Tag Archives: lime

Lunch, MUFAs, Salads, Tex Mex, Vegetables

Southwest Spinach Salad

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What a symphony of flavors ! Your mouth doesn’t know what to be the happiest about – is it the pine nut accent? Or the spicy pepperjack cheese? Or the creamy avocados? Or the smoky chipotle dressing? This is one of THE BEST salads I’ve ever made.

Southwest Spinach Salad
Southwest Spinach Salad

4 servings
300 calories per serving

8 c fresh baby spinach
1/2 c corn with sweet peppers
1/3 c halved black pitted olives
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
2 oz. diced pepper jack cheese
2 plum tomatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
2 hard boiled eggs, quartered
1 ripe avocado cut into 16 slices
3 T lime juice
2 T oil
1 t chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1/8 t salt
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T toasted pine nuts
A few extra squirts of lime juice if you like your salad nice and ‘wet’

Combine spinach, corn, olives, cilantro and cheese. Place 2 c worth on each plate. Arrange tomato, egg and avocado slices atop the spinach. Combine lime juice, oil, chopped chipotle, salt and garlic. Whisk well and pour over salads. Sprinkle with pine nuts.

Dessert, Kid Friendly, Snacks, Summer

Sun Tea Pops

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What a great ice pop ! Sweet and flavorful and so refreshing. Pops make a great snack or dessert.

Sun Tea Pops
Sun Tea Pops

6 servings (8 oz. pops)
44 calories per serving

1 c Splenda
2 peaches cut into wedges (skins still on)
1 lime, peeled and sliced
1 lemon, peeled, seeded and sliced
6 mint leaves
8 tea bags – orange pekoe black tea (this is just your standard Lipton, etc. tea bag)
2 c water
2 c cold water

Bring water to simmer in a sauce pan and dissolve Splenda – when all dissolved remove from heat and stir in 2 c cold water and then let sit 10 minutes. Pour sugar water into a glass bowl and add peaches, lemons, limes and mint then add the tea bags, cover and place out in the sun for 3-5 hours to get a nice sun brewed tea. Remove tea bags and divide mint and peaches into molds then pour in the tea (discard the lemon and lime), insert sticks and freeze 6 hours.

Dessert, Kid Friendly, Product Reviews

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

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The good folks at PlentifulPantry sent me a couple of their dessert mixes to try and here is the first installment….Chidester Farms Key Lime Cheesecake Bars.

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars
Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

The big box comes with enough ingredients to make 2 batches – 2 batches would fit in a 9×13 baking dish while 1 fits nicely in an 8×8 baking dish. These are amazingly easy to put together and the results are outstanding – the bars definitely taste completely homemade. I had doubts about a chocolate crust with a citrus dessert, but it was a perfect accompaniment.

As well as the mix, you will need a few ingredients:
1 c hot water
2 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese
6 T butter

1 batch yields 16 servings
120 calories per serving

Just follow the package instructions and in an hour you will have delightfully rich cheesecake bars with just the right amount of lime flavoring.

Be sure to visit PlentifulPantry and check out their products – they have a whole bunch of ‘partially prepped’ products that get you out of the kitchen faster without skimping on quality.

Dinner, Fish

Cilantro Lime Fillets

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Cooking the fillets in foil pretty much steams them and it is so very easy to do. This is a nice mild way to serve fish and I think the preparation would do just as well on meaty fish steaks such as tuna or swordfish.

Cilantro Lime Fillets
Cilantro Lime Fillets

4 servings
143 calories per serving

4 4 oz. cod, tilapia or flounder fillets
¼ t pepper
1 ½ t oil
1 ½ t dried onion flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ t ground cumin
2 T minced cilantro
1 lime peeled and thinly sliced
1 T margarine, melted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place each fish fillet on a piece of aluminum foil and sprinkle with pepper. Heat oil and add onion flakes and garlic and cook 1 minute them add cumin and place the mix over the fish. Sprinkle fish with cilantro and add a few lime slices to each fillet. Fold the foil over securely so the fish can steam and place the packets on a baking dish and bake 35-40 minutes.

For instructions on folding, Reynold’s says:
For each foil packet, bring up the two sides of the foil and double fold with about 1-inch wide folds. Leave room for heat circulation inside the packet as the food cooks. Double fold each end to form the foil packet.

And the Scouts site has a nice diagram.

Appetizers, Mediterranean, Snacks

Black Bean Hummus

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This is exactly what is says – the flavor of black bean dip mixed with the flavor of hummus and it was quite good ! Serve with Triscuits or homemade pita chips for a great appetizer or snack !

Black Bean Hummus
Black Bean Hummus

1 ½ cups
43 calories per serving (1 serving = 2 T)

15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 T tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 T low fat sour cream
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T minced tomato
1 T lime juice
1 t cumin
Pepper to taste

In a food processor mix all ingredients and process until smooth.

Dessert, Kid Friendly, Summer

Key Lime Pie

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This is always a crowd pleaser and people can’t believe it’s made without sugar (Equal is the sweetener here). This is a perfect and refreshing end to a meal.

Key Lime Pie
Key Lime Pie

8 servings
150 calories per serving

1 low fat prepared graham cracker crust
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 ¾ c skim milk
8 oz. low fat cream cheese, at room temperature
12 packets Equal
½ c fresh lime juice
Green food coloring (optional)
Lime slices (optional for garnish)

Sprinkle gelatin over ½ c milk in small pan and let stand 3 minutes then cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved. Beat cream cheese until fluffy and then beat in res of the milk and the gelatin mix. Then mix in the juice and 12 packets of Equal. Add a couple of drops of green food coloring if you wish. The pie will be very thin and runny but will firm up quickly. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Asian, Sides, Vegetables

Ginger Carrots

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Carrots never tasted so fresh ! The combination of ingredients gives this dish a really flavorful punch. Definitely not the same old boring vegetable !

Ginger Carrots
Ginger Carrots

4 servings
61 calories per serving

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. carrot chips
1 T buttery spread
1 t minced fresh ginger (bottled is OK if you do not have fresh)
1 T cilantro, chopped
1 t lime zest
2 T fresh lime juice
1/4 t salt

Steam carrots 8 minutes or until tender. A simple steamer basket is the easiest way to steam vegetables. I use one like this:

Heat butter in a skillet. Add garlic and ginger to pan. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in steamed carrots, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice and salt. Serve immediately.

To quickly zest citrus, try this handy tool I found at Amazon:

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