All five of my regular readers may have noticed that the design of this little blog has changed! Many thanks to Hannah Craner of Sherbet Blossom Designs for helping me out with this!
In the meantime, you'll notice some of my links and formatting may not be exactly right. For instance a lot of the navigation links above... err... well they aren't really navigating you anywhere yet.... ooops!
This will all get fixed eventually - many changes to come for sure!
March 8, 2009
Lentil Salad with Blue Cheese and Scallions
When I saw a pack of precooked lentils at Trader Joe's on Friday I remembered how good a cold lentil salad was that I had once from Breadline in D.C.
Lentils have a delicious meaty flavor to them already, but I decided I would try to make a salad out of them that would mimic the version I first had. It had been a while, but I believe the salad has crumbled feta and maybe red onion. In my version, I used reduced fat blue cheese and green onion, since I had just bought a big bunch while I was a the store. I am now obsessed with this snack, since it has a ton of flavor and is only 2 Weight Watchers points per half a cup!
Ingredients
1lb (about 2.5 cups) lentils, cooked
1/4 - 1/3 cup reduced fat blue cheese crumbles.
1/3 cup sliced green onions
Salt to taste (I used a couple of pinches of Kosher)
Directions
Um, there really aren't directions. You just put it all together and enjoy... so it's really easy.
Half a cup of lentils are 2 Weight Watchers points, and 1/4 a cup of this light blue cheese was only 2 points. Since we didn't use much more of the cheese in the whole batch, the points per serving don't really go up on this. So half a cup of this mix would be a great snack during work for roughly 2 points. I'm probably going to kick the serving size up a bit for myself and portion out a cup's worth for 4 points so that it's more of a small, filling meal than a snack.
Lentils have a delicious meaty flavor to them already, but I decided I would try to make a salad out of them that would mimic the version I first had. It had been a while, but I believe the salad has crumbled feta and maybe red onion. In my version, I used reduced fat blue cheese and green onion, since I had just bought a big bunch while I was a the store. I am now obsessed with this snack, since it has a ton of flavor and is only 2 Weight Watchers points per half a cup!
Ingredients
1lb (about 2.5 cups) lentils, cooked
1/4 - 1/3 cup reduced fat blue cheese crumbles.
1/3 cup sliced green onions
Salt to taste (I used a couple of pinches of Kosher)
Directions
Um, there really aren't directions. You just put it all together and enjoy... so it's really easy.
Half a cup of lentils are 2 Weight Watchers points, and 1/4 a cup of this light blue cheese was only 2 points. Since we didn't use much more of the cheese in the whole batch, the points per serving don't really go up on this. So half a cup of this mix would be a great snack during work for roughly 2 points. I'm probably going to kick the serving size up a bit for myself and portion out a cup's worth for 4 points so that it's more of a small, filling meal than a snack.
March 3, 2009
A recipe I've been meaning to try... Balsamic Roasted Green Beans
I adore roasted veggies, so I completely drooled over the picture of these roasted green beans with mushrooms, balsamic and parmesan when I saw Kalyn's post in January.
I actually just shared the recipe with a guy friend who was looking for a good side dish to make for a friend. He said they were tasty, so I can't wait to try them myself!
I actually just shared the recipe with a guy friend who was looking for a good side dish to make for a friend. He said they were tasty, so I can't wait to try them myself!
March 2, 2009
Easy Chicken Dijon (and some potatoes on the side...)
I found this recipe in the January / February 2009 issue of a Weight Watchers magazine (pg. 151 to be exact!).
It is a nice little (healthy) throwback to Shake 'n Bake (which I loooved growing up!). The baked breaded chicken is not only delicious on its own, but the mustard, oregano and thyme in the seasoning remind me of flavors in a delicious roasted chicken dish that an old college friend's native Greek mother used to make. Her version involved roasting whole chickens over potatoes - all marinated in lemon, olive oil, mustard and oregano. Her chicken was divine, but this recipe may just be a liiitttttle easier, and healthier too!
Ingredients:
This is a great recipe - and already incredibly healthy. I just prefer boneless chicken breasts on average over drumsticks (unless it's really good, unhealthy, southern-style fried chicken of course!) But as a lady who is usually cooking for one, I typically only keep individually wrapped frozen chicken breasts on hand, knowing that I'll never make it through a whole pack of fresh chicken in a week on my own. So I preferred to make this recipe with about 3-4 small boneless chicken breasts rather than the full version with drumsticks.
There's really nothing stopping you from making this recipe for one chicken breast at a time on a weeknight, but I made a couple so I could have leftovers throughout the week (best reheated in a toaster oven).
Boneless chicken breasts cooks faster, though - so make sure that you...
Use the mustard and herbs as a rub for roasted baby potatoes too....
I've actually used these flavors in the past (again - inspired by this one dish made by my old friend's Greek Goddess of a mother), rubbing them on these special small yukon gold potatoes that I get at the store (either Safeway, Harris Teeter).
Coating the potatoes with some mustard and a little bit of oil (although nonstick spray would take out the calories) and a little bit of salt, pepper, thyme and oregano makes the potatoes just as good as the chicken, and would be great served as a side. My boyfriend loved these potatoes when I made them once, so I can't wait to make him this chicken to go alongwith them!
(PS - if you go easy on the oil, these potatoes are pretty healthy too! The mustard and spices are zero points, so a small portion would round out this meal that would make even Lean Cuisine proud...)
It is a nice little (healthy) throwback to Shake 'n Bake (which I loooved growing up!). The baked breaded chicken is not only delicious on its own, but the mustard, oregano and thyme in the seasoning remind me of flavors in a delicious roasted chicken dish that an old college friend's native Greek mother used to make. Her version involved roasting whole chickens over potatoes - all marinated in lemon, olive oil, mustard and oregano. Her chicken was divine, but this recipe may just be a liiitttttle easier, and healthier too!
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. chicken drumsticks, skinned.
- 3 Tbsp. whole-grain dijon mustard. (don't stress folks, use whatever dijon you have around)
- 2/3 cup panko, or any kind of bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 tsp. dried herbs (such as tarragon, thyme, or oregano.
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 450. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and lightly spray with nonstick spray.
- Brush the drumsticks with the mustard. Mix the bread crumbs, herbs, salt, and pepper in a large ziploc bag; add the drumsticks. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag; urn to coat the drumsticks.
- Place the drumsticks on the prepared baking sheet and lightly spray with nonstick spray. Bake until browned, 35-40 minutes, spraying the drumsticks with nonstick spray halfway through the baking time.
- Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.
This is a great recipe - and already incredibly healthy. I just prefer boneless chicken breasts on average over drumsticks (unless it's really good, unhealthy, southern-style fried chicken of course!) But as a lady who is usually cooking for one, I typically only keep individually wrapped frozen chicken breasts on hand, knowing that I'll never make it through a whole pack of fresh chicken in a week on my own. So I preferred to make this recipe with about 3-4 small boneless chicken breasts rather than the full version with drumsticks.
There's really nothing stopping you from making this recipe for one chicken breast at a time on a weeknight, but I made a couple so I could have leftovers throughout the week (best reheated in a toaster oven).
Boneless chicken breasts cooks faster, though - so make sure that you...
- Lower the oven temperature to somewhere around 375 degrees.
- Reduce the cooking time to around 20 minutes. (Although to be honest, I was winging it when I did it - just knowing I needed to reduce the time - so I think I baked them for around 20 minutes but keep an eye on them!
Use the mustard and herbs as a rub for roasted baby potatoes too....
I've actually used these flavors in the past (again - inspired by this one dish made by my old friend's Greek Goddess of a mother), rubbing them on these special small yukon gold potatoes that I get at the store (either Safeway, Harris Teeter).
Coating the potatoes with some mustard and a little bit of oil (although nonstick spray would take out the calories) and a little bit of salt, pepper, thyme and oregano makes the potatoes just as good as the chicken, and would be great served as a side. My boyfriend loved these potatoes when I made them once, so I can't wait to make him this chicken to go alongwith them!
(PS - if you go easy on the oil, these potatoes are pretty healthy too! The mustard and spices are zero points, so a small portion would round out this meal that would make even Lean Cuisine proud...)
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