onion, garlic, green chiles and cream cheese to the chicken and combine well.
4. Warm the green enchilada sauce on the stove, microwave the tortilla shells until soft (I usually wet a paper towel and wrap them in it to microwave.
5. spoon a couple of table spoons of mixture into each tortilla and roll. Place in a baking dish kinda close together.
6. once all shells are filled put a thin layer of the enchilada sauce on top. Then top with any remaining filing. Cover the filling with the remaining sauce.
7. Top the whole thing with the fat free cheddar cheese and bake at 350 until warmed through and the cheese is melted.

* Watch labels on corn tortillas, buy the smaller size, and don't go over about 40 calories per tortilla. The Mission brand stone ground ones are great.

8 Servings
320 calories - 58 from fat

Lemon Oregano Chicken With Greek Quinoa Salad

First, a huge thank you to my friend Darin for sharing the quinoa recipe with me. I'm going to post the recipe as he he did with my notations to the side. I REALLY enjoyed this salad, and think it will be even better after a night in the refrigerator. My 2 year old loved it too, I'm so excited that he likes kalamata olives!

Greek Quinoa SaladIngredients:

3 cups vegetable stock or water  (I used water, and only 2 cups)
1 ½ cups quinoa, uncooked (reduced amount to 1 cup)
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice from one lemon
3 T olive oil (only used 1 1/2 tbsp)
½ cup kalamata olives (chopped)
1/3 cup fresh itilian parsley, chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 red onion, diced (optional) - (I used 1/2 of a large one)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
½ cup chopped artichoke hearts (optional) (do add these, the NOT marinated kind, they are delicious!)
½ cucumber diced, (optional)
½ cup yellow bell pepper (optional) (I didn't use the yellow pepper, this had more to do with $ than with taste)
½ cup red bell pepper (optional)
½ cup feta cheese (use the reduced fat kind, it still tastes just as good, and I like feta so I used a whole 6 oz container)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
In a medium-large saucepan, cook the quinoa in vegetable stock for 15-20 minutes, until tender, stirring occasionally. Set aside and cool.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil.
Gently toss the cooled quinoa together with the remaining ingredients, except feta. Pour the olive oil mixture over the salad and gently fold in. Salt and pepper to taste. Add Feta cheese. Eat!
Prepared as I did this made (8) 1 cup servings, 205 calories, 75 calories from fat

Lemon Oregano Chicken

(4) 4 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
Juice of 3 lemons
2 T chopped fresh oregano
1 T honey
1/2 Tbsp olive oil

Place chicken in plastic zip lock bag, or other marinating container. Mix lemon juice oregano honey and oil and pour over chicken. It may help to heat the honey somewhat so that it mixes in more easily. Let the chicken marinade in this solution for at least 20 minutes, or up to overnight in the refrigerator. Place chicken breasts in heated non stick skillet and cook until juices run clear. This would also be excellent on the grill!

4 servings, 161 calories, 58 from fat

Rosemary Grilled Tuna Steaks with Eggplant and Zucchini

So, I love Rachael Ray. Ok, in all honesty, I love most of the chefs from food network. Tonights dinner was a slight modification of this recipe: http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=492

What modifications? I left out most of the olive oil of course. Only 1 Tbsp. when I was cooking the onions. I used dried Thyme instead of fresh (I just didn't have it on hand) and that was it. I grilled the tuna on my George Foreman Grill. I love that thing! I just wish the plates would come off for easier washing.

Initially I was going to wage war on my local grocery store. I went to the seafood counter, only to find absolutely no tuna. Nothing in the frozen section either. I may as well just mention here too, that I found it amusing? irritating? disheartening? to see that almost all of the frozen fish selections are battered/breaded and deep fried. We REALLY need to rethink the way we nourish our bodies!

Anyway, here's a pic of dinner: I liked it, thought it was tasty, and  it turned out pretty good. And, what I know you all want to know 4 servings per recipe, done my way 281 calories. 49 calories from Fat.

Mmmm... Garlic

and ginger and shrimp! oh my! Make this for dinner! I served it over quinoa, delicious! I even splurged and added some fat.

Garlic Ginger Shrimp and Veggies

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp butter
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp ginger finely chopped or grated
1 small onion chopped
6 oz broccoli cut into small florettes
9 oz asparagus cut in 1 inch dice
35 medium shrimp
salt and pepper
Heat the pan over medium heat, add olive oil and butter. When warm add the garlic, and ginger, cook about 20 seconds, just until the aromatics are released, then add the onion, broccoli and asparagus. *note* I weighed the asparagus and broccoli just because I could. The asparagus was just some I had left over. The broccoli was the tops from one head. Cook the vegetables until crisp tender, add the shrimp and cook until done. Salt and pepper to taste.

3 servings
170 calories
45 calories from fat

Served over 1/2 cup cooked quinoa adds another 100 calories. 270 calories for a delicious meal, now that's what I'm talking about!

Fresh Orange Chicken

3 tbsps soy sauce
Juice of 4 oranges
32 oz boneless, cooked, skinless chicken breast
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tbsp wok oil
2 cloves garlic minced

Directions

1. cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces, mix other ingredients except oil and pour over the chicken. let marinade for at least 20 minutes
2. put oil in hot pan, heat, add chicken and marinade, cook til all liquid is gone and chicken begins to brown.

4 oz. = 216 calories

Serve with stir fried or steamed vegetables brown rice or even better, quinoa!

Quinoa Love

Quinoa Spinach Frittata

■3 cups cooked red quinoa (can use the regular quinoa, i just happened to use the red)
■1/2 cup parmesan (i used the finely grated topping stuff)
■1/2 cup grated mozzarella
■3 large eggs
■3 large egg white
■1/4 tsp leaves oregano
■1/2 tsp pepper
■1/2 tsp salt
■1 clove garlic
■5 large spring onions
■1 bunch spinach

seasonings are approximate, use to your taste

Directions

Cook 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water (this makes 3 cups cooked quinoa)saute the onions in pan w/non stick spray. add garlic and spinach, cook until wilted, add seasoned salt and oregano remove from heat, add quinoa and parmesan. beat the eggs together then add to the quinoa mixture. pour everything into 2 qt casserole dish sprayed with non-stick spray. top with mozzarella cheese. bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and cheese is melted.



(6) 215 calorie servings
81 calories from fat

Lemon Basil Quinoa

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 8 medium mushrooms sliced
• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 4 tbsps basil chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lemon yields lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp lemon zest

Saute the onion and mushrooms in the olive oil, add the quinoa, basil, salt, lemon juice and zest (for less lemon flavor omit the zest) heat through.

6 servings
117 calories 35 from fat.

I served this tonight with 3.5 oz grilled chicken breast and 10 grilled asparagus spears.  The entire meal was 334 calories.