This is a rich, delicious dish. The whole ‘ravioli splitting in the boiling water’ hazard is gone and this is something you can put together ahead of time and then bake just before serving. Very easy, very convenient and very good !
Baked Ravioli
8 servings
355 calories per serving
28 oz. jar marinara sauce
25 oz.package frozen cheese ravioli
2 c shredded no fat mozzarella cheese
2 T grated parmesan cheese
1 c sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned)
9 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry in a colander
½ t salt
½ t pepper
½ t garlic powder
½ t onion powder
Pam
Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13×9 pan with Pam. Spread ¾ c sauce in bottom and arrange ½ the ravioli in the dish. Top with the spinach and mushrooms and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Top with half of the remaining sauce and 1 c mozzarella cheese. Add another layer of ravioli, then the rest of the sauce. Finally add the rest of the mozzarella and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cover and bake 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes until hot and bubbly. Then let sit 15 minute before serving.
Rich, buttery, zesty, tangy – this one is a real treat for your mouth !
Ham and Swiss with Tangy Sauce
1 serving
355 calories per serving
1 small club roll
8 slices thin deli sliced lean ham (Oscar Mayer pre-packaged meats are great)
1 slice low fat swiss cheese
1 t butter
1 T sliced scallions
1/8 t pepper
1 t Dijon mustard
1 t horseradish
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter, mustard, pepper, horseradish and scallions. Brush butter mix onto the insides of both sides of the roll. Add ham and cheese to roll. Wrap in foil and bake 15 minutes.
This was one of those meals that just had that special extra something. Thanks to Baltimore International College School of Culinary Arts for another great recipe that brings gourmet cooking into your home. Sure, you could just brown up the chicken and call it done…but by adding these few extra ingredients to the pan, simmering, and then serving over the chicken, you have a restaurant quality dish that you will be proud to serve. And at only 277 calories per serving, there’s plenty of room for a nice side as well.
Breast of Chicken Hortelana
Baltimore International College School of Culinary Arts has many, many recipes for you to try out (just go to the menu option ‘Programs” and then you will see a link to the recipes. And if you know someone with a passion for food looking for formal schooling, pass along the link. So make sure to visit – just click the banner below 🙂
2 servings
277 calories per serving
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 4 oz. each
1 T flour
1 T olive oil
½ t salt
1 oz. finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ c mushrooms, sliced
1 oz. finely diced ham (I used some leftover Canadian Bacon)
¼ t pepper
2 oz. white wine
1 T lemon juice
2 oz. chicken broth
1 T chopped parsley or cilantro
Pound the chicken down a bit with a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan – make sure the meat is even so it cooks evenly. Dredge in flour and then cook in hot oil. Sprinkle with salt. Cook approximately 2 minutes each side then remove from pan and keep warm. Add ham, onion, garlic, and mushrooms to pan and cook 3 minutes. Add wine, stock, and lemon juice and simmer a minute longer. Place chicken back in pan, add parsley and cook 2-3 minutes or until done. Serve sauce over chicken breasts.
Quite sweet and definitely tastes of the islands ! This sweet/spicy sauce would do well on any white fish, but I love tilapia !
Spicy Jamaica Tilapia
6 servings
150 calories per serving
¼ c brown sugar
1 t ground cumin
1 t red pepper flakes
6 tilapia fillets, 4 oz. each
¼ c lite zesty Italian dressing
¼ c lime juice
½ c orange juice
¼ c chopped cilantro
2 T chopped mint leaves
Heat dressing in a skillet on medium high. Combine sugar, pepper and cumin and sprinkle 2 T over one side of the fish and put in skillet sugar side down then sprinkle with the rest of the sugar mix. Cook 5 minutes each side or until done. Remove from pan. Add juices to skillet and heat through then stir in cilantro and mint and spoon over the fish.
You won’t even miss the frosting when you make this awesome raspberry sauce – the extra flair is a nice touch to add to a holiday table.
Chocolate Raspberry Cake
8 servings
210 calories per serving
Cake:
9 oz. package devil’s food cake mix
1/3 c light sour cream
¼ c water
¼ c Egg Beaters
2 t powdered sugar
Pan prep:
Pam
1 T flour
Sauce:
10 oz. frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed
3 T sugar
1 t cornstarch
¼ t vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with Pam and then lightly flour it. (INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO) Combine all cake ingredients except the powdered sugar and beat 2 minutes at medium speed then spread into prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool ½ hour and then invert onto a plate and sprinkle with sugar. In a blender puree berries until smooth and strain out the seeds by pushing the puree through a sieve. Combine puree, sugar and starch in a saucepan and cook on low heat until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm sauce over cake. Garnish with fresh raspberries.
I modeled this recipe after a restaurant favorite of mine – it is a wild mushroom ravioli appetizer that I could not help but order every time I frequented a certain restaurant, but the calorie count was over the top. Not this one !! Between the RICH cream sauce and the multiple mushroom flavors, this meal tastes just as decadent but with so few calories, you can eat it without any guilt.
Portobello and Ricotta Wontons
Thanks to Marxfoods.com for the wild mushrooms to create this masterpiece ! The different varieties lend quite a flavor to this dish. The dish would just not be the same using run of the mill mushrooms. The mixture of the chanterelles and matsutakes inside the little packet of goodness combined with the flavors of the porcini, lobster and black trumpet mushroom sauce … well, it’s just a little bit of heaven right here on earth.
Marxfoods offers a bunch of wild mushroom varieties – I think my favorite in this dish were the black trumpet mushrooms – they have a very delicate texture and the aroma is akin to a truffle. These are definitely on my list of favorites.
8 appetizer servings (3 wontons each) – 106 calories per serving
4 dinner servings (6 wontons each – 212 calories per serving
Filling –
1 t oil
4 shallots, sliced
¼ c water
2 oz. reconstituted dry chanterelle mushrooms (reserve the liquid)
2 oz. reconstituted dry matsutake mushrooms (reserve the liquid)
2 oz. Portobello mushrooms, sliced
½ t salt
¼ t pepper
1/3 c part skim ricotta cheese
To reconstitute dried wild mushroom, place in a glass bowl and cover with very hot water. Let sit 20-30 minutes. Reserve the water to use as when boiling the wontons.
Heat 1 t oil in a skillet and sauté the shallots on medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add 1-2 T of water if needed to keep the shallots moist. Add the reconstituted mushroom and sauté another 2 minutes. Finally add the Portobello mushrooms and sauté another 7 minutes. When done, place all in a food processor and pulse 14 times. (It’s best to chop or mince the woodier mushrooms like chanterelles and matsutakes). Turn into a bowl and mix with the ricotta. Set aside.
Sauce –
1 t oil
1.5 oz. reconstituted dry porcini mushrooms (reserve the liquid)
.25 oz. reconstituted dry black trumpet mushrooms (reserve the liquid)
.50 oz. reconstituted dry lobster mushrooms (reserve the liquid)
1 T water
1 c beef broth
2 t cornstarch
¼ c fat free evaporated milk
1 t red vinegar
To reconstitute dried wild mushroom, place in a glass bowl and cover with very hot water. Let sit 20-30 minutes. Reserve the water to use as when boiling the wontons.
Heat 1 t oil in a skillet and sauté the mushrooms 6 minutes. Add up to 1 T of water to keep the mixture moist. Mix starch and broth and add to the pan along with the evaporated milk. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook 2 minutes to thicken the sauce. During the last minute of cooking, add the vinegar. Set aside.
Wontons –
24 wonton wrappers
Small bowl of water
Reserved mushroom liquid
Water
2 t salt
Put reserved liquid in a pot and add enough water to make 2 quarts. Add salt and bring to a boil.
Fill wontons with 1 T of the filling – – either use instructions on the back of the wonton package or watch this short video tutorial:
Complete all wontons then boil in 2 batches. Use a slotted spoon to lift the wontons out of the pot – put on a platter and cover with the sauce.
What a great pork recipe ! Any time you serve a sauce with something, it just makes it so much more special. And this sauce is special unto itself ! It is very flavorful with just the right amount of tang from the mustard and Worcestershire. Put the 2 together and you get a meal fit for a king !
Pork Filets
2 servings
255 calories per serving
Pork:
8 oz. pork tenderloin
1/8 t kosher salt
1/8 t pepper
2 t oil
Sauce:
2 T minced shallots
¼ c white cooking wine
½ c chicken broth
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t Dijon mustard
1 t lemon juice
1 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 t butter
1/8 t kosher salt
Tabasco sauce to taste
Cut pork loin into 4 thick pieces and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in skillet until browned, about 6 minutes per side. Also sear the edges cooking the pork for a total of 16 minutes or until done throughout. Remove pork and keep warm. Saute shallots in same skillet 2 minutes. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. Stir in broth, Worcestershire, Dijon and lemon juice and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in parsley, butter and Tabasco. Drizzle sauce over filets.
This dish has a great cream sauce that goes perfectly with the ravioli. I bet that the dish would be great with a mushroom ravioli substituted. It’s a heavier dish, but certainly within the calories and sometimes you just gotta splurge !
Ravioli with Mushroom Sauce
2 servings
367 calories per serving
2 c refrigerated fresh cheese ravioli
½ c sliced mushrooms
1 T chopped shallots
1 T pine nuts or walnuts
1 T chopped yellow bell pepper
1 T chopped red bell pepper
1 t oil
2 t cornstarch
½ chicken broth
¼ c fat free half and half
1/8 t salt
1/8 t pepper
Optional – grated parmesan
Cook ravioli according to package instructions. Spray a skillet with Pam and cook mushrooms, shallot, nuts and peppers in oil until tender – add a little hot water if they start to dry out. Mix cornstarch, broth and half and half with the salt and pepper and then gradually stir into the pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and cook 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Serve mixed with drained ravioli. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Flavorful with or without the sauce ! Grilled London Broil is one of my favorites, but sometimes it lacks flavor because it is a lean cut. This recipe puts all the flavor back in…and then some !
Grilled Chili Rubbed Sirloin
4 servings
160 calories per serving
1 lb. boneless sirloin steak
1 ½ T chili seasoning (or a mix of chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder)
¼ t pepper
Pam
½ c water
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t instant coffee
1 ½ t Worcestershire sauce
¼ t salt
Sprinkle meat with chili seasoning (go heavier on the seasoning if you wish – it adds miniscule amounts of calories) and pepper and then spray with Pam. Use short little sprays so you don’t blow the dry ingredients off the meat. This makes a nice spicy ‘paste’ and keeps the meat from sticking to the grill. Heat grill and cook meat 6-10 minutes per side or until desired doneness. Alternately heat a skillet and cook steak 6-10 minutes or until desired doneness. Remove from grill or pan and tent with foil and let stand 5 minutes. Combine water, vinegar, coffee and Worcestershire and add to small pan and cook until reduced to ¼ c (about 5 minutes). Slice steak thinly and drizzle with sauce.
What a GREAT sauce this makes ! I think it would be equally as good on chicken or even steak. You definitely have to give this one a try for a nice change to pork chops – these are definitely NOT boring, old pork chops. Try serving with Roasted Brussel Sprouts.
Braised Pork in Cream Sauce
6 servings
200 calories per serving
6 4 oz. boneless pork chops
¼ t salt
1/8 t pepper
¾ c beef broth
1 T barbecue sauce
1/3 c fat free evaporated milk
1/3 c fat free sour cream
3 T flour
Pam
Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper and cooked in a heated skillet sprayed with Pam. Cover and cook 3 minutes on each side. Combine ½ c broth and the barbecue sauce and pour over the chops and cover the pan, reduce heat to medium low and cook 10 minutes. Remove pork chops and keep warm. Combine ¼ c broth, milk, sour cream and flour and mix with a whisk. Pour into skillet and stir over medium heat for 3 minutes and thick. Pour over chops and serve.
