White Pizza Remix: A Chicken Pesto Wrap

I was so excited about this when I packed it for work, and was NOT disappointed when I heated it up today at lunch.

Using a lot of the same ingredients from the White Pizza from the other night, I made a wrap to take to work. This post will be short and sweet, people... here's all you do:

1. Spread about 1 Tbsp. fat free cream cheese on 1 garlic and herb tortilla from La Tortilla Factory
2. Spread about 2 tsp. of the store-bought pesto on top of that.
3. Put about 1/4 cup of chicken breast strips on top (I actually just bought a package of pre-cooked, sliced chicken strips... Perdue / Tyson, etc. all make them and I was pleasantly surprised.)
4. If desired, add a couple of artichokes.

I wrapped it all up in some saran wrap to take to work. It was good cold, and very delicious heated up for about 1:25 in the microwave... I loved it.

Also, the good news? It's 3 WW points each too! (2 pts for chicken, 0 points for the tortilla, and 1 point for the combination of cream cheese and pesto.)

I didn't have time to take a pic of it since this was an impormptu creation this morning, but I did prance around work showing my friends. My coworkers pretty much make up my readership, so it's the same thing...?

You should make this white pizza. Wow.

I have a new favorite meal... and it's only 3 Weight Watchers points.... and it's delicious.

The secret is a low fat / high fiber small tortilla as the crust. I bought the 6 inch garlic and herb tortillas from La Tortilla Factory. Each one is ZERO Weight Watchers points, since they're just 50 calories, with 6 grams of dietary fiber a piece.

Here's a look at what you're getting:

Pesto. Goat cheese. Feta. Mozzarella. Artichoke hearts.
Mmmm.......

Here's what you do:

1. Place the tortilla on a cookie sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray, and place in the oven to toast at 375 for about 4 minutes. (You need to give the tortilla a little bit of a head start on getting crispy).
2. Remove the tortilla from the oven and spread about 2 teaspoons of jarred store-bought pesto, or however much you need to cover the tortilla. (I used the pesto I had left over from using it in the crust of my beloved Italian Tomato Tart!)
   
3. Sprinkle about 1/4 of a cup of white cheeses on top of the pesto, using reduced fat varietes when possible. I used a mixture of part skim mozzarrella, reduced fat feta, and goat cheese. Any of these by themselves would be delicious.
   
4. Chop about 1/4 cup of canned, quartered artichoke hearts so that they're bite-sized, and sprinkle on top.
5. Return the mini pizza to the over for about 4 more minutes.

At 3 WW points, really you could have this as a snack, or you could put some sliced chicken breast on there to make it a little heartier. I was just using what I had in the pantry (the artichokes), but you could use diced roma tomatoes, mushrooms, fresh spinach, prosciutto, onions, etc.... I can't wait to try it with more toppings!

Happy Belated Cinco de Mayo!

I was craving Mexican food when I came home from work on Friday (perhaps as a belated Cinco de Mayo craving), and decided to whip up a variation of those goat cheese and roasted corn quesadillas from the March 2009 Cooking Light.

I mentioned these quesadillas briefly in my other post because they were delicious, and have inspired me to looks at quesadillas in a new (healthier) way using smaller corn tortillas and goat cheese. I used the Cooking Light recipe, but added some black beans I had left over from another recipe. After roasting the corn in the pan, I removed it from the heat and added the beans till they just warmed through before setting the mixture aside to add to my quesadillas.

I quickly found that roasted corn is DELICIOUS with black beans as a side and nothing but a little salt. I munched on this in a bowl for a while until my quesadilla was done!

My Not-So-Cinco de Mayo celebration was a total success: a roasted corn and black bean quesadilla, with a dab of light sour cream and salsa verde on the side (oh and another helping of the leftover corn and beans!). It was a totally satisfying meal. The quesadilla was about 4-5 WW points, and another 4 points came from the additional corn and beans....

When was the last time you had a super filling mexi-feast for about 8 points? I'm still craving the corn and bean mixture, and plan to make it again to take to work as a small meal.

Tangy Berries-and-Cheese Salad from Southern Living

I first mentioned this salad in this post; it was just one of the many recipes I tried making after reading several issues of Cooking Light and Southern Living while traveling.

The April 2009 issue of Southern Living I was reading was filled with recipes for using strawberries since they are so delicious this time of year. Salads are something I get burnt out on easily, and this salad seemed like a great way to mix things up. Plus, I adore fruit and cheese together. (who doesn't?!)

The recipe called for "farmer's cheese" and noted that queso fresco could also be substituted... Um. Yea, I didn't know what either was, so that was a problem.... After all, prior to this past year I mostly just ate turkey sandwhiches, lean cuisines and soup (with the occassional session of cookie baking). So what do I know? I looked it up online and then just made a point to look for it at the cheese case next to the deli counter at Safeway. Sure enough, I found the farmer's cheese with the bries and gourmet cheeses near the deli, and the queso fresco was easy to find too. (I found this on the dairy aisle with the yogurt and butter, where they had a specific section for Hispanic cheeses and tortillas.) I went with the farmer's cheese:


I divided the round of cheese up into individual portions once I bought it, and calculated that one eighth of the package was 3 Weight Watchers Points. Having the cheese divided made it easier to grab a wedge to add to my salad if I was packing it for work, or even just as a snack by itself. Without the portion control, I tend to keep cutting off little chunks of cheese here and there while I'm around the house, and may not be actually tracking how much of it (and how many calories) I've had. (In fact, one of my favorite snacks to take to work for a while was a wedge of this cheese, and about a cup of diced pear, blackberries and strawberries mixed: absolute healthie heaven as a small meal for about 4 Weight Watchers points.)

This salad was not from Weight Watchers or Cooking Light, but I calculated the different components on their own to make it work with my diet. (Goes to show you don't have to read diet books to eat healthy!) With three WW points worth of cheese (1 wedge shown above), and about 1 point worth of almond slivers and strawberries combined, youre looking at a tasty salad for about 4-5 WW points, depending on how much dressing you use if any. Enjoy!


Tangy Berries-and-Cheese Salad
Southern Living
April 2009

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil
• 1 (5-oz.) package mâche (about 4 cups), thoroughly washed* (yeah I didn't know what mache was either...)
  
• 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, cut in half
• 1/2 cup crumbled farmer's cheese**

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake almonds in a single layer in a shallow pan 5 to 7 minutes or until toasted and fragrant.
2. Whisk together oil and next 3 ingredients in a bowl; stir in basil. Add mâche; toss to combine. Top with strawberries, farmer's cheese, and toasted almonds. Serve immediately.

*4 cups Bibb lettuce may be substituted.

**Queso fresco may be substituted