Some meals are just extra special and this is definitely one of them ! The perfect portion of pasta, chicken and veggies all covered in a scrumptious sauce and layers of cheese. You just can’t go wrong !

Chicken Florentine Casserole

4 servings
270 calories per serving

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 T flour
8 oz. FiberGourmet penne pasta (without FiberGourmet, you have to add 80 calories per serving)
2 T low fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing
1 c chicken broth
2 oz. light cream cheese, cubed
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, and drained well (press it down in a sieve to get a lot of water out)
1 c shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
3 T grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
½ t garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat dressing in a skillet. Mix chicken with flour and add to skillet and cook 3-4 minutes or until browned. Add broth and cream cheese and cook until cheese is melted. Add the spinach, garlic powder, salt and pepper and heat 1 minute. Remove from heat. Mix drained pasta with skillet mixture and spoon half of it into a 2 quart casserole dish. Top with ½ the mozzarella then add the rest of the chicken mix. Finally top with the remaining mozzarella and the parmesan. Bake 20 minutes to heat through and melt the cheese.

In Italian, Puttana means whore. Pasta Puttanesca is supposedly a dish often made by these working girls who had little time to cook. Puttanesca sauce is quick to make, full of a bit of this and a bit of that, and so entirely flavorful ! The bite in puttanesca usually comes from anchovies. In this dish, instead of serving the sauce over pasta, it is used as a condiment for fish. And instead of anchovies, the slight bite comes from the mustard coating on the fish. Super good ! This is actually better a few hours later after the sauce has time for the flavors to mingle.

Tilapia Puttanesca

4 servings
178 calories per serving

4 4 oz. tilapia filets
5 t Dijon mustard
1 T oil
1/2 c chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1/8 c Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
1/4 c black olives, chopped
1/4 c sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/3 c chopped fresh parsley and basil

Brush mustard on fish. Heat oil in a skillet and cook fish 4 minutes per side or until done. Remove to a plate and keep warm. Add onions to skillet and brown for 6 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, dressing, olives, sun dried tomatoes and half of the parsley and basil. Cook 5 minutes then add the fish back to the pan and heat briefly. Serve with puttanesca over fish. Garnish with the remaining parsley and basil.

I was tempted to leave off the spinach on this one so I could get more brie flavor – I LOVE cheese But I didn’t and I’m glad I kept it on – it was a nice contrast to the cheesy goodness and embellished it rather than taking away from it. This goes together in 5 minutes and is a nice change from a boring old ham and cheese sandwich.

Open Faced Ham and Brie

1 serving
364 calories per serving

2 slices 45 calorie wheat bread
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray
¼ t garlic powder
Pam
2 oz. brie
4 thin slices deli ham (Oscar Mayer makes a great pre-packaged deli ham)
½ c spinach leaves
1 T fat free balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Spray outside of each slices of bread with butter spray and sprinkle with garlic powder. Place buttered side down in a hot skillet sprayed with Pam. Top with cheese and cook a few moments to get the cheese all melty. Top with ham. Remove from heat and layer on the spinach leaves and sprinkle with dressing. Serve open faced.

Delightful ! It’s always great to find a salad that tastes different. Sometimes greens just start tasting all the same and salads get boring. But when you add nuts, grapes and goat cheese, you get a whole other flavor profile plus some great new textures and the salad takes on a whole new life. Try this one

Spring Salad

4 servings
235 calories per serving

¼ c dry roasted pistachios (or other mixed nuts), chopped finely
½ c goat cheese
¼ c low fat balsamic vinaigrette
5 oz. spring salad mix (or any greens – I added some arugula this time for a great punch of flavor)
1 c seedless red grapes, halved lengthwise
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper

Put nuts in a dish and divide cheese into portions and roll them into balls then roll the balls in the nuts to coat them. Combine dressing and lettuce and mix well then divide between 4 plates. Top with grapes and cheese balls and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

This recipe includes a simple marinade that makes the steak taste like a million bucks ! You’ll never grill a naked steak again !

Glazed Grilled Steak

4 servings
280 calories per serving

½ c steak sauce
½ c low fat balsamic vinaigrette
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t oregano flakes
1 t onion powder
2 beef rib eyes (total 1 lb.)

Mix all ingredients other than the meat and reserve ¼ c for later use. Place the meat in a zip loc along with the sauce, mush it around so the sauce coats the meat evenly, then refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to a couple hours). Heat grill and cook steak 4-5 minutes per side or to desired doneness. Serve topped with extra sauce.

Simple yet fancy. Light yet filling. This is a great side salad. If you are making it as a main salad instead of a side, add some grilled leftover chicken.

Artichoke Salad

8 servings
140 calories per serving

2 c grape tomatoes
11 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and cut into chunks
10 oz. spring mix salad
1 c low fat shredded cheddar cheese
½ c low fat balsamic vinaigrette

Mix salad ingredients and then combine with dressing.