Couscous is just a teeny wheat pasta – much like pastina. Simple to do, ready in 10 minutes, and a great side dish. Substitute other frozen veggies for a whole different tasting dish !
Couscous and Broccoli
4 servings
171 calories per serving
1 c couscous
1 can 99% fat free chicken broth
1 box frozen chopped broccoli
½ t salt
½ t pepper
½ t garlic powder
Boil broth and frozen broccoli until broccoli is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes then add spices, fluff with a fork and serve.
Just one more, just one more ! That’s what you’ll be saying after you have a few bites of this warm potato salad. The flavors were outstanding and it’s a nice dish next to fish or chicken.
Roasted Garlic Potato Salad
8 servings
173 calories per serving
2 lb. small new potatoes, quartered (about 20)
2 T oil
1 bulb garlic
1 t oil
½ c sliced green onions
2 T white balsamic vinegar
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
2 T oil
¼ c sliced olives
¼ c sun dried tomatoes, drained and cut into thin strips
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put potatoes in a baking dish and drizzle with 2 T oil and toss then roast 10 minutes and stir. Cut the top off the bulb of garlic (DO VIDEO) and remove any loose paper skin and then cut side up in a baking cup and drizzle with 1 t oil. Cover with foil and place in oven and continue roasting 10 minutes. Stir potatoes and add onions and continue baking another 15 minutes or until potatoes and garlic are tender. Let stand until garlic is cool enough to handle. Squeeze out garlic cloves and mash with vinegar, salt and pepper then whisk in 1 T oil. Mix in the olives and tomatoes with the potatoes and then add the dressing and toss to coat.
Make your own fresh pickles quickly and easily. These are great to bring along to BBQ’s and a great thing to keep on hand at home – they make great sides to lunches and a great snack for midnight eaters 🙂
There are so many variations you can do just by swapping out different types of peppers, different herbs, etc.
Refrigerator Pickles
Only 30 calories for a whole cucumber’s worth
Kirby cucumbers cut lengthwise into quarters – depending on size, I can fit 4-5 cucumbers into a jar
3 T kosher salt
2 T sugar
1 1/4 c white vinegar
2 T peppercorns
5 large garlic cloves
16 dill springs
optional – green hot chilies, halved lengthwise
Jars – either mason jars you purchase in the canning section of Walmart. etc. Or just save up some jars from mayo, pickles, etc. and reuse them !
Pack veggies into 2 clean 1 quart glass jars. Mix salt, sugar, vinegar, peppercorns and garlic in another jar. Cover and shake until sugar is dissolved. Add 2 c water and pour over the vegetables. Tuck the chilies and dill in and add enough water to make sure the veggies are completely covered. Close jars and refrigerate over night or for as long as 3 weeks.
When you roast peppers, you make them ultimately sweet and bring out tons of natural flavor. When paired up with some simple oil, garlic, and seasoning, you get quite a treat !
If you only have one color pepper, don’t let that hold you back from roasting them up. In the line up of most sweet to least sweet, you have the red, orange, yellow and green bell pepper. All have a very distinct flavor and all are delicious ! I add a bunch more garlic to these than the recipe calls for – just because 🙂
Roasted Peppers and Garlic
4 servings
97 calories per serving
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
2 T oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ t oregano flakes
Coarse salt
Ground pepper
Handful of basil leaves
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Halve the peppers and remove the seeds. Place cut side up on a cookie sheet and drizzle with oil. Add garlic slices to pepper halves along with oregano, salt and pepper. Roast 35 minutes or so (or until skin starts to blister) and then remove from oven and sprinkle with a handful of fresh torn basil leaves.
These make a great side to just about any dish. They are simple to put together, they cook up on no time and they disappear fast ! If you want to zest them up more, try adding some sauteed onions or garlic along with the peppers.
Pepper Muffins
12 servings
118 calories per serving
¼ c chopped green bell pepper
¼ c chopped red bell pepper
¼ c chopped yellow bell pepper
2 T butter
2 c flour
2 T sugar
2 ½ t baking powder
½ t salt
½ t basil flakes
¼ t cayenne pepper
¼ t garlic powder
¼ c egg beaters
1 c skim milk
Pam
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Saute pepper in butter until tender and set aside. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, basil, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and salt. Mix egg and milk and stir into the dry ingredients until moist then fold in peppers. Spray muffin cups with Pam and fill 2/3 full then cook 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing from muffin cups.
1 lb. fresh bean sprouts
1 T sesame seeds, toasted
1 T sesame oil
2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 T finely chopped scallions
1 1/2 T sugar
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
1 t salt
Place sprouts in boiling salt water for 3 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Chill at least ½ hour.
To toast sesame seeds, just stir fry them for a few minutes in a hot skillet.
Combine cheese and flour. Heat a non stick skillet to medium high heat. Spoon a thin layer of cheese into a 1 inch circle in hot pan. Repeat with as many as will fit in the skillet without touching. When they begin to sizzle and bottom is golden, flip over and cook until the next side is golden. Work in batches and finish up all the cheese and flour. This will go very quickly.
I can’t have JUST soup or JUST salad and feel satisfied – I just have to have some carbs with my meal. And a small 100 calorie bagel is the perfect way to go. And to make it feel much more special, I take 2 minutes and toast it up with some garlic and cheese – yummmmmmy !
Cheesy Bagel
2 servings
127 calories per serving
2 100 calories bagels
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray
½ t garlic powder
½ t oregano flakes
2 T grated parmesan cheese
Spray each bagel with a few spritzes of ICBIB Spray. Sprinkle with garlic powder, oregano and cheese and toast until done.
Stir fry is a nice way to add a veggie side dish without it being a green salad or just a can of veggies opened up and heated. They don’t take much time (especially if you buy pre-chopped veggies at your supermarket). And I like that you can throw in just about anything and easily change it up – try adding some baby corn, or water chestnuts or bean sprouts (all available in the canned in the Asian section of your market) and you have a whole new dish – the same sauce still works !
Veggie Stir Fry
4 servings
34 calories per serving
¼ c chicken broth
1 T orange juice
1 T soy sauce
1 ½ t cornstarch
1 ½ t grated ginger root
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ t red pepper flakes
1 ½ c small cauliflower florets
1 c julienned carrots
1 c zucchini, halved and thinly sliced
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
½ t garlic powder
2 t chili garlic sauce (available in the Asian section of your market)
Pam
Stir broth, juice, soy and starch together and set aside. Spray a large skillet with Pam and heat on medium high – then add ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 30 seconds or so. Then add cauliflower and cook 2 minutes. Then add carrots and cook another 2, then add zucchini and cook 2 more. Stir in the broth mix and bring to a simmer then cover, add the chili garlic sauce and cook 1 minute or until the sauce is thick and turns glossy.
Another installment of stuffed mushrooms ! The pesto flavor really comes through and makes these a success story. Much easier than chopping stems and cooking sausage…these come together very quickly and are a great appetizer, snack, or side dish.
24 baby portobello mushrooms
1/3 c part skim ricotta cheese
3 T pesto (available in the refrigerator section of your local market)
2 t whole wheat flour
2 T grated romano or parmesan cheese
1 T breadcrumbs
Pam
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with Pam. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and place the mushroom caps on the baking sheet with the stem side facing up. Mix the ricotta, pesto and flour. Spoon the mix evenly into the mushroom caps and press down. Combine the parmesan and breadcrumbs and sprinkle on top of the mushrooms. Press down lightly. Bake 15-20 minutes or until browned.
