What a wonderful appetizer or lunch ! The marinade makes the shrimp nice and spicy. And the sauce is a great deviation from the typical ketchup and horseradish mixture…this one uses tomatoes and has a much fresher taste. Try dipping your avocado slices in the sauce too – the flavors go together perfectly.

8 servings
238 calories per serving

Warm Shrimp Cocktail

Cocktail Sauce
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 T cilantro
2 T lime juice
1 T prepared horseradish
1 T Worcestershire sauce
¼ t Kosher salt
¼ t pepper
(you can make this a day ahead)

Shrimp
24 fresh clean jumbo shrimp with tails on (if desired)
3 T lime juice
3 T chili sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
½ t Kosher salt
1/8 t pepper

4 ripe avocados, sliced

Prepare sauce and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Place shrimp in a zip loc bag with the juice, sauce and garlic and place in the refrigerator 1 hour. Heat grill and spray a grill basket with Pam. Drain shrimp and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill 7-8 minutes or until done. Serve with cocktail sauce and sliced avocados.

If you don’t have a grill, you can broil or pan fry the shrimp.

Meals that you start in the morning and then come home to much later are so convenient ! This soup has that great all day simmer flavor. And like many soups, it is so versatile – - have some extra peas this week, throw them in. Have vegetable broth, but not chicken broth, switch it out. Have chicken instead of turkey…no problem ! Make this one your own !

Asian Turkey Soup

6 servings
166 calories per serving

28 oz. chicken broth
1 ½ c water
1 lb. turkey breast or boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
2 c sliced mushrooms
2 medium carrots cut into short thin strips
½ c chopped onion
2 T soy sauce
2 T grated fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ c sliced bok choy
1 c instant brown rice
Salt and pepper to taste
2 T Asian hot garlic chili sauce (optional – stir it in at the beginning stages if you like a spicy soup)

In a 4 qt. crock pot mix turkey, broth, mushrooms, water, carrots, onions, soy, ginger and garlic (and optional chili sauce). Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4 hours. If cooking on low, turn to high heat after 7-8 hours and stir in bok choy and raw rice. Cover and cook 15 minutes more.

This spicy broth is a nice contrast to the mild and creamy wontons. The ricotta mixed with the spinach for the filling makes for a very creamy textured wonton center. Wontons are definitely NOT hard to make ! Give it a shot ! Even if they don’t come out quite the right shape, as long as they stay sealed, that is really all that matters And at only 137 calories per serving, double up the portion and you still have room for some crispy homemade flat breads as a side !

Spinach Soup with Wontons

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
½ c part skim ricotta cheese
1 t chopped basil ( or ¼ t basil flakes)
½ t pepper
32 wonton wrappers
4 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth
2 T soy sauce
2 t chili sauce (available in the Asian section of your market)
½ c scallions, thinly sliced

For this recipe, be sure to use a pot that is large enough that the wontons have room and don’t get all piled on top of one another. Mix spinach, ricotta, basil and pepper in a blender until smooth. Place 1 T filling in each wonton and fold according to package instructions being sure to seal the last fold with a bit of water. Bring broth, soy and chili sauce to a boil. Add wontons and scallions and bring back to a boil. Cover and reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes or until wontons are tender.

Here is a video to help you lean how to prepare wontons -

You know the drill – if you’re using the grill, throw out the skewers and use a grill basket instead – it saves time, aggravation and the food turns out even better ! The meat in this dish is sooooo tender from marinating for hours in the tomato and vinegar based sauce.

Sirloin Kabobs

4 servings
268 calories per serving

2/3 c chili sauce
½ c beef broth
½ c balsamic vinegar
2 T canola oil
5 t Worcestershire sauce
4 t dried minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
½ t ground mustard
¼ t salt
1 lb. boneless sirloin cut into cubes
16 baby bella mushroom caps, halved
2 medium red onions cut into wedges
2 medium red bell peppers cut into chunks
1 medium yellow bell pepper cut into chunks

Mix the first 9 ingredients and pour half of the mix into a zip loc bag. Add the beef cubes and mix around. Pour the rest of the mix into another bag and add the veggies and mix around. Refrigerate both bags 1-4 hours. Heat a grill pan or basket on the grill and spray with High Heat Pam. Drain the veggies and meat reserving the extra marinate for later basting. Grill 7-10 minutes or to desired doneness stirring and re-basting occasionally.

If you don’t want to grill this, you can preheat the broiler and place all on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam. Broil 5-6 minutes, turning half way through.

This is best done in an oval 5 quart crock so the meat fits well. The meat becomes so, so tender, you can cut it with a fork. This is a great meal for busy weekdays – it takes on 10 minutes to prep and then you can be out all day and come home to a great hot meal. To make it a more complete meal, throw in some baby carrots to cook along with the potatoes and onions. Like many crock pot recipes, the potatoes can come out looking a bit rough – but let me tell you, they taste GREAT and they melt in your mouth !

8 servings
320 calories per serving

3 lb lean London broil
2 T flour
1 T mustard
1 T chili sauce
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t cider vinegar
4 potatoes, sliced
2 onions, sliced
½ c water

Place meat in crock. Pour water around meat. Make a paste of the flour, mustard, chili sauce, Worcestershire and vinegar and rub over the meat. Add potatoes and onions. Cover and cook on low 8-9 hours.

The ginger was the big flavor in this dish and that’s all right by me ! Ginger and cumin just belong on lentils. This is not a super low cal side, so serve it next to a lighter dish like fish or chicken.

Curried Lentils

6 servings
186 calories per serving

1 ½ c dry lentils, rinsed and drained
6 c water
1 t ground cumin
1 t oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 t chili and garlic sauce (available in the Asian section of your market)
1 t powdered ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
½ t ground turmeric
½ t salt
2 T chopped cilantro

Bring lentils and water to boil then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, 45 minutes. Once in a while, spoon off the foam that appears on the top of the pot. Heat a skillet and add cumin, oil and onion and cook about 5 minutes. Add tomato and chili sauce and continue cooking until tomato is very broken down, about 5 minutes. When lentils are tender and water is absorbed mix all together except the cilantro and cook 15 minutes. Add cilantro just before serving.

If you use Perdue Chicken Shortcuts, the prep on this is 5 minutes – that’s it ! And it tastes like you spent hours putting it together – it is a very spicy, super flavorful and highly nutritious meal. Don’t serve to the kids with the chili sauce in it, but if you are adventurous, try 2 t instead of 1 ½ of the chili sauce – -it makes it a kickin’ hot soup

Asian Chicken Soup

5 servings
120 calories per serving

3 c fat free chicken broth
2 c shredded cooked chicken (Perdue Shortcuts work great here !)
2 t soy sauce
1 1/2 t chili sauce with garlic (available in the Asian section of your food market)
2 1/2 c frozen broccoli stir fry mix

Combine broth, chicken, soy and chili sauce. Cover and bring to a boil and then add vegetables and return to boil. Remove from heat and serve immediately.