Fresh from the garden ! A quick side salad of cucumbers and celery. Oh so good.
4 servings
38 calories per serving
4 celery stalks sliced thin
1 small-medium cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded and cut into very thin slices
1/3 c packed parsley leaves
3 t sherry vinegar
2 t oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all in a bowl and mix well.
I love mixing red wine and brown gravy mix – it gives you such an awesome gravy – definitely restaurant worthy !
4 servings
400 calories per serving
2 lb. pork tenderloin
1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 c red wine (I used cooking wine and it came out great!)
.75 oz. packet dry brown gravy mix
Pam
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with Pam. Sprinkle pork with spices and then top with onions and celery. Pour wine over pork. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour or until done. Let meat rest and then cut into thin slices. Pour gravy mix into pan with the cooking juices and stir until thick – serve over the sliced meat.
This is a great dinner or lunch side. The curry and apples give it nice surprise flavor.
16 servings
120 calories per serving
1 c Miracle Whip
1 T curry powder
¼ of a medium head of green cabbage, shredded
¼ of a medium head of napa cabbage, shredded
1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 large carrot, shredded
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced
Mix dressing and curry then add all the other ingredients and mix well. Cover and refrigerate several hours so flavors mingle well.
This makes a great side dish or a perfect appetizer served with Crostini bread or crackers. Every caponata you find is a little different – there are so many components that it is easy to get different versions. This one uses very little oil and is my absolute favorite. By pre-cooking the eggplant in the oven, you use much less oil and you won’t even miss it ! It has all my favorite things and has a great depth of flavor.
6 servings
149 calories per serving
1 large eggplant, trimmed, but not peeled and then cut into 1 inch cubes
½ t salt
2 t oil
2 c chopped celery
¼ c celery leaves, chopped
1 c chopped onions
½ c water
2 t minced garlic
1 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes (including the juice)
2 T tomato paste
20 small black olives, chopped (you can use green if you prefer)
2 T white wine vinegar
1 t unsweetened cocoa
½ t black pepper
Kosher salt to taste
¼ c chopped basil
¼ c toasted pine nuts
2 t oil
Pam
To toast pine nuts, sauté in a hot, dry skillet for a few moments – until golden and aromatic. Place eggplant cubes in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with ½ t salt. Mix well so that all eggplant is salted. Then place a small plate or bowl on top of the eggplant and weight it by placed a canned product or some other heavy object. The salt and the weight will draw some of the bitter liquid from the eggplant and you will end up with a much sweeter tasting caponata. Let sit for an hour then rinse eggplant and pat dry. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with Pam, and place eggplant on sheet in a single layer. Cook for 20 minutes then remove from oven and set aside.
Heat a skillet and add 2 t of oil. Also spray with a bit of pan and then sauté onions and celery on medium high heat until partially softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and sauté a minute longer. Add ½ c water and continue cooking another 10 minutes. If the mix gets dry, add up to ¼ c more water to keep it moist. Add tomatoes and their juice, tomato paste and olives and cook on medium for 10 minutes until sauce thickens a bit. Add eggplant, vinegar, salt, pepper and cocoa and cook on low for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in toasted nuts and 2 t oil. Serve room temperature or chilled.
Part sandwich wrap, part egg roll – this is a great lunch or dinner wrap packed with flavor and crunch.
1 serving
335 calories per serving
1 large size 100 calorie wrap
3 oz. leftover lean beef (such as filet mignon or sirloin) sliced very thin
1 c shredded cabbage
½ t minced garlic
¼ c green bell pepper, sliced very thin
½ of a large rib of celery, sliced thin
2 T light Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing (by Kraft)
Salt and pepper to taste
Pam
Heat a skillet and spray with Pam. Add peppers and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of water along the way to keep the veggies moist. Add garlic and sauté another 30 seconds. Add beef and cabbage and continue cooking 1-2 minutes. Add salt and pepper and then place it all in your wrap and roll it up. Here’s a link to a video that shows you how to wrap them up securely
Serve up your tuna in a pita and it just become a whole different animal ! This is one of my favorite ways to eat tuna – with lotsa celery bits. But if you don’t like celery, substitute chopped up pickles or onions. The addition of the lemon pepper seasoing gives this extra special flavor !
1 serving
373 calories per serving
6 oz. light tuna packed in water, drained
2 T light mayo
3 T chopped celery
½ t onion powder
¼ t salt
¾ t lemon pepper seasoning
1 Sahara Pita bread (or any other brand that comes in at 170 calories or less)
Mix tuna, mayo, celery, salt, onion powder and lemon pepper. Spoon into pitas and serve.
I just found a new favorite chicken soup ! For years I have made ‘my chicken soup’ more often than any other recipe. But this one just takes the cake and this is my new ‘go to’ recipe. It combines home cooked goodness with just a little something extra…the evaporated milk makes the broth become such a mellow base and the roasted chicken has such a great texture – very different from your traditional soup where you cook the chicken in the broth. Give it a try !!
6 servings
373 calories per serving
1 c onions, chopped
1 c carrots, chopped
1 c celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 t oil
¼ t flour
½ t oregano flakes
¼ t onion powder
¼ t garlic powder
6 c fat free chicken broth
2 c water
4 c diced potatoes (I used canned)
1 t salt
2 c skinless roasted chicken, diced (Perdue Shortcuts work great here!)
2 c wide egg noodles
1 c fat free evaporated milk
Heat a skillet and add oil and brown onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Stir in flour, oregano, garlic powder and onion powder and then pour into crock and mix in broth, water, potatoes and salt. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours. Add chicken, noodles and milk and cook until noodles are tender, about ½ hour. If you don’t have a crock pot, you can easily do this stove top. Just let it simmer for an hour or 2 at very low temperature for the first step, then add the chicken, noodles and milk and let cook another 15 minutes or so.
I made just a few variations to Emeril’s original recipe. This is just OUTSTANDING ! The flavor is so big and I like the texture of this so much better than the pureed versions of split pea soup.
6 servings
268 calories per serving
1 pound dried split peas
1 ham bone (leftover from a baked ham meal)
3 T butter
1 c finely chopped onions
¾ c finely chopped celery
½ c finely chopped carrots
2 t minced garlic
1 lb. lean ham cut into small cubes (leftover from baked ham meal)
1 t salt
1 t pepper
¼ t red pepper flakes
8 c water
1 bay leaf
1 t thyme flakes
Even if the package says that no soaking is necessary, soak the peas over night in a large bowl with water at least 2 inches over the peas. Drain and set aside.
Melt butter and cook onion 2-3 minutes. Add celery and carrots and cook another 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Stir in peas, water, ham, and spices. Add in ham bone. Cover and cook 1 hour or until peas are tender. Remove ham bone and bay leaf, leave uncovered and cook another ½ hour to thicken. If it gets too thick, add extra water.
FLAVOR EXPLOSION ! There are tons of bold flavors in this salad and dressing – and they mix to perfection ! Feta cheese, mustard, orange, radicchio, basil, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes – – all mingling together to serve up a big, bold salad.
4 servings
398 calories per serving
Vinaigrette
1 clove garlic, chopped and mashed
¼ teaspoon salt
4 T oil
6 T orange juice
¼ c vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
Salad
15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 ½ c diced cooked chicken breast (Perdue Shortcuts work great here !)
2 c diced zucchini
1 ½ c cups diced celery
¼ c crumbled low fat feta cheese
¼ c chopped, sun-dried tomatoes (rinse them off in water and dry them with a paper towel first)
1 c coarsely chopped basil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 c torn escarole or romaine
2 cups torn radicchio
Mash garlic with ¼ t salt and then whisk in the oil. Add juice, vinegar and mustard and whisk to combine. Add more salt if necessary. Prepare all salad ingredients and toss with dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
Talk about a satisfying soup ! This one has meat, spice, veggies, cheese and 3 DIFFERENT CARBS! Lentils, rice and tortellini. Oh how good 🙂
13 servings
275 calories per serving
20 oz. turkey Italian sausage with casings removed
13 c water
1 c chopped carrots
2 c chopped celery
½ c diced green bell pepper
2 t onion powder
¾ t oregano flakes
1 t garlic powder
1 t basil flakes
2 t chicken boullion
½ t seasoned salt
¼ t pepper
2 c dried lentils, rinsed
½ c dry rice
22 oz. canned crushed tomatoes
2 ½ c cheese tortellini (refrigerated)
Salt and pepper to taste
Crumble the sausage and cook in a skillet until done (keep crumbling as you cook it). In a large soup pan mix water, vegetables and spices then add lentils and rice and bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir in tomato sauce, bring to a boil again and add the tortellini and sausage and cook 4 minutes or until tortellini are done. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
