Category Archives: Dinner

Grilled Antipasto

July 17, 2011 admin Leave a comment

This is a super savory, super healthy dish and a perfect summer dinner. The platter is just stunning to look at and this makes a great dish for entertaining. Serve as a full dinner or as an appetizer.

4 servings
291 calories per serving

6 T lemon juice
3 T white balsamic vinegar
2 t oil
¼ t kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 plum tomatoes
2 red peppers, quartered
2 yellow peppers, quartered
2 zucchini cut lengthwise into thick slices
1 red onion cut into thick slices
1 large eggplant cut into thick slices
Pam
4 oz. prosciutto slices
1 oz. peppered ham
2 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
Basil as a garnish
6 green olives
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the first 5 ingredients as a marinade and dressing for the veggies. Take ¼ c of the dressing and brush it over the veggies. Spray a grill rack with Pam and grill veggies 5 minutes a side or until they have a bit of char on them. Place veggies on a platter and brush with the rest of the dressing and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the rest of the items to the platter and serve immediately.

Dinner, Kid Friendly, Uncategorized

Bacon and Cheese Hotdog

July 15, 2011 admin Leave a comment

What a great change to your regular hotdog. The kids will gobble these up ! If you use a low fat bun and non fat hotdogs, you can get this calorie count down quite a bit.

1 serving
330 calories per serving

1 low fat beef hot dog
2 slices cooked turkey bacon, crumbled
1 whole wheat hot dog bun
1 slice Kraft fat free cheese
1 T barbeque sauce or ketchup

Grill or boil the hot dog. Place cheese in bun and add hot dog. Top with sauce and bacon crumbles.

Dinner, Kid Friendly, Sides

Quick and Easy Mushroom Risotto

July 12, 2011 admin Leave a comment

This consistently turns out an awesome risotto textured dish yet takes so little time to make ! Be sure to use Arborio rice or it just won’t turn out tasting like risotto. Get creative with your mushrooms – mix it up, use some canned, some fresh, some baby bellas, some portobellos – have fun 🙂

4 servings
164 calories per serving

1/3 c chopped shallots
1 T butter
2/3 c Arborio rice
2 c water
1 t chicken bouillon powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 c mushrooms (your choice on type of mushroom) diced very small
Pam
½ t onion powder
¼ c grated parmesan cheese

Heat butter and cook shallots until tender. Add rice and cook and stir 2 minutes. Stir in water, flavoring, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Spray a small skillet with Pam and sauté mushrooms with onion powder for 3-4 minutes. Stir mushrooms into finished rice (it will still be quite moist) and let stand covered 5 minutes. If not a creamy texture, add in some hot water. Finally stir in parmesan cheese.

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Chicken, Dinner

Chicken Stuffed with Garlic Cream Cheese

July 11, 2011 admin Leave a comment

Adding cheese and fresh herbs transforms regular chicken thighs into a restaurant worthy dish. You can really change these up by just adding different herbs to the cream cheese. I always use fresh herbs for a crisp, fresh flavor. But dried herbs will do in a pinch !

Chicken Stuffed with Garlic Cream Cheese

6 servings
247 calories per serving

6 4 oz. boneless skinless chicken thighs
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 t fat free cream cheese
7 basil leaves, chopped
Pam
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat small skillet and add Pam. Saute garlic 2 minutes. Add garlic and basil to cream cheese. Chicken thighs are usually folded over in the package. If they are not, or if you are using chicken breasts instead, then you will need to make a deep slit in the meat so that later you can stuff them. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and place in a baking dish sprayed with Pam. Cool 35 minutes. Remove and carefully place 2 t of the cream cheese mix in the pocket (either the folded over section or the slit that you cut). Put chicken back in the over and bake another 5 minutes or until done throughout. Cool 5 minutes then serve.

Dinner, Sides, Vegetables

Buttery Broccolini

July 9, 2011 admin Leave a comment

Broccolini is a cross between broccoli and kale. The stalks are more tender than regular broccoli and the flavor is so bright and fresh.

8 servings
61 calories per serving

4 quarts water
1 t salt
24 oz. broccolini
2 T butter, room temperature
1 t grated lemon zest
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t Molly McButter
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil water and add 1 t salt. Boil broccolini and then remove from hot water. Mix butter, zest and juice in the same pan once the water is removed. Add broccolini and mix well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and Molly McButter, then stir and serve.

Chicken, Dinner, Kid Friendly, Pasta

Chicken Piccata and Orzo

July 5, 2011 admin Leave a comment

Orzo, chicken, piccata sauce – – pure heaven ! This is one of my favorite dishes. It is definitely restaurant worthy and it’s so easy to do. It’s a great dish to make when entertaining – your guests won’t even know they are eating healthy 🙂

4 servings
346 calories per serving

1 c uncooked orzo
2 t grated lemon rind
4 4 oz. boneless skinless chicken cutlets
Salt and pepper to taste
1 T olive oil
1/4 c white wine
1/2 c chicken broth
1 T lemon juice plus 1 t lemon juice
1 T chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2 T chopped fresh parsley

Cook orzo according to package instructions. Stir in the lemon zest. 1 t lemon juice, salt and pepper and keep warm. Heat oil in a skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and then cook chicken 3-4 minutes each site or until done. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep it warm. Add wine to pan and cook 2 minutes then add broth and 1 T lemon juice and bring to a boil and cook another 2 minutes or until it’s reduced to ½ c total. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley and butter until the butter is melted. Serve chicken over orzo.

Dinner, Sides, Vegetables

Succotash

July 4, 2011 admin Leave a comment

I was a weird kid – I loved succotash and asked for it regularly ! I had not made it in quite some time, but now that I have the perfect recipe, I’ll be making it a whole lot more often.

8 servings
182 calories per serving

4 slices bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
16 oz. frozen lima beans
1/2 c water
10 oz. frozen corn
1/2 c skim milk
2 T butter
2 T cider vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 t Molly McButter

Heat a skillet and cook bacon until crisp then remove it and drain on paper towels. Add onion and cook 5-6 minutes. Add beans and water and cook 5 minutes then add corn, milk, butter and vinegar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in bacon. Add Molly McButter, salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Dinner, Lunch, Soups

Cheesy Broccoli and Bean Soup

July 3, 2011 admin Leave a comment

This sure doesn’t taste like it’s only cooked 8 minutes – it tastes much more like a soup that has been prepped and cooked for hours. The depth of flavor is fantastic. It has a bright and vibrant broccoli taste that is mellowed by the beans and cheese. Very, very good ! This is quite a good serving size – you can easily move this to 5 side servings and have this next to a salad or sandwich.

3 servings
220 calories per serving

14 oz. vegetable broth
1 c water
1 lb. broccoli florets
14 oz. cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 c shredded low fat cheddar cheese

Boil water and broth in a saucepan. Add broccoli and cover the pan and cook 6 minutes then add the beans, salt and pepper and cook 2 minutes. Place half the soup in a blender with ½ c of the cheese. Puree and place in a bowl. Repeat with the remaining soup and cheese.

Dinner, Lunch, Pasta, Sides

Low Fat Mac Salad

July 1, 2011 admin Leave a comment

When you add in a lot of veggies to bulk up mac salad, you can really bring down the calorie count and this one is so creamy !

16 servings
121 calories per serving

8 oz. multi grain pasta, uncooked
3 c small broccoli florets
1 red or green pepper, chopped
1 c low fat mayo (I like using the olive oil one!)
1/4 c low fat sour cream
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T red vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Cook pasta according to package instructions and add the veggies into the water during the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and then drain well. Add mayo, sour cream, vinegar, salt and pepper, and mustard and stir well then add eggs. Chill at least 3 hours so the flavors mingle.

Dinner, Italian, Kid Friendly, Pasta, Turkey

Spaghetti with Sausage

June 30, 2011 admin Leave a comment

Spaghetti. Sausage. ‘Nuff said ! 🙂

4 servings
380 calories per serving

8 oz. hot Italian turkey sausage
8 oz. FiberGourmet spaghetti (if you use regular spaghetti, you have to add 80 calories per serving)
28 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 T oil
1/2 t red pepper flakes
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t kosher salt
½ t onion powder
½ t basil flakes
½ t oregano flakes
1/4 c basil, chopped
2 oz. shaved Parmesan cheese

Preheat broiler and cook sausage 5 minutes per side or until completely cooked. Slice sausage into ¼ inch thick pieces and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil another 2 minutes to get them nice and brown. Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat oil in a skillet and add pepper and garlic and sauté then add tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, oregano and onion powder and cook 5-7 minutes. Add sausage and cook another 5 minutes. Garnish with cheese and basil.