Shrimps and Kale

When I left my meeting yesterday, I decided to run, but after only 1 block I realized that was not going to work. My backpack was too heavy and unbalanced for me to safely run. Drats!

I was walking toward the bus stop and thinking back on what I had heard during the meeting. The idea of thinking back to what I used to do, and eat, kept going around in my head. Lunch time was coming, and I didn't know what to have. What's one lunch that was easy, quick and healthy that I used to do an enjoy? Shrimps and veggies!! I used to have that almost every day. It was either shrimps or scallops! 

I decided to swing around by Whole Foods (I needed a few things anyway) and see what I could find. Greens were on special, Kale was 2 bunch for 3 dollars, so I grabbed a green bunch and a red bunch, colors! I also absentmindedly grabbed a head of garlic and some big shelled raw shrimps.

I got home and got started:

Shrimps and Kale

1 serving 3P+/serving

1small shallot, thinly sliced

2 clove garlic, thinly sliced

2 big leaf each green and red kale, de-veined and chopped

1/4 cup (or so) chicken broth

15 medium-large shrimps

Salt & pepper

Cooking spray

Sauteed shallot until slightly browned add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the kale, toss well, add a little chicken broth if it gets too smoky in there, cover it all up for a few minutes until the kale is wilted. 

Then I added the shrimps and a bit of chicken broth and cover and cook for 2 minutes or so. Open and turn the shrimps, cook another 2 minutes or until the shrimps are done. 

Shrimps cook really quick so cooking time vary a lot. Cook until not translucent anymore.

It's simple, it's delicious, it's pretty! I served over 1/2 cup of cooked bulgur (2 P+) that I had leftover. See? 

Clean the fridge lunch

Ok, ok I'm lazy sometimes, and my planning skills fail me, or is it my dedication to following my plan?  I was working on a little project of mine, when I realized it's almost noon and I'm hungry. Oops! What do I do?

I looked in the fridge and found bulgur that was leftover from yesterday, a good start, but that's about it really. There's vegetables in the fridge, but the turkey's all gone. I'm out of lobster (got to talk to Mom!) and I'm just not in the mood for beans. Oh, but I have eggs!

Sooo, I decided to do a clean the fridge salad sort of thing. It's 6 P+ but it makes a lot of it!

Cell pic with the food almost gone! Sorry! Thought about it at the last minute.  

Clean the Fridge Salad
1 serving, 6 P+/serving

1/2 cup cooked Bulgur
1 egg and 2 whites
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
small handful shredded carrots
1/4 cup clover sprouts
1 tsp roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
Salt & pepper

Scramble the egg/egg white with salt and pepper, throw in a bowl with everything else and toss!

It made a huge bowl of food for only 6P+, and it was tasty too! How easy can it be? You don't have to overthink cooking. It can be as simple as "what's left in the fridge that needs to be used?

Happy Cooking!

Sweet Potato Chili

This recipe is from an old-ish cookbook called "Slow Good". That cookbook came out in 2005 and has been a favorite of my family ever since! We make this recipe regularly. It's good as is, or with leftover chicken or pork thrown in. :o)

Sweet Potato Chili
4 servings, 7P+/serving

2 leeks, trimmed to white and light green parts, chopped
1 large zucchini, diced
1(15 ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas rinsed and drained
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes with jalapeno
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (no salt added)
2 1/2 TBSP chili powder
2 TBSP packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin seed crushed (ground can do, but put less!)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 pound green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp red-wine vinegar

Place the leeks, zucchini, kidney beans, chickpeas, tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, brown sugar, curry powder, cumin seeds, pepper, and cinnamon in a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker; mix well. With the back of a spoon, gently press the vegetables so they form an even layer. Place the potatoes on top, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge of the slow cooker. Place the green beans on top of the potatoes. Cover and cook until the vegetables are fork-tender, 4-5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.* Stir in the vinegar.

* Newer slow cooker seem to reach a higher temperature on the "low" setting, adjust time accordingly.

Source: Slow good, Weight Watchers 2005, p. 126.

Spiced-up Pumpkin Soup

This is a fall favorite for me. Once September comes to an end, and it starts smelling like fall, I bring up this soup and make it almost once a week until January. It's simple, it's easy, and it's DELICIOUS!

Spiced-up Pumpkin Soup
6 servings, 2 pts/serving

Ingredients
2 limes
2 tsp olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, chopped
2 tsp ground cumin (roast and grind yourself, so much better!)
½ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne (I put more)
5 cup vegetable broth
2 cans (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin puree (not pie filling!!)
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 TBSP sugar
¾ tsp salt
3 TBSP fat free half & half*

Zest one of the limes, then squeeze enough juice from the limes to equal 2 TBSP. Set zest and juice aside.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until golden about 6 minutes. Add cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool about 5 minutes.

Transfer the onion mixture to a food processor and add 1 cup of the broth; puree. Return to the Dutch oven; add the remaining 4 cups of broth, the pumpkin, the apple sauce, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, about 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved lime juice.

Ladle the soup into 6 bowls. Drizzle each with ½ TBSP half & half (or yogurt) and swirl lightly with the tip of a knife. Sprinkle with the reserved lime zest.

That soup is truly delicious and keeps well for a few days!

*I use plain non-fat yogurt instead of half & half just because fat free half & half sounds spooky to me. If you like it use it!

Source: Simply Bueno, Weight Watchers p.41

Chicken and Broccoli with Black bean sauce

I have so many cookbooks that it takes me some time to work my way through new ones. Last spring we got the Fresh Fabulous, Fast cookbook here at Weight watchers, and I am now working my way through it. Here's my favorite so far:

Chicken and Broccoli with Black bean sauce

4 servings, 6 P+/serving

Ingredients

3/4 pound chicken tenders, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices

4 cup small broccoli florets

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP water

2 TBSP black bean sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 (8.8 ounce) package cooked brown rice (about 1 3/4 cups)

1- Spray a large wok or skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add chicken and stir-fry until browned and just cooked through, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to plate.

2- Add broccoli, bell pepper*, and 1/4 cup of the water to wok; stir-fry until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add chicken, black bean sauce, sugar, and remaining 2 TBSP water; stir-fry 1 minute.

3- Heat rice according to package directions for microwave. Serve chicken and vegetables over rice.

* You can add more vegetables to this and bump the volume and the taste!

Source: Fast, Fresh, Fabulous Weight Watchers p. 129.

Apple-Fennel slaw

This recipe is a creation of mine. I was looking for a good fennel salad, and was tired of my usuals, so I experimented. I'm not beyond bragging, this was really good!


I've shared it on Facebook already, but thought I'd share it here for posterity (HA!)


Apple -Fennel slaw
6 servings, (recipe builder says 1p+/serving, but that counts the apple and fennel. I protest!)
Ingredients
2 granny smith apple, thinly julienned
1 fennel bulb, cored, thinly julienned
2 TBSP lemon juice (or so)
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar, divided
1 (generous) TBSP dijon mustard (I use whole grain, it's prettier)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 packet stevia (or 1 tsp sugar)
1/2 TBSP (or more) poppy seeds
Salt & pepper to taste


Mix 1 TBSP of the vinegar with the lemon juice and pour over the apple juliennes as soon as they are cut (to keep from browning). Put in a big bowl


Mix the mustard, the remaining vinegar, the oil and the stevia in a little bowl, pour over the slaw. Add poppy seeds, salt and pepper and toss well.


Source: My own brain, please credit said brain if you're going to reuse ;op

Shredded Green Beans, with lemon-lime zest and snipped chives

This is another recipe that is delicious on the spot, but also makes great picnic/lunch fare.

You can get fuffy cutting the beans, or you can put them through a chopper, it won’t be nearly as pretty, but it will be a lot faster.

Shredded Green Beans, with lemon-lime zest and snipped chives
4 servings, 2 P+/serving

Ingredients
3/4 pound green and/or yellow beans, tops and tails trimmed
2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
2 TBSP water
Grated zest of 1 lg lemon
Grated zest of 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Fine salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Slice beans on a diagonal into roughly 1/8 inch pieces. The result should be tiny, angular zeros.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beans and stir until coated with oil, then add the water. Cover and cook 2-3 minutes, until the beans are brightly colored and tender; give the pan a good shake midway through to ensure even cooking.

Remove from the heat and stir in the zests and half of the chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve garnished with the remaining chives.

Source: Super Natural Cooking, Heidi Swanson, P. 91

Watermelon and Cucumber Salad

The funny story about this recipe is that it was in a Weight Watchers magazine years ago (2006) and since, every summer, my friend and I have the same email conversation: “Do you still have that watermelon salad? You know the one with the cucumber?” and it goes on, one of us find it and we happily make it all over again.

You can’t get simpler than this, it’s delicious too!

Watermelon and Cucumber Salad
4 servings, 0 pts/serving

Ingredients
2 pounds seedless watermelon, rind removed, cut into ¾ inch chunks (about 3 cups)
2 Kirby cucumber, thinly sliced
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 TBSP Red-wine vinegar
¼ tsp salt

Directions
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Let stand until the flavors are blended about 15 minutes.

Source: Weight Watchers Magazine July/August 2006 p. 131

Jamaican-Style Potato Salad

Ok, honestly I haven’t done this in a while. Every summer I bring it back out though, and carry it around from potlucks to BBQs, make a batch on Sunday and happily eat it for the next 2 days.

It’s one of those easy, recipes that are good right away, or a day and a half later. I got so many good comments about it that I’m never afraid to bring it along.

Jamaican-Style Potato Salad
6 servings, 3 P+/serving

Ingredients
1 ½ pound new potatoes, halved if large (I like to mix red and yellow for looks)
1 TBSP canola oil
2 Celery stalks, finely chopped
1 small onion, thinly sliced
½ green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
½ red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
½ cup reduced sodium chicken broth
¼ cup apple-cider vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard (I like to use whole grain, prettier)
½ tsp sugar free jerk seasoning
½ tsp salt

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add potatoes, return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain in a colander; set aside.

Meanwhile, to make the dressing, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the celery, onion, and bell peppers; cook, stirring, until softened, 6-8 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut into ¾ inch chunks; transfer to a serving bowl. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and toss gently to coat. Serve within 4 hours or refrigerate, covered up to 2 days. For the best flavor serve at room temperature.

Source: Weight Watchers, Savoring Summer 2007, p. 70.

Black Bean Mini-Burgers

I have been going over my old blogs, reviving some of them, putting aside others, and I found a few things that I had forgotten about. One of them is my Black Bean Mini Burgers. Those little guys are great for dinner, but even more for packed lunches!

I made up the recipe by mixing up a few recipes that I had found on different food blogs. I didn't want to put in bread crumbs, so somebody suggested to use cornmeal instead. Later on I would a little bits and pieces of roasted red pepper to it but not too much, so it doesn't start falling apart.

Here's what I did:

Black Bean Mini-Burgers
9-10 servings 1P+/serving

Ingredients

1 can of black bean, rinsed drained
1/2 carrots grated (very mushy, but that's ok)
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 cup red bell pepper minced,
1 whole egg lightly beaten
4 tsp (more or less) fine cornmeal
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 Indian red chili powder
Pinch garam masala
Salt, pepper

I mashed the beans with a fork, it makes a coarser texture than processing it. Then I added all the ingredients and mixed until combined. The mixture was pretty wet, but I managed to make 18 tiny patties that I put on a rimmed baking sheet (I covered it with aluminum foil and used cooking spray, less cleaning).

I pre-heated the broiler, sprayed garlic olive oil on the patties and then put them about 4-5 inch under the broiler for 3 minutes. Then I took them out, flipped them gently (use a flat spatula to keep half the patties from staying on the sheet) and cooked them another 3 minutes.

Finally I flipped them again and cooked them about 1 minute. Don't overcook them cause they'll get dry. Keep an eye on them!

For dinner I'd serve 4 patties (2 P+) in my bento I put 2 for 1 P+.