Tag Archives: broccoli

Broccoli Salad

Pre cooking the broccoli and cauliflower change this up nicely from your typical salad where the veggies are served raw. With the dressing, this tasted much like a mild giardiniera.

Broccoli Salad
Broccoli Salad

4 servings
49 calories per serving

¾ c broccoli florets
¾ c cauliflower florets
½ c celery slices
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 T oil
3 T white vinegar
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
1/8 t garlic powder
1/8 t onion powder

Place broccoli and cauliflower in a dish with ¼ c water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave 4 minutes to soften a bit. Drain and add the pepper and celery. Mix the dressing and pour over the veggies and chill an hour or more to mix flavors.

Veggie Salad

Often times the best thing about a salad is not the lettuce, but all the other stuff ! And this salad agrees 🙂 No lettuce – – just all the good veggies in a great lemony dressing. If you have extra broccoli, throw it in. If you are out of celery, don’t’ sweat it ! Make this salad anything you want 🙂

Veggie Salad
Veggie Salad

4 servings
82 calories per serving

1 yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
1 large cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 large carrots, shredded or sliced
6 radishes, sliced
1 T chopped parsley
2 T lemon juice
1 T oil
½ t garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss tomato, cucumber, celery, carrots, radishes and parsley. Combine juice, oil, salt, pepper and garlic and mix well and then pour over salad and serve immediately.

Roasted Broccoli

So lemony, so garlicky, so very good and so very good for you !

Roasted Broccoli
Roasted Broccoli

4 servings
127 calories per serving

1 large head broccoli, cut into long florets
2 T oil
10 cloves garlic
½ t red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice on one lemon

Spray a baking sheet with Pam and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place broccoli and garlic on pan. Sprinkle with red pepper, salt, and pepper and then drizzle with oil. Cook 10 minutes and then stir. Cook another 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon when you remove it from the oven.

Kitchen Sink Salad

This is my ‘recipe’ for a salad that contains ‘everything but the kitchen sink’. Sometimes it’s the best unplanned dish of the week.

By the end of the week I have a bunch of bits and pieces of veggies left over – so I use them all in a salad – whatever I have, it gets thrown in. And because the salad is so full of flavor from all the veggies, I use NO OIL. And that makes for one LOW CAL, LOW FAT salad !

Sometimes I even put in bits of other prepared salads I had made – this picture shows a salad where I added in some left over cucumber and radish salad – and even some black beans. Try it – it makes salad eating so much more pleasurable !

Kitchen Sink Salad
Kitchen Sink Salad

1 serving
30-80 calories per serving

2 c field greens or any other leftover lettuce you have
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
1/4 t oregano flakes
Vinegar (balsamic, red wine, anything)
Citrus juice – up to a tablespoon of lime juice, lemon juice, orange juice – whatever floats your boat
1 c Veggies – cucs, broccoli, carrots, celery, jicama, zucchini
1/4 c Beans – black beans, chick peas, cannellini beans
1/4 c Fresh herbs – parsley, cilantro, basil

Mix it all up and enjoy !

Turkey Sandwich Lunch Platter

Quick, easily portable and a great lunch. If you gotta have mayo instead of mustard, then use low or no fat and reduce the light ranch dressing.

Turkey Sandwich Lunch Platter
Turkey Sandwich Lunch Platter

1 serving
305 calories per serving

2 slices 45 calories wheat bread
5 slices deli turkey
1 slice tomato
1 lettuce leaf
mustard
1/2 c baby carrots
1/2 c celery sticks or broccoli florets
1/4 c light ranch dressing for dipping (or onion dip made with no fat sour cream)

Make your sandwich and enjoy !

Broccoli and Cheese Sauce

This recipe even gets the kids eating broccoli…really ! And it couldn’t be simpler to prepare.

Broccoli and Cheese Sauce
Broccoli and Cheese Sauce

4 servings
72 calories per serving

6 c broccoli florets
1/2 c Tostitos Reduced Fat Zesty Cheese Dip or Salsa Con Queso (or any other similar calorie brand)

Boil broccoli florets in 5 qt. pot for 6 minutes. Broccoli will be semi-crisp. If you like it VERY crisp or VERY done, then adjust boiling time accordingly. Heat dip in microwave 20-30 seconds and immediately pour over hot broccoli.

This is the steamer basket I use:

If you prefer to use frozen broccoli florets instead, just steam according to package instructions and then pour the sauce over.

Tortellini Alpesto

Cheese tortellini, even in smaller portions, are very filling and satisfying. This meal also packs in tons of veggies and a great sauce that sooooo does not say diet. It’s almost a pesto alfredo the way the sauce flavors combine.

Tortellini Alpesto
Tortellini Alpesto

4 servings
335 calories per serving

9 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini
16 oz frozen broccoli stir fry vegetables
8 oz fat free sour cream
2 T pesto sauce (Buitoni makes a good one)
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
1/8 t pepper
¼ t garlic powder
Salt to taste

Cook tortellini and vegetables together in 3 quarts of water 7-9 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl. Combine sour cream, pesto, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Stir into pasta and veggies. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Broccoli Casserole

The sauce ingredients make this a great casserole. It’s certainly not boring or dull – it has a rich flavor and a nice, creamy consistency.

Broccoli Casserole
Broccoli Casserole

6 servings
116 calories per serving

10 oz frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 can fat free cream of celery soup
1/2 c 2% shredded cheddar cheese
1 t seasoned salt
1/4 c skim milk
1/4 c fat free mayo
1/3 c egg beaters
1/2 c panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pam a 11×7 baking dish. Put broccoli in dish. Mix soup, cheese and salt. Stir in milk, mayo and egg beaters and pour over the broccoli. Top with the bread crumbs and spray lightly with Pam. Bake 45 minutes. Broil for 2 minutes to brown the top. Serve immediately.

Broccoli with Lemon and Garlic

This recipe makes oft boring broccoli taste much more special, but only take a few minutes to whip up. Add more lemon and garlic if you want it zestier…it adds basically no extra calories.

broccoli with lemon
Broccoli with Lemon and Garlic

4 servings
96 calories per serving

6 cups broccoli florets
1 t oil
2 t minced garlic
1 lemon, cut into slices
2 t lemon juice
1 t buttery spread
Salt and pepper
1 T grated lemon peel

Fill 3 quart saucepan ¾ with water and bring to boil. Add broccoli florets and lemon slices. Keep at a low boil and cook for 5-8 minutes, depending on how crispy or soft you like the broccoli.

While the broccoli is cooking on low heat sauté the garlic in the onion and lemon juice. When soft, add butter to melt and set aside.

Drain the broccoli. Stir in the garlic mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the grated lemon peel over the top and serve immediately.

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