Tag Archives: almonds

Curried Cauliflower

This dish has a subtle yet delicious curry flavoring – it’s perfect next to chicken and fish dinners. If you haven’t tried curry before, but you like cauliflower, this is a great dish to try. It’ll get you hooked on curry, I bet 🙂

Curried Cauliflower
Curried Cauliflower

8 servings
100 calories per serving

1/4 c olive oil
2 t curry powder
2 t sugar
1 t lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
4 c cauliflower florets
1/3 c slivered or sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix oil, curry, sugar, lemon, salt and pepper than mix in cauliflower. Pour all into a 13×9 baking dish and cover. Bake 15 minutes then stir and add almonds and cook another 10-15 minutes uncovered.

Kidney Bean Salad

Very refreshing – very summery…it’s the perfect side to any grilled meat.

Kidney Bean Salad
Kidney Bean Salad

8 servings
150 calories per serving

2 15 oz. cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed (1 can red and one can white makes a nice salad)
10 oz. grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 ½ small cans mandarin oranges, drained and rinsed well
1 medium green pepper, chopped
6 green onions, sliced
½ c light zesty Italian dressing
¼ c sliced almonds

Mix beans, tomatoes, oranges, peppers and onions. Add dressing and mix well. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Sprinkle with almonds before serving.

Apricot Sweet Rolls

These are sooooo easy to put together. Serve warm from the oven and you’ll have the family waiting in line for the sweet goodness of these perfect sweet rolls.

Apricot Sweet Rolls
Apricot Sweet Rolls

8 servings
160 calories per serving

1 can low fat refrigerated dinner rolls or biscuits
1/3 c apricot – pineapple preserves (or any flavor preserves that you like)
2 t sugar
¼ t cinnamon
¼ c sliced almonds
Pam

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9 inch round cake pan or a deep dish pie plate with Pam. Separate dough into individual rolls and place in pan – I do a circle around the edge with 8 rolls and 2 in the center. Starting ¼ inch in from the edges cut a deep X into the top of each roll then open slightly by pulling the dough toward the edges. Fill each with 2 t of the preserves. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon then sprinkle with almonds and bake ½ hour or until golden. Serve warm.

Chocolate Bark

This chocolate bark is made with matzah crackers and it is just delicious – – and the prep time is only 5 minutes ! This is great to serve as a dessert when you have company. If you don’t like almonds, use any chopped nuts.

Chocolate Bark
Chocolate Bark


8 servings
109 calories per serving

2 1 oz. UNSALTED matzah crackers
1 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate bar chopped up into small pieces (or semisweet chocolate chip morsels)
2 T toasted chopped almonds

Place chocolate in microwave and cook on high 1 minute. Stir and cook another 30 seconds. Mix well assuring it is all melted and no chunks are left. Pour over crackers and spread with a spatula until well covered. Sprinkle with almonds and press them into the chocolate so they stick well. Let stand until hardened and then cut into 4 pieces each.

Make sure you don’t skip the ‘toasting the nuts’ portion of the recipe. It really makes a difference in their flavor and just takes a few minutes – chop your nuts and then place in a dry hot skillet. Stir and continue cooking a few minutes until toasted. You will know they are ready as they will be a little browned and you will start to smell the aroma 🙂

Chipotle Nuts

The whole kitchen smelled just glorious as these were roasting. The orange flavor is very subtle, the chipotle just hot enough and these disappeared very quickly !

Chipotle Nuts
Chipotle Nuts

Makes 2 ½ cups – 1 serving = 2 tablespoons
91 calories per serving

1 T grated orange rind
1 T orange juice
1 egg white
2 c mixed nuts (pecan halves, whole almonds, walnuts, whatever you have around the house!)
1 T brown sugar
1 T Kosher salt
1/2 t ground chipotle chile pepper
Pam
1/2 c sweetened dried cranberries
1 t Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mix orange rind, orange juice and egg then stir in nuts. Mix sugar, salt and pepper and add to the nuts and mix well. Spread on a cookie sheet spray with Pam and bake 1 hours stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with another teaspoon of salt and mix then cool. When cool, mix in the cranberries.

Chicken Casserole with Wild Rice

This is one of those ‘all in one dishes’ that I love to make. You can make it ahead of time, refrigerate, and then do the baking right at the very end. Very convenient, very easy, very good !

Chicken Casserole with Wild Rice
Chicken Casserole with Wild Rice

8 servings
371 calories per serving

You can make this casserole ahead and refrigerate until you are ready – just bake longer (about an hour) to make sure it heats all the way through.

2 c water
1/2 c wild rice
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken, cooked (Perdue Shortcuts work great here !) and cut into bit sized pieces
2 T oil
3 scallions, chopped
1 1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 c chicken broth
1/4 c flour
2 c skim milk
1/2 c grated Parmesan
1/2 c low fat sour cream
1/3 c chopped parsley
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 c frozen French cut green beans
1/2 c sliced almonds

Mix water and rice and bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cook 35-40 minutes. Drain and reserve. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot and cook mushrooms 12 minutes or so to release all the liquid and allow it to dry up. Add broth and scallions and cook 5 minutes. Sprinkle in flour and stir then add milk and simmer 2 minutes. Add cheese, sour cream parsley, salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 pan with Pam and place the rice in as the bottom layer. Top with chicken and beans then pour over the mushroom sauce and sprinkle with nuts. Cook 30 minutes and let stand a bit to cool before serving.

Mocha Parfaits

Rich, creamy and very flavorful. The family won’t even know they are eating healthy cottage cheese ! So much healthier than sugar laden puddings, ice creams, etc.

Mocha Parfaits
Mocha Parfaits

4 servings
210 calories per serving

16 oz. low fat cottage cheese
1/4 c sugar
1 T cocoa powder
1 1/2 t instant coffee powder
2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup + 2 T Cool Whip Lite
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Blend cottage cheese, sugar, cocoa and coffee in a blender. Take 1half of the mixture out of the blender and distribute among the 4 parfait cups. Place 2 T Cool Whip in blender and quickly blend. Distribute half the berries in the parfait glasses. Then add the remainder of the mocha mix and the remainder of the berries. Top with Cool Whip and nuts.

Chocolate Banana Parfaits

This is like having a banana split, but without the ice cream ! The rich pudding mixed with the whipped cream is just fabulous. Add bananas and nuts, and you have a real winning dessert for just 76 calories per serving ! Go ahead, have 2 servings 🙂

Chocolate Banana Parfaits
Chocolate Banana Parfaits

6 servings
76 calories per serving

1 1.4 oz. package sugar free instant chocolate pudding mix
1 c Cool Whip, thawed
1 large banana, thinly sliced
1 T sliced almonds

Prepare pudding according to package instructions using skim milk and refrigerate until set. Divide half of the pudding between 6 parfait glasses or goblets. Use half the cool whip to make a thin layer atop the pudding in each glass. Top with a few banana slices and repeat the three layers. Sprinkle with almonds, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Asian Salad

Though the dish packs some calories, it is all good MUFA calories – olive oil, seeds, nuts. So I go ahead and eat it as a lunch instead of a side. The dressing is just superb – the soy added to the Italian dressing gives it such an Asian flair. And the added crunch from the ramen noodles make this a great salad !

Asian Salad
Asian Salad

12 servings
260 calories per serving

1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Salad dressing mix
1/3 c sugar
2 T soy sauce
2 3 oz. Packages of ramen noodles
2 16 oz. bags of coleslaw blend
4 green onions, sliced
½ c roasted sunflowers
½ c sliced almonds

Prepare salad dressing mix according to package instructions. Stir in sugar and soy. Break noodles and discard seasoning packet. Add coleslaw, onions, seeds and nuts, Mix and add dressing and toss to coat well.

Cinnamon Raisin French Toast

Take the whole frying hassle out of French toast preparation – and add some great apples and nuts along the way. This was a really easy way to prep a great breakfast. Add some extra maple syrup over the top to give it even more flavor !

Cinnamon Raisin French Toast
Cinnamon Raisin French Toast

4 servings
280 calories per serving

½ c Egg Beaters
2 egg whites
¾ c skim milk
1 T Splenda
½ t vanilla extract
½ t cinnamon
8 slices cinnamon raisin bread (80 calories per slice) cut in half diagonally
1 t buttery spread
1 T maple syrup
2 apples sliced thinly
4 T sliced almonds
Pam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking pan with Pam. Whisk Egg Beaters, egg whites, milk, splenda, vanilla and cinnamon then pour into pan and top with the bread slices. Flip the bread over once to it gets a little coating on each side. Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes then remove foil and bake another 8-10 minutes. Melt butter in skillet and add syrup, then apples. Cover and cook on low heat 10 minutes or until apples are soft then uncover and cook 1 minute to dry up the mix a little. Serve bread with the apple mixture over top and sprinkle with nuts.

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