Chronicles of a Curious Cook » lowfat

Breakfast Smoothies: Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great

admin — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:02:00 +0000

I’ve been cooking from The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great and have several great new additions to my repertoire. I picked this book up on the basis of a recommendation from one of the blog readers and want to say “Thanks!” It’s as fantastic as her other books. The recipes are delicious, easy to follow and very flexible, with lots of ideas for adaptations and swapping out of ingredients.

First, for breakfast my kids have been enjoying her soy milk smoothies. I’ve been using fresh bananas rather than the frozen she recommended because the kids like them a bit more drinkable rather than thick. We tried once without the banana but even though neither of the girls are big banana fans they both found the smoothie too overpowering in the other fruit flavor.

1 cup vanilla soy milk
2 tsp honey
2 tsp lemon juice
1 banana (frozen or not)
1 cup frozen fruit

Blend this up in the blender and drink.

I’ve been buying the shelf stable soy milk which is great to have around in a pinch. We’ve used frozen mangoes and raspberries so far. I also had some leftover frozen jello and fruit things that no one liked so a few times I used one of those instead of honey.

Anyway, I think it’s a great breakfast for those that don’t actually like to eat much in the mornings. For me, I’m sticking with my toast and fresh tomatoes from the garden until the tomatoes are gone! Or on the weekends, I might add a scrambled or fried egg.

Crustless Quiche

admin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:06:00 +0000

Another hit from The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great, a crustless quiche with chicken apple sausage and apples and sage. I cheated a bit and used all whole eggs rather than half eggs and half egg whites. Mainly because I’m just in it for the good food and not the weight loss! So I don’t buy egg beaters.

2 tsp olive oil
1 tart apple, diced
2 chicken apple sausages, diced
pinch of dried sage

4 eggs (or 2 eggs and 1/2 cup of egg whites or egg substitute or egg beaters type thing)
1 15 ounce can evaporated milk
2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 and lightly spray or grease a 9″ pie pan or quiche dish.

Heat the oil in and saute the apples for about 4 minutes, then add the sausage and cook another 2 minutes or so. Sprinkle with sage and remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, evaporated milk, and mustard. Stir in the cheese and the apple-sausage mix.

Pour this all into the pie pan and put it in the oven. Bake about 30 minutes. Let it sit about 5 minutes before serving.

Serves about 6 if you don’t have big eaters or have a side dish. Salad or just sliced tomatoes go great! We’re eating the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow. Mmmm!

Spinach Salad with Scallops, Bacon, and Cider Vinaigrette

admin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:58:00 +0000

I’d about given up on Cooking Light recipes but they may have won me back with this one. Both my girls loved it and it went together quickly and easily. I used frozen bay scallops rather than the larger sea scallops and just cooked them a bit less. I think it would be better with the larger scallops but the cost was nearly double.

Notes: I used apple juice rather than cider and didn’t have a shallot so just chopped up a bit more red onion instead. They say it serves 4. I made it with just enough scallops for the 3 of us and had just a bit of spinach left over so if you’ve got hearty eaters, I’m not sure about the “serves 4.”

1 cup apple cider
2 tsp sugar
4 slices bacon
1/4 cup finely chopped onion or shallots
1 Tbs cider vinegar
3/4 tsp salt, divided
1/3 tsp black pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, sliced thinly (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup red onion, sliced thinly
6 ounces raw spinach leaves
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 pounds sea scallops
2 tsp olive oil

Pour the apple cider or juice in a small saucepan with the sugar. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, until it’s reduced to 1/4 cup or so. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp, then lay on paper towels. Pour off the fat but leave about 1 tsp in the pan to cook the 1/4 cup chopped onion in. Cook until soft, just a minute or two. Pour the reserved cider mix from above into the pan. Add the cider vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper. Stir. This is your dressing.

Chop or crumble the cooked bacon. In a large bowl, put the spinach, bacon, apple slices, and red onion slices. Toss together. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.

In a small bowl, mix the last 1/2 tsp salt and the curry powder. Sprinkle this over the scallops. Heat the 2 tsp oil in the skillet and cook the scallops over medium high heat until done. (3 minutes per side for the larger ones; less than that for the small ones.)

Divide the salad among 4 plates and top each with 1/4 of the scallops.

Braised Red Cabbage and Onions

admin — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:18:00 +0000

I grew red cabbage in the garden this winter. It’s quite pretty but then I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it! I picked the first one yesterday and turned to Vegetables Every Day: The Definitive Guide to Buying and Cooking Today’s Produce With over 350 Recipes, a great source of vegetable recipes that another food blogger recommended. (Sorry, I can’t remember who to thank for the great referral!). His original recipe called for 1 medium head red cabbage which was supposed to yield about 10 cups sliced cabbage. My cabbage was a bit smaller so I cut portions down accordingly. I didn’t measure how many cups it produced but would guess about 6.

2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth or water
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook about 8-10 minutes, until golden and soft. Add the garlic and cook another minute, then stir in the cabbage and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook, stirring periodically, about 5 minutes.

Add the broth, stir, cover, and cook until the cabbage is tender, another 10 minutes or so. Uncover and cook until the liquid evaporates. Stir in the parsley and balsamic vinegar. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed.

Kumquats

admin — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:22:00 +0000

Kumquats are an interesting fruit. They look like a small oval orange, about as big as the first joint of your thumb. Unlike an orange, it’s the peel that’s sweet while the inside flesh is a bit sour. If you like candied orange peels, you’d probably love these. They have a bit of pucker power but are sweet at the same time. My parents have a kumquat tree and brought a small bag down with them when they joined us recently to celebrate my dad’s birthday.

I had already picked out a magnificent piece of salmon and decided to cook it a la Jacque Pepin again, topped with a hazelnut breadcrumb mix and cooked in a very slow oven. I often serve salmon topped with mango salsa but since we had the kumquats my mom cooked them up. Mmmm….

She sliced the kumquats in half and then just simmered them a few minute in a bit of white wine. They really didn’t need anything else!

I see Elise at Simply Recipes has a kumquat salsa recipe posted. I may try that next!

Vegetarian Sweet & Sour Tofu

admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 05:17:00 +0000

On of my nephews is vegetarian, has been for years. I’m hoping he’ll come join us for dinner one evening (nudge nudge Taylor!), plus the girls are interested in eating more “consciously”, so I bought a new cookbook.

This is basically from Better Than Peanut Butter & Jelly: Quick Vegetarian Meals Your Kids Will Love! Revised Edition. We’re not vegetarian (hence the last post on pulled pork!) but we do like vegetarian meals. And we’re trying to eat more “consciously” (although I wonder that you never see free-range pig advertised? Is that because they’re ALL free range? I somehow doubt it.)

Anyway, I bought this cookbook on a whim, although I think it’ s geared towards younger children (start ‘em young!). That said, both my carnivore-tending teenagers liked this “except for the peppers.” I know they don’t like cooked peppers. In fact, I cut the peppers in half, and served the other half of the red pepper sliced and raw, which they happily ate. They did like the tofu, carrots, pineapple, and sauce.

1 15.5 ounce can pineapple chunks (reserve the juice)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (rice vinegar would probably work too)
1 tomato, cut into wedges
2 1/2 Tbs cornstarch mixed into 1/4 cup water
1 tsp ground ginger
1 10.5 ounce package extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1″ cubes
2 Tbs sesame oil
1 green pepper (I used just 1/2), cut into thin strips about 2″ long
1 red pepper (I saved half to serve raw) cut into thin strips
1 carrot, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into thin half circles

Mix pineapple juice, soy sauce, vinegar, tomato, cornstarch mix, and ginger into a small bowl.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. (Note: original recipe says over low to medium heat but we like our fried tofu with browned sides!) Stir fry the tofu for 10 minutes or so, until lightly browned on all sides.

Add the peppers and carrots and stir fry another few minutes.

Stir in the soy sauce mixture and cook about 5 more minutes, until thickened. Add the pineapple chunks and heat through.

I served this with a bean sprout salad. Like I said, my kids were happy to eat the tofu, carrots, and pineapple but would rather eat their peppers raw. I liked it as noted.

Apple Cake

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 05:25:00 +0000

I followed my niece’s lead in this recipe from my mom and used applesauce rather than oil. I have a batch of home canned applesauce that is a bit cinnamon heavy. I’m thinking I’ll use it all up in baking treats like this since I’m the only that likes it plain!

4 cups chopped apples
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (or oil)
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup chopped nuts, optional
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix all the ingredients together, in order. Pour into a 9×13″ pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Optional glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp soda

Combine the glaze ingredients together and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Pour over slightly cooled cake.

Note: I didn’t have any buttermilk so added 1 Tbs of vinegar to 1/2 cup milk and let it sit while the cake baked.

Lo Mein

admin — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 02:25:00 +0000

This is one of those funny dishes that I like when I make it at home, but I’ve never yet actually ordered it in a restaurant. Actually, I rarely order anything in a restaurant that I can cook at home. I mean, what’s the point? I don’t eat out much and am not going to waste those occasions ordering something I could just as easily fix myself any day! The last time I made lo mein with ham. This time I was skimming through my a Rachel Ray cookbook. I have to say I kind of enjoy watching her show now and then so I bought this book, Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats–A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook) but I rarely find anything that actually entices me to try it and I don’t like the organization. But this was good and worth repeating. Maybe I should explore the book a bit more. You could add some leftover meat here and have a complete meal. I served it with her breaded and baked fish, which was nothing special so I’m not posting it. This one I’d make again, although my kids didn’t like it.

I did actually use a can of bean sprouts, which somehow I’ve never bought before. But the last bag of bean sprouts I bought with some idea or another spoiled in the few days it took me to get to the idea. I think the canned may go onto my typical pantry list because they added a nice touch here and this could be an easy pantry dinner that way. It’s quick, tasty, and filling.

1/2 pound spaghetti
3 Tbs oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs minced ginger
1 carrot, peeled and shredded or cut into matchsticks
2 cups bean sprouts (I actually used the canned ones)
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1/3 cup tamari (aged soy sauce)

Cook and drain the spaghetti.

Heat the oil. Cook the garlic, ginger, and carrot for a minute or so, stirring often. Add the bean sprouts and bell pepper. (She also called for scallions here but I left those out because my kids shy from onions). Cook another the 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Add the drained pasta and stir. Then mix in the tamari and mix well.

Greens with a Little Flavor

admin — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 13:56:00 +0000

I know the southern style of cooking greens involves a ham hock and tastes great. But what about when you don’t have a ham hock lying around (although I often do) and you still want something to do with your greens other than just steam them? Cook them in some chicken broth or chicken bouillon, as suggested in Cheap. Fast. Good! I tried these out last night on my niece, who loves greens, and the recipe won rave reviews.

1 -2 pounds mixed greens
1 quart water
5 chicken bouillon cubes
lemon juice or vinegar at the table

Heat the water and bouillon cubes until boiling. Add the greens and cook, covered, at a low boil for 15 minutes or so. Drain, chop if necessary into bite-sized pieces, and serve. I grew up with lemons on the table for greens but have lately taken to using cider vinegar instead sometimes. Cheap. Fast. Good! says you can top these with bacon bits if you miss the pork flavor on your greens.