Two MORE New Recipes - Both WWerized

Lemon Chive Sole with Baked Squash

Points: 4
Serves: 4

Ingredients

* 2 medium yellow summer squash, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
* 1 sprays olive oil cooking spray
* 1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste
* 1/2 tsp black pepper, or to taste
* 1 1/4 pound sole, four 5 oz fillets
* 1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth
* 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
* 1 Tbsp honey mustard
* 2 tsp cornstarch
* 1/2 tsp lemon zest
* 1 Tbsp chives, fresh, minced
* 4 cup sugar snap peas, steamed

Instructions

* Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

* Place squash rounds on middle of baking sheet; coat with cooking spray and season to taste with salt and pepper.

* Season both sides of sole fillets with salt and pepper; place sole on top of squash. Bake until fish is fork-tender, about 15 minutes.

* Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, whisk together broth, lemon juice, mustard, cornstarch and lemon zest. Set pan over medium heat and simmer until sauce thickens, stirring frequently with a wire whisk, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chives.

* Transfer squash, sole and snap peas to individual plates and spoon lemon sauce over top of fish. Yields about 1 fillet, 1 cup of snap peas, 1/3 cup of squash and 2 tablespoons of sauce per serving.



Cranberry Pear Chicken

This is one of my ABSOLUTE favorites already, and I've only made it twice! But it's so good!!!!

Points: 4
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

- 1.5 tbsps flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
- 2 tsps canola oil
- 1 ripe pear, peeled, cored, and chopped (I used anjou)
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 3/4 cup pear nectar (available in the supermarket - who knew?)
- 1/4 c. dried cranberries
- 2 tsps coarse grain mustard

Instructions:

1. Combine the flour, salt and pepper on a sheet of wax paper. Add the chicken and toss to coat.

2. Heat 1 1/2 tsps of the oil in a large skillet over med. high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

3. Add the remaining 1/2 tsp oil to the same skillet, then add the pear and scallions. Cook over medium high heat, stirring often, until the pear is golden, about 3-4 minutes. Add the pear nectar and cranberries. Increase the heat to high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce bubbles and thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in the mustard, return the chicken to the skillet, and heat through, about 1 minute.

I served it with a side of steamed asparagus, lightly salted but otherwise plain. Yum yum yum!

New Recipe and a Good Hair Day

I am having such a good hair day today! And those of you who know me well know that "good" and "my hair" almost never go in the same sentence! For pretty much my whole life. Maybe at some point in the future I'll post a hair retrospective. So anyway, I tried to take some pics in the bathroom mirror, and they came out ok, but I forgot I still had the outdoors white balance on, so they are REALLY yellow. Plus, while I may be having a good hair day, I am having a bad face week, and got a little overzealous with the poking, prodding, and popping yesterday. Dang. Anyway - pictures!





So now for the recipe!


Flounder Baked with Tomatoes

POINTS Value: 7
Servings: 2

Ingredients

* 8 oz cherry tomato(es)
* 1 small onion(s)
* 3 tsp olive oil
* 1 leaf bay leaf
* 1/8 tsp kosher salt
* 1/8 tsp black pepper
* 2 Tbsp Progresso Plain Breadcrumbs
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 2 fillet flounder fillet(s)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take out a casserole dish.

2. Combine the tomatoes, onion, 2 tsp oil, and the bay leaf (torn in half), salt and pepper, and toss. Distribute evenly along bottom of casserole pan.

3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tomatoes have started to collapse. Take the casserole out of the oven and turn on the broiler.

4. Combine breadcrumbs and cheese. Once the broiler is good and hot, lay the flounder on top of the tomatoes, strew with the cheese mixture, and drizzle with the remaining 1 tsp olive oil. Broil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the crumbs are browned and the fish is bubbling a bit. Let sit for about 5 minutes for the fish to finish cooking before serving. Serve hot.

Two New Recipes

I've been having a hard time on the program lately, and I decided that part of the problem was being in a rut with my food. I got comfortable with 10 or 15 recipes, knew how to shop to prepare those recipes, and ceased trying new ones. Then, being bored of eating the same food all the time, I strayed whenever out of the house. So I made a pact to try two new recipes per week for a month. Here's the product of that for this week. I had some coconut milk on hand, hence the eastern bent of these recipes:

Pumpkin Curry Chicken
Serves: 2
Points: 7



1 tbsp red curry paste
2/3 c. canned pumpkin
1 tbsp fish sauce
8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 tsp unpacked brown sugar
6 leaves basil
1/2 c. coconut milk
2 tsp vegetable oil (I used Olive because it's healthier)
1/4 cup fat free chicken broth


1.) Boil coconut milk in a pan over medium heat until it starts to reduce.

2.) Separately, heat oil in a wok, add red curry paste, stir for 2-3 minutes until cooked. Add chicken, stir until meat is cooked.

3.) Add boiled coconut milk, chicken broth, and pumpkin. Simmer 2-4 minutes.

4.) Add fish sauce, sugar to taste. Add basil leaves. Simmer 1 more minute.

5.) Serve over steamed rice.



Vietnamese Curry Soup
Serves: 4
Points: 5



2 tsp olive oil
1 cup onions, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp ginger root, chopped (I used powdered ginger, didn't have fresh on hand)
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp lemon zest
1 medium sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
8 medium cremini or button mushrooms, sliced
14 oz vegetable broth (I used chicken)
2 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 tsp table salt
2 red potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
4 oz rotisserie chicken (pulled off one of those supermarket pre-made ones)
14 oz light coconut milk, canned
4 tbsp cilantro, fresh, chopped

1.) Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add onion, garlic, and ginger, and saute 2 minutes. Stir in curry powder and lemon zest and cook 2 minutes, until curry is fragrant. Add pepper, carrots, and mushrooms and stir to combine. Add broth, water, bay leaves, and salt, and bring to a boil.

2.) Stir in potatoes and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are fork-tender, about 10 minutes. Half way through the 10 minutes, add the chicken.

3.) Remove the bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls and top each serving with 1 tbsp of chopped cilantro. Yields 1 1/2 cups per serving - generous!

a recent recipe

i took a picture of this the other night when i made it, because i promised my brother i'd post it, but i can't seem to get it to come off my camera at the moment. so picture forthcoming.

Linguine with Creamy Gorgonzola Sauce

Ingredients:

• 12oz uncooked linguine
• 1 1/2 cup 1% milk
• 1/2 cup half and half
  
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (i like it spicy, you can use less)
  
• gorgonzola cheese, about 1/4 cup, crumbled
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3-4 medium dried fig(s), coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh chives, minced

Instructions:

Cook the linguine according to package directions; drain and keep warm in a large bowl. (I don't do this now that I know how long the other part takes, I do them concurrently. But this is probably a good plan for your first time).

Meanwhile, with a wire whisk, combine the milk, half and half, and flour in a large skillet, blending unitl the flour is dissolved. Add the salt, pepper and cayenne; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is bubbling and thickened, about 5 minutes.

Add the Gorgonzola and Parmesan cheeses to the milk mixture; cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese melts. Stir in the figs and chives. Keep on heat 1 minute longer.

Pour the cheese mixture over the warm linguine; toss to combine.

Points: 8
Serves: 6

Basketball, SF, and Movies

So I'm pretty much fucked. Two of my final four didn't make the cut, and I was only 5/8 in the conference semi-final participants. My champ, Florida, an unpopular pick so I'm told, due to the idea of winning 2 years in a row, is luckily still in. But I don't think even picking the champ will get me back where I need to be in points at this point. Se la vie. Still had fun doing it.

Was in San Francisco for most of this past week on my first work-sponsored business trip. It was really fun. Even though I really saw very little of the city, being someplace warm was nice, and I got a real thrill from representing my company at such a high class event. Can't say much more about the content than that, unfortunately, without risking venturing too far into work-content-land. Don't want another bit o trouble. Had a very lovely dinner with coworkers the first night I was there at a swanky restaurant called Boulevard. As I understand it, this place is up for the James Beard award this year for best restaurant in SF. For my app I had a caesar salad, which instead of utilizing the typical heavy creamy type caesar dressing, actually boasted a lovely tart caesar vinagrette. For my entree, I had wood oven roasted halibut, encrusted with a combination of walnuts and minced porcini mushrooms. It was served over a bed of asparagus and potato puree, with a sauce called (on the menu) a "green garlic beurre fondue." I'm still working on googling all these terms to find out what they mean, but it was tasty as heck. And I'm not normally a huge halibut fan. For desert I went with a classic pick - vanilla ice cream. Nice and simple. Great meal, good company.

Saw two movies in the last week, and just short reviews for both. Talented Mr. Ripley - can I just say - weird?? What a strange movie. 50 First Dates was the other and it was adorable.

Well, gotta dash for now.

12 Down, 4 to Go

So with 12 of today's 16 first round NCAA games down, I'd like to state for the record that I'm 9 and 3. Which I feel is pretty darn good. My mistakes were in the GW-Vanderbilt game (I had GW), the Butler-Old Dominion Game (I had the latter), and the Texas-Tech - BC game (I went for Texas). I'm happy to say that only 1 of these 3 misses carries beyond the second round, and that one only to regionals, not as far as the sweet 16. I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself for picking that Duke would go down in the first round. That's not something that's easy to write on a picks sheet. You feel some serious hesitation in your hand while jotting down anyone over Duke in the first round! I took a similar strategy with the Indiana-Gonzaga game, but after the first half it's looking like that might be my fourth loss of the night. We shall see. After all, VCU only took it in the last minute or so of the game! I'm also pleased that MSU managed to take down Marquette. Not that it was by any means clear who would win in that pairing, just happy I made the right choice. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on my progress, but I'd say so far, 75% correct isn't too shabby. After all, the only pool I'm in is with 20 coworkers. It's not like I'm competing against 10,000 people on Yahoo! or something. Then, 75% would be a different matter.

Saw a few movies last week. Keith and I watched the Island which was a bit long, but overall enjoyable. Kind of exactly what I predicted when I first heard about it: The Matrix meets Brave New World meets Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." An interesting flick. Also saw with Keith 13 Conversations about One Thing which hot on the heels of Little Miss Sunshine I wanted to see in order to get more Alan Arkin. We really enjoyed this film. There was one line spoken by John Turturro which particularly affected me. I'll have to look it up before I quote it though, because I don't want to bastardize it. But it certainly was a movie that gave you a lot to think about. Which I always enjoy in movies, especially when it's not coupled with continual utterly depressing moments. There were a few sad parts, but by no means overwhelming. On my own I watched two more, both older flicks. First, Network which I have to say was a very odd movie. It was neat to finally understand where that "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore" cut scene shown at Rangers games (and every oscar montage) comes from, but the rest of the movie was so so weird. They couldn't decide whose story they really wanted to focus on (i.e. Faye Dunaway vs. Peter Finch vs. William Holden). Plus I came into it thinking the movie was about the shift in network news from the positive to the depressing/grotesque/shocking. That is NOT what the movie was about. It was about a newscaster who went wacko and started preaching on television. Not his "prediction" that news would get darker, as the video's description advertised. Over all, I wouldn't recommend it. Too long, too all over the place. Though interestingly, filled with great talent and HUNDREDS of "that guy"s. Also saw Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, a movie which has been on my list forever. I can't say enough good things about how awesome this movie is, and I won't do it justice unless I do, so I'll just say "If you haven't seen it - see it!" B/c it rules. I repeat the fact that I love love love Michelle Yeoh.

Tried a new recipe too this week which I quite liked. It follows below. I haven't been able to get my act together with weight watchers lately and I can't figure out why. I'm trapped in the horrible cycle of "Feel bad - eat - feel bad - gain - feel bad". But I can't seem to find the motivation to launch myself out of it. It sucks. I put on about 6 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years, and while I've at times taken parts of it off, they've come right back on the next week for the most part. I guess there's just so many things in my life right now which are unstable and throwing me off balance overall as well as in weight loss. I'm going to be traveling a lot for work in the next 2 months so I think that's contributing to my feeling of intimidation about going back on program. Anyway, enough about that depressing stuff, here's the recipe:

Farfalle with Asparagus in Cream Sauce
Points: 5
Serves: 4

• 4 cup cooked pasta
• 1 cup asparagus
• 1/2 large vidalia onion(s)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup half-and-half cream
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp table salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 4 tsp grated Parmesan cheese

1. Trim the asparagus and chop into 1 inch pieces.

2. Cook the farfalle.

3. While pasta is on, heat olive oil in pan on medium heat. Add onion (finely chopped). Cook till onion is softened, 2-3 minutes.

3. Reduce heat and add broth and half and half. Stir constantly until sauce is reduced by about half, around 10 minutes.

4. Drain pasta, place asparagus on top, and pour sauce over. Toss to cover and top with parmesan cheese.

Spinach, Tomato, and Feta Pizza

Tried this recipe tonight, and loved it! These little suckers are really filling, and full of healthy but tasty ingredients!

Spinach, Tomato and Feta Pizza
POINTS: 6
SERVES: 4

4 large wheat pita(s) - I use Thomas' Sahara Wheat Pitas
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
10 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained of excess water
1 can of petite diced tomatoes, drained - I use Hunts
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
dried oregano, to taste
garlic powder, to taste

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Throw pitas in oven while it's preheating (for about 10 minutes, so they crisp up a bit before we put the ingredients on.)

While this is going, I prefer to use fresh spinach instead of frozen, so I cook the spinach during this time. First I wash it (a 10 oz bag) and then, with just the water that clings to it, cook it in a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally until all the leaves are wilted. Then I roughly chop it up a bit.

Take pitas out and place on a baking sheet. Spoon ricotta over pitas, to within 1/2" of the edges. Top with spinach, tomato and feta; sprinkle with oregano and garlic powder.

Bake until edges of pitas are golden, about 12 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Delicious!!!

Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken

Had my parents over for dinner last night - grand old time. They really enjoyed seeing the apartment, and I enjoyed having some company! It was especially nice to have someone to eat with. Also nice for them to see that I really am living in a nice place. Hopefully it made them feel good to see that I am living comfortably and enjoying myself. And that it hasn't been a struggle to make it happen. I tried out a new recipe, and give it two thumbs way up!

Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken
POINTS: 7
SERVES: 4

2/3 cup lite honey mustard dressing
1/8 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tsp dill, freshly chopped
1 medium scallion(s), finely sliced
1 cup cornflake crumbs
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4 oz pieces

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. In a small bowl, combine honey mustard dressing, salt, pepper, dill and scallions.
3. Place corn flake crumbs in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken breasts into dressing mixture, then corn flake crumbs. Place into shallow baking pan well coated with cooking spray.

4. Drizzle any remaining dressing mixture over chicken breasts.
5. Bake until chicken is golden and no longer pink, about 15 minutes.

I served this with twice baked feta-cheese potatoes, and some steamed broccoli with garlic.

I remembered! Pilates and Dinner!

One thing just to throw out there quickly. Ever since the second week or so of December I've been off program. For those who don't get what that means, I'm referring to Weight Watchers. I've been doing it with my Mom for the past three years. Usually when I tell people that I've been doing it for a couple years, they express extreme surprise (since I've only lost about 30 pounds in that time.) But my feeling on that subject is that I'm doing it the right way - changing my whole lifestyle and not just "dieting." Plus weight that comes off too fast is less likely to stay off. Regardless (I'm off topic here) I have been needing to get back on program in a serious way. Even though I'd been walking consistently through most of December (as in walking for exercise) my food habits were all over the place. So I figured I might feel more encouraged to get back to better foods if I kicked my exercise up a notch. Explanation for this being that I am actually less likely to go crazy with food if I feel like I have some behavioral leeway from my exercise. So the whole point of this is just to say that I went back to my hour long pilates class at the gym today, and it felt great! I hadn't been since somewhere around last August (06). My abs, of course, had something to say about it which was "WHY???? OH GOD, WHY?!?!" but they'll get used to it again soon I hope.

The other reason for the post was that I made an awesome awesome new recipe tonight. Extremely healthy and very tasty. Here it is:


Fusili with Yellow Pepper Sauce

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup water
• 1 large yellow pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 2 cup uncooked fusilli
• 4 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 Tbsp parsley, minced
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste (I used more)
  

Instructions

• Combine water, pepper, onion, tomato, oil, salt, and ground pepper in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Cover and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender and liquid evaporates, 15 to 18 minutes. Add more water, 1/4 cup at a time, if liquid evaporates too fast.
  
  
• Meanwhile, cook fusilli according to package instructions. Drain and put in a serving bowl.
  
  
• Transfer vegetables to a blender or food processor. Add ricotta cheese and purée. Pour over fusilli and toss to coat. Serve, sprinkled with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Tips:
If yellow peppers are unavailable, red or orange will work just as well. But steer clear of green peppers - the flavor is too strong. Also, if you're a weight watchers member, this can either be 2 dinner sized servings for 8.5 points each (and 2 veggie servings!) or 4 lunch sized portions at 4 points each (and 1 veggie serving.)


So there you have it - I highly recommend it, and hope whoever reads this will give it a try!