Chicken-Kale Curry

Yesterday I was so very tempted to order Indian food. I didn't feel like cooking, I did have some chicken thighs to work with, and veggies, but I just didn't feel it. Then I thought, I'll just sauteed everything in a pan, throw in a jar of salsa, and forget about it!

No Salsa... *sigh*

I started digging in my pantry, and discovered a jar of Tikka Masala sauce. Hum, that could be nice! But then I realized that it was a lot of sauce for only 4 chicken thighs, bringing up the number of calories/fat per serving higher than I wanted it to be after the splurge Friday night. Grrrr

Ok then, lets just get started and see where it leads me. What started with dragging my feet around the kitchen cause, like it or not we need to eat, turned into a fun cooking session with my husband taking notes. Here's what we ended up eating (and it was DELICIOUS!):

Chicken-Kale Curry
4 servings, 4 P+/Serving (5 if you count the kale, I don't)

Ingredients
1 TBSP oil
4 med, skinless, bone in chicken thighs
1 red onion, quartered, sliced
1 serrano chile, sort of seeded, minced
2 tsp minced garlic (or 2 frozen cubes)
2 carrots, sliced
1/4 cup broccoli, chopped
1 can diced, fire roasted tomatoes
3 cups kale chopped
Spices: 1 TBSP garam masala, 1 tsp curry powder (madras), 1 generous pinch cayenne pepper, 1 generous pinch clove
Sal pepper to taste
1/2 cup chicken broth (to be used as needed)

Heat up oil in a Karahi over medium-high flame (it's like a wok with a flat bottom, mine's cast iron). Sprinkle both sides of the chicken pieces generously with the spice mix (I used about 1/3 of the mix).  Brown chicken on each side, take out set aside.

Sauteed the onions in the hot karahi until lightly brown (5-8 minutes). Add the Serrano pepper and garlic and cook until fragrant (30-60 seconds), add carrots and broccoli and sauteed about a minute or two until just tender. Add about 2/3 of the spices left, salt and pepper to taste, and sauteed stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, 1/4 cup of chicken broth and stir, scrapping the bottom.

Lower the flame to medium-low and dump the kale on top of the mixture (do not stir yet!), sprinkle with more spices and cover. Let the kale steam for about 3 minutes. Uncover and stir to coat the steamed kale with the sauce.

Move the veggies around to make a little "nest" for the chicken thighs put them in and cover them with the mixture. Cover and cook, over medium-low flame for about 20-25 minutes. Stir every once in a while, and add some broth if it gets too dry in there. You want it saucy (not soupy) but you don't want it to stick either! I cooked it about 1 minute uncovered over high flame at the end to let it thicken up a little more.

Notes:

1. My cast iron Karahi is perfect for this, it's like a wok but with a flat bottom. Mine is from "Le Creuset" and the lid of my 5 quart Dutch oven fits perfectly on it. Any pot that retains heat very well and has a tight fitting lid will do.
2. It IS a lot of spice, and it's a little intimidating, I ended up not using all of it not trusting myself (I have about a tsp leftover). Next time I'll use all of it. Not at all overwhelming. 
3. Kale and curry usually don't go together... who cares? It's delicious... screw traditions!

I'm feeling like playing mad scientist again in the kitchen (rather than following recipes from cookbooks) so keep your eyes peeled for more recipes!

Happy Cooking!

Whole Mung Bean soup

Today I went to the Farmers Market at the UN Plaza, then I went to Safeway on Webster and remembered that Jai Ho, the Indian grocery store was right next door. I had been looking all over for Asafoetida, and couldn't find it, so off I went to get it there.

I started looking around, finding big (cheap!) bags of all the spices I had just paid a fortune for at Rainbow and Whole Foods (grrr). Looking at the dried beans, I saw whole mung beans. I had bought those before, and never cooked them, finally had to throw them away. Since I'm in such an adventurous cooking mood, I decided to buy them again!

I've decided to keep my beans and other bulk in jars, easier to manage!

As you can see, mung beans are green little beans/lentils that comes in a great variety of ways. I bought the whole ones, but can buy them split, sprouted, you can make them sprout yourselves, the possibilities are pretty much endless. I just adore that green, and love how tiny they are!

They are tiny too!

Normally you need to soak them overnight, but I didn't today. I found several soup and dhal recipes using them, and mixing and matching them, I decided to make my own. So this is a creation of mine, I looked at recipes to know how to deal with my little green friends, but the rest was whatever I had in my fridge!

That's actually the leftovers *blush* I forgot to take a picture of my bowl. I was HUNGRY!

Whole Mung Bean Soup
4 servings,  5P+/serving (not counting the veggies)

1 cup whole mung beans, picked over, rinsed and drained
2 cups water (more if needed)
3 cups (more or less) chicken or vegetable broth
3 big leaf kale, rib removed, chopped
1 small leek, thinly sliced
1 small french shallot thinly sliced
1 medium daikon, thinly sliced (halved first if large)
3 sl canadian bacon (can easily be skipped)
1 TBSP lemon juice
Salt pepper
Optional: Chopped fresh tomato (Didn't have them, but woulda been good!)*

1. Put the rinsed and drained beans in a Dutch oven, or a soup pot, add 2 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer about 40 minutes, stirring frequently so the beans won't stick, until most beans have burst out of their hull and the water is absorbed. If you run out of water before the beans are tender, add some a little at a time.
2. When the beans are almost ready, heat up a pan, spray with oil (or cooking spray) and sauteed the shallot and leek until tender. Add Daikon and sauteed until just starting to get translucent. 
3. Reserve 2-3 TBSP of the broth and pour the rest in the beans, add leek mixture and bring to a boil. 
4. Reheat the newly emptied pan, add kale, pour the 2-3 TBSP broth and cover for a minute to steam the kale. Add Kale to the soup pot. Simmer soup for 10-12 minutes
5. Add Canadian bacon in the last minute of cooking (I sauteed it a little in the pan first), heat up and turn off the fire. Add lemon juice and tomatoes (if using), stir and serve.

You could easily change the vegetables, spice this up with cumin, coriander, chili powder would be good in there. I didn't push it too much because I had never tasted those beans. I didn't know what to expect. it was delicious!

Happy Cooking!!

*Added Note: We had the leftovers today and added a spicy Jalapeno sausage (TJ), and a diced fresh tomato (at the end) and the spiciness of the sausage definitively added to this already delicious soup. So spice away!

Butternut squash-tomato soup

I've been having a cooking attack and I'm certainly not going to do anything to stop it! I'm enjoying this and the food is actually pretty darned good!

Today I was roasting veggies for my lunch, and I decided to double up and roast a butternut squash I had sitting around. I chopped it, spiced it (complete recipe below) and roasted it.

Then I sliced 2 garlic cloves and quick a bit of fresh ginger (2 TBSP at least) and half an onion. I sauteed the onion at high temp, and then added the ginger and garlic. When those got fragrant, I added the leftover spices and 30 seconds later threw in a can of petite diced tomato (drained) and mixed that well.

A minute or so later, I threw in the butternut squash, and cooked for a minute or two.

Finally I added the broth, salt and pepper, and simmered for 10 minutes or so.

Once it was all done cooking, I used my trusty immersion blender to puree the whole thing.

It was delicious and even better reheated!

Butternut squash-tomato soup
4 servings, 0P+/serving

1 butternut squash, in chunks
Spice: 1 tsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 pinch clove, 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper (divided)
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 onion (or 1 small), thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 TBSP ginger thinly sliced
1 can petite diced tomato, drained
salt to taste

• Preheat oven to 375 F. 
• Lay the squash chunks in one layer on a cookie sheet. Spray with olive oil or cooking spray, sprinkle half the spices on the squash moving it around to coat. Roast until starting to turn brown (a little blackening is ok, but not too much). Set aside.
• Spray a small Dutch oven, heat up to medium-high heat, swirl the oil and add onions. Cook for a few minutes until just starting to brown. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Add the rest of the spices and cook 30 seconds or so. 
• Add the tomatoes, and mix well. Add the squash and mix well to coat. Put in the broth salt a bit more pepper if needed and cook 10 minutes at a moderate simmer.
• Turn off the heat and process with an immersion blender (or in a blender in batches, careful it's hot!).

So simple, so easy, so delicious! Tell me healthy cooking is complicated! It is NOT!

Happy Cooking!

Goulash Hongrois

When I got married and moved to the States, my Mom gave me a series of little recipe pamphlet put together by a well known Mom and daughter team in Quebec, the Taillefer. The good thing about these recipes is that they are generally healthy (not necessarily low calories though) and include a lot of "traditional" foods from home. They aren't limited to local foods though. I guess I should say that Quebec's traditional cooking is very strongly influenced by what the different immigrants (French included) brought in.

These are, I believe, from 1996-1997. 

Last week I moved my cookbooks around (ARG!) and found this bundle of little pamphlet, which I have rarely used, and decided to dig in for some "cook ahead" idea. I found a recipe of Goulash that seemed fairly healthy and had no pasta in it. Because of that, it was perfect for freezing!

I am putting in here the original recipe, and will not the changes I've made in it. I need to note that I count the P+ value of my recipes by hand, and do not put in value for 0P+ vegetables. So if you want to be righteous about this, use the recipe builder at www.weightwatchers.com.

The picture is a little dark-ish, but the flash made it too shiny. 

Goulash Hongrois
6 servings, 7P+/serving

Ingredients
2 lbs veal, cubed (I used 1 lb 10 oz of top sirloin steak, trimmed and cubed)
1 TBSP Paprika
2TBSP flour
2 TBSP oil (I tried cutting down, but it's needed!)
1 TBSP butter (didn't use)
1 onion chopped
1 cup beef broth
2 cans (19 oz) crushed tomatoes (I used 1 can (28oz) crushed, and 1 can (14oz) roasted diced, drained)
1 TBSP tomato paste
1 TBSP oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
Salt & Pepper
(I added a bay leaf and 3 small carrots sliced)

• Mix flour and paprika and coat beef cubes, shaking off excess. Heat up oil in a dutch oven and brown beef on all sides. Set aside. Remove excess fat from pan (skipped this).
• In the same pan heat butter (cooking spray!) and cook onion stirring. I had to throw in a little broth cause the flour was burning at the bottom of the pan. Keep it close! Add beef, tomato paste, crushed tomato (and diced), and broth to the pan, cover and simmer 30 minutes. 
• Add potatoes (and carrots)*, cover and simmer 40-45 minutes. Uncover and cook 5 minutes until thickened to taste**. Add oregano and check seasonings.

* I added 1/2 of the oregano then, and salt and pepper. I added the rest of the oregano at the end and adjusted seasonings
**I cooked this to freeze, so I didn't want it too thick knowing it would thicken when I heated it up.

This turned out to be delicious! It takes forever to cook, but it's not that much prep!

Ours made 7 1 cup servings at about 5 P+ each. We did eat 1.5 serving for dinner, but it was too much! As my husband said: "This is sneakily filling!" It could be served over pasta, or grains, but stands very well on its own. I must admit it would be great with a big piece of this rustic bread too, but we DIDN'T!

Happy Cooking Everybody!

Tilapia-Kale Soup

I'm posting a lot today, but I made this for dinner and I had to share, it was absolutely delicious!

It's a little but of chopping, but I think it's worth the work and it cooks lightening quick!

Picture doesn't do it justice, it was delicious!

Tilapia-kale Soup
2 servings, 6P+/serving*

Ingredients
2 tsp avocado oil
1 shallot thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
2 garlic clove thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 large leaf green kale, chopped
4 small leaf red kale, chopped
2 sm-med potatoes (7oz), diced
2 cups chicken broth (I made with better than bouillon)
Salt, pepper, cumin to taste
9-10 oz Tilapia, cut in chunks

Heat up a deep pan over medium-high fire add avocado oil and sauteed shallots and celery for a minute or so, add garlic and sauteed until fragrant, add carrots and cook for a minute or two. Add kale (both color) and toss well until slightly wilted. Throw in potatoes, broth, salt, pepper and cumin and bring to a boil. Cover and cook 5 minutes.

Add tilapia chunks and cook another 5 minutes or until the fish is done (I cooked it 5 minutes and it was perfect!).  Adjust seasoning.

Serve hot, could work over grains, but makes a rather large serving so it's not necessary.

*PointsPlus value does not include 0 P+ vegetable in the recipes as I count the recipes by hand.

So there, I'm on a seafood streak! Hang on everybody!

Happy Cooking!

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!

No Broth, No Problem

I have a meeting tonight so I wanted to get things ready for dinner to be ready really quickly. It's January at Weight Watchers, who knows when I'll get home!

I took out some cooked turkey I had in the freezer, and thought it would be a good idea to soak some bulgur to go with it. All that would be left to do is to prep some veggies. I snap really!

Only problem was, I had no broth! I've been meaning to buy some chicken and vegetable broth (or granules) but never got around to it. I hate to cook grains in water, it tastes like nothing. Now what? No time to go to the store, come back, get it all ready. Defeats the purpose really! I decided to get creative! 

I put 1.5 cup of hot water in a Pyrex measuring cup. I added a few branches of thyme, 2 cloves of garlic, sliced, and a few pinches of cumin seeds. I threw it all in the microwave for 2 minutes. Then I let it sit for 5 minutes to steep, and then brought it to a boil in the microwave.

While I was doing all that, I was thinking that the one thing that bugs me about my idea is that I hate to have spices and chunks of stuff in my bulgur. It's tasty, but not really pretty so I had a flash of genius and decided to strain the whole thing before adding the "broth" to the 1 cup of bulgur I had in my tupperware. 

Et Voila! I have naturally flavored water! The smell alone was delicious! We'll see what it tastes like. :o)

Happy Cooking!

Breakfast: An Oldie but a goodie

When my husband first visited me back in Rimouski, Canada, I didn't want to admit that I couldn't cook anything. So, I pretended to know what I was doing. One thing I could do fairly safely is boiling eggs. So for breakfast I proudly served him a version of this.

I just recently rediscovered my super breakfast and reworked it a little. I like to have this with an orange as "dessert". Here's what it looks like:

"Mushed-up egg" half sandwich
2 servings, 5P+/serving

Ingredients
2 soft boiled eggs*
2 slices, Canadian bacon, chopped up
2 light english muffins, halved
salt & pepper

Mash the egg in a bowl, add the chopped (the smaller pieces the better) Canadian bacon to the egg. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread 1/4 of the mixture over each half English muffin.

You could easily mince vegetables in there, leftover cooked veggies, whatever you want to add. It's also good with a little cumin, or curry powder even. Have fun!

*Bring the water to a boil, carefully add egg, boil for about 6 minutes. The white should be all cooked, but the yolk still very mushy. I would not cook soft boiled egg too far ahead of time, though hard boiled eggs last for days.

Not all meals you eat have to be fuffy and complicated!

Be good n stuff!

Pineapple Guava Bread

Last year my friend gave me a few Pineapple Guavas to taste and I thought they were great, so this year when she offered to give me some I jumped at the chance. Well, I got a lot of them! 

 This is what I had leftover fruits after my cooking attack today!

After a few minutes of "what on earth am I gonna do with this?" I looked online for ideas. In a forum somebody mentioned using this in a bread instead of bananas. Now I had been meaning to make my banana bread for a while, so here we go! Now the original recipe is from Cooking Light (November 2007 I believe) but I thought that version was still a little too fatty, so I played with the butter vs apple juice content and the spices until I got it to where I wanted it. So I believe I changed it around enough to where it's mine... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

This time around, I changed the fruit, I doubled the recipe, and I added chopped up crystallized ginger. I was alone at home when I made this, so my hands were too dirty to take pictures of the process, but the sun was hitting my kitchen this afternoon so I'm purty proud of my "after" pictures! Here's the recipe!

This is Bread #1 right out of the oven 

Pineapple Guava Bread
Makes 2 Bread
Per Bread: 8 servings*, 4 pts/serving

Ingredients
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 cup bron sugar
1/4 Cup butter
6 TBSP Apple Sauce unsweetened
1 cup egg beater
3 cup, white flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
2 cup pineapple Guava, chopped
2 TBSP crystallized ginger, chopped small
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Cooking spray
Nutmeg (whole for grating)

1- Preheat over at 350F

2- Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, beat with a mixer at medium speed until well mixed, add apple sauce and beat a little more. Add eggs beater slowly while mixing well.

3- Sift flour and baking soda and spices together and add to the wet mixture alternating with the yogurt. You want to start and finish with the flour. Do not over-mix! The more you mix, the denser it will be.

4- Fold in the pineapple guava, ginger, and vanilla extract and pour the whole thing in 2 9X5 inch pan that you pre-sprayed with cooking spray. Grate nutmeg on top before putting in the oven.

5- Bake for about 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 8-10 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

*The original recipe was 10 serving per bread which would be 3 pts here. To me those slices are too thin. I want a REAL slice!

Source: Adapted (a lot) from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2007 p. 407 (November 2007) 

This is Bread #2 right out of the oven!

So once it was completely cooled, I wrapped one of the bread in plastic, then foil, then plastic again just to be sure, and put it in the freezer. the other one is waiting for my husband to be tasted. I know better than start without him, there'd be none left by the time he makes it home!!

Half of the leftover fruits got peeled and diced, frozen on a cookie sheet and then "zipploc-ed" for future smoothies. The other half will be eaten tomorrow.

Soooo, if anybody has more of those to share, I'm in!! :o) I'll come back and comment on the taste once I have actually tasted it! ;op

Added Note: After tasting it, both my husband and I think it's absolutely a winner! Thankfully I froze one of them already!

Be good n stuff!

Pumpkin Mousse Parfaits

This is one of those recipes that has made the round on the Weight Watchers message boards since the dinosaurs. I have no idea who first posted it, or how many variations there are. I trot it out in one version or another every year.

The original version was a pumpkin mouse, but I turned it into neat little parfaits. These are good without the graham crumbs (and much more PointsPlus friendly), as shown in the picture, but sometimes you have to get fuffy!

Pumpkin Mousse Parfaits

Makes 4 parfaits, 5 P+ each (8 with the graham crumbs)

15 oz can of pumpkin puree
3 cups cool whip free, divided
1 cup skim milk
2 small boxes of sf/ff vanilla pudding
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (to taste)
1 cup Graham crumbles (divided in 4)

Mousse:
Beat pumpkin, milk, pudding mix and spice together with a whisk. Gently fold in 1 cup of the Fat Free Cool whip. (You can stop there and serve this alone (4servings at 4 P+) as a mousse along a nice cup of hot cider (3 P+).) ;o)

Putting it together:
Brush the bottom of each of your parfait glasses with butter substitute (ICBINB or something like that). Pour in each ¼ of the graham crumbs (if using) and pour out whatever doesn’t stick.

Delicately put in 1/8 of the pumpkin mousse, add ¼ cup of Cool whip (try not to mix it up so it looks cute), sprinkle with ½ of what’s left of each ¼ cup (after you coated the bottom of the Parfait glasses) of Graham crumbs, then add 1/8 of the Mousse again.

**I cover and refrigerate at that point for about 1 hour to let it set, and finish it up just before serving so it looks prettier.

Just before serving: Add ¼ cup of the Cool whip again and sprinkle with the rest of your Graham Crumbs. I stick a cinnamon stick in there to make it look fuffier. :o)

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.

Lobster Desperation Soup

This is the kind of simple but delicious lunch I make when I'm home and I got nothing quick to reach for. Thinking about it, I'll stop buying quick things to grab cause this is delicious! ;op

I walked around the kitchen a few times trying to figure out what to eat and finally made this up.

Lobster Desperation Soup

1 serving, 2 P+ (not counting the veggies)

1 french shallot, halved and thinly sliced

2 sm celery stalk, chopped

1 sm zucchini, diced

1 sm red bell pepper, diced

1 can lobster (or crab would do) undrained

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp oregano, dried

1/4 saffron threads

Pepper to taste (no need of salt really*, taste at the end and adjust)

Heat up a Dutch oven and spray with cooking spray. Cook shallot, celery for about 1 minute, add remaining veggies and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add spices, cook for about 30 seconds, add the brine of the lobster (not the flesh yet!) and boil for 1 minute or so, add broth and cook for about 5 minutes (until the veggies are cooked to taste).

Add lobster, adjust salt and pepper and heat through (about 1 minute).

*The brine is plenty salty!

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry

I made this last night on the fly, it turned out delicious! I didn't measure the spices, so go at it however you like. ;o)

I had a bit of leftover tandoori chicken, about 4 oz, which I added to this. That would up the P+ value 1 P+/serving.

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry

4 Servings, 3P+/serving*

Ingredients

2 tsp + 1 tsp olive oil

pinch of cayenne

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp curry powder

1 medium butternut squash, cubed

1 medium onion thinkly sliced

1 small jalapeno, minced

1 TBSP tomato paste

1 cube frozen crushed garlic

1 can petite diced tomato drained

1 can chickpea rinsed and drained

3 cups (more or less) broth (veg if vegan, I used chicken cause it was open)

Curry powder, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper to taste**

Pre-heat oven to 400F

In a small bowl, mix 2 tsp oil, pinch of cayenne, 1/4 tsp ground cumin and 1/2 tsp curry powder. In a large bowl, coat the butternut squash cubes with the oil/spice mix. Let sit a few minutes. Cover a baking pan with aluminum foil (keeps down the cleaning!) and lay the squash in one layer. Bake until lightly browned + or - 30 minutes.

In a dutch oven, heat up 1 tsp of oil, and sauteed the onions until softened and starting to get a bit golden. Meanwhile, in a small bowl (I used the same one I used for the spices and oil), mix the crushed garlic, the tomato paste, and whatever spice you choose to use.**

Add the jalapeno to the onions and cook a few more minutes, throw in the tomato paste mixture and cook mixing well, until it starts to to caramelize a bit (it's real quick!). Add the diced tomatoes and the chickpeas and the broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. If you have plenty of time, you can cook longer, I was getting hungry.

Add the squash carefully (so it won't mush all up) and cook another 5 minutes.

*I don't count the butternut squash or the tomatoes.

** Remember you put some in the squash already!

Notes:

• That would be delicious with cilantro and a TBSP of lemon juice added at the end, but I had neither..
• It would also be delicious with home made garam masala and whole spices instead of curry powder and ground cumin, but I was in a hurry.

Have fun in the kitchen!

Butternut Squash Roasted with Harissa

I had leftover Harissa that I didn't know what to do with, and I decided to get creative. This recipe is a mix of personal ideas, several recipes I've seen on the web. It's very simple, and gives you a lot of latitude. It's very spicy! So feel free to modify the Harissa recipe. Better yet, just buy pre-made Harissa and then it's a snap to prep!

This is delicious!

Butternut Squash Roasted with Harissa
4 servings, 2P+/serving

Harissa (store bought Harissa is perfectly fine, just forget this part):
10-12 dried red chili peppers
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons olive oil (normally it's more than that, but I try to keep it to a minimum)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Remove stems and seeds from chilies, soak in warm water about 20 minutes to plump up. Meanwhile, sauteed the spices in a dry cast iron pan until just browned (fragrant).

Put everything in a mortar and grind everything together with a pestle until it makes a more or less even paste. If you want to it to be super smooth, you might want to grind the spices first in a grinder, but I like it more "natural looking".

Squash:
1 large butternut squash peeled and cubed
1 TBSP Harissa*
1TBSP olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F.

In a small bowl, mix Harissa, oil and lemon juice (if using). In a large bowl toss the squash cubes with the harissa mix well.

Spread the squash cubes on a baking pan (big enough to make 1 layer) and let sit a few minutes. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes (a bit browned is good, but don't let the Harissa burn).

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

Scallop and Vegetable Stir-Fry

One of the many things Weight Watchers has always been good at is coming up for ways of making cooking quick and easy. A few years ago, the cookbook "Shortcuts" came out, and my husband and I have used it extensively. Still do!

Those are not Foofy cuisine, but quick and easy satisfying meals for those days when you just don't have time for anything else.

Scallop and Vegetable Stir-Fry

4 servings, 4 P+/serving

Ingredients

2 tsp canola oil

1 1/2 pound sea scallops

1 tsp dark asian (dark) sesame oil

1 12 oz bag assorted fresh vegetable cut for stir-fry

1 TBSP minced, peeled fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves minced

1 1/2 TBSP reduced-sodium soy sauce

1- Heat a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles on it. Add the canola oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the scallops and stir-fry just until opaque in the center; about 3 minutes on each side (do not overcook!). Transfer to a plate.

2 Heat the sesame oil in the skillet. Add the vegetables and stir-fry just until tender; about 1 minute. Add the ginger and garlic; stir-fry just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in 1/4 cup water and cook, covered, until the vegetables are crisp-tender; about 1 minute. Stir in the scallops and the soy sauce; cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until heated through, about 30 seconds. Serve at once.

Note: It always cracks me up when a recipe says to serve "at once", I feel like I have to run to the dinning room as soon as I turn off the fire. "Quick, quick! It has to be served AT ONCE!" ;o)

Source: Shortcuts, Weight Watchers, p. 27

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.

Garden Vegetable Soup Variations

If we think basic recipe when following the Weight Watchers program, what do we think of?

Yup! The 0 PointsPlus soup! Here's a few variations found on the website. The possibilities are endless. Feel free to modify!

Fresh vegetable soup
12 servings, 0P+/serving

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, minced (medium)
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrot, diced
1 medium sweet red pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced (medium)
2 small zucchini, diced
2 cups green cabbage, shredded
2 cups Swiss chard, chopped
2 cups cauliflower, small florets
2 cups broccoli, small florets
2 tsp thyme, fresh, fresh, chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
2 Tbsp parsley, or chives, fresh, chopped
1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, optional

Instructions
Put garlic, vegetables, thyme and broth into a large soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low and simmer, partly covered, about 10 minutes.

Stir in parsley or chives; season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Asian-Inspired Vegetable soup

12 servings, 0 P+/serving

Ingredients
2 cups bok choy, chopped
2 cups chinese cabbage, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (medium)
1/4 cup ginger root, thinly sliced and julienned
4 small raw oyster mushrooms, chopped
2 cups scallion, chopped
1 cup canned water chestnuts, sliced
1/2 cup sweet red pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
6 cups vegetable broth
2 cups snow peas, stringed
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Instructions
Put bok choy, Chinese cabbage, garlic, ginger root, mushrooms, scallions, water chestnuts, red pepper, red pepper flakes and broth into a large soup pot; stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partly covered, for about 10 minutes. Toss in snow peas during the last 3 to 4 minutes of simmering.

Stir in soy sauce and cilantro. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Mexican-Style Vegetable Soup
12 servings, 0P+ serving

Ingredients
2 cups green snap beans, fresh, cut into bit-size pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced (medium)
2 small zucchini, cubed
14 oz canned diced tomatoes, Mexican-style preferred
1 medium spanish onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped tomatillos
1 medium jalapeٌno pepper, finely chopped (don't touch seeds with bare hands)
1/2 medium poblano chile, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin,
6 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, water-packed (about 2 peppers)
1 Tbsp canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1/2 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
3/4 tsp table salt

Instructions
Place green beans, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, tomatillos, jalapeno, poblano, oregano, cumin and broth into a large soup pot. Puree roasted peppers with chipotle in adobo sauce in a blender or food processor; stir into soup. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low, and simmer, partly covered, for about 10 minutes.

Stir in cilantro, lime juice and salt. Serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Italian-Style Vegetable Soup
12 servings, 0P+/serving

Ingredients
2 cups escarole, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (medium)
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cups spinach, baby leaves
2 small zucchini, cubed
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
6 cups vegetable broth
28 oz canned diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
3/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup parsley, fresh, chopped
1/4 cup basil, fresh, leaves

Instructions
Put escarole, garlic, onions, spinach, zucchini, red pepper, fennel, vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes, thyme and oregano into a large soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, partly covered, for about 10 minutes.

Stir in salt, black pepper, parsley and basil. Serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

See how easy that is? Fat free broth, 0 P+ vegetables, and fat free seasonings. One basic recipe, endless possibilities!

New Food: Lemon Cucumber

This is not a recipe, but rather an add-on to this week's posting.

I tried something new and I wanted to share! My friend and partner in crime for my Friday meetings, Sally Waters, had told me about these little guys, which I had never seen or heard of. When Dan and I went to the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building yesterday (Saturday) I decided to keep an eye out for lemon cucumber and found some.

Cucumbers are tricky because they don't really cook very well. I think the best way to enjoy them is to throw them in a salad. I decided to keep it very simple, so that we could enjoy their full flavor.

I chopped the cucumbers and halved tiny tomatoes (see above how tiny they are!) I got from the Civic Center Farmer's market Wednesday.

Look how pretty it looks all chopped up together!

I wanted to find something that would compliment the flavors well, and I remembered that I hadn't yet tried the Raspberry-Balsamic vinegar I got at the Stonestown Farmer's last Sunday.

I didn't want to put too much vinegar as to not overwhelm the taste of the cucumber in there, so I put only 2 tsp.

Add a little salt, pepper, and you've got a simple, delicious salad! The idea was to have some leftover for dinner, but the whole thing went for lunch. Victory!

I think those little dudes (the cucumbers) are very seasonal, but I think they are worth the efforts. Cucumber taste fresh already, but I think these have this light summery freshness to them which made this simple salad all the more enjoyable.

Thanks to Sally for giving me a heads up on those, I will get them again!

P.S. Little shameless plug, (it's my blog, I can! ;op) Sally has her own line of skin care products which I cannot live without now. It's called Birdy Botanicals. Give them a look, they have saved my highly allergic skin!