The mustard in the slaw is a nice unexpected flavor – it was not too much, just enough to be interesting without overpowering the dish. How can you beat coleslaw – only 45 calories per serving !
Zesty Coleslaw
8 servings
45 calories per serving
8 c coarsely shredded cabbage
1 large carrot, grated
½ c fat free mayo
2 T white vinegar
2 T pineapple juice
3 T spicy brown mustard
1 ½ T sugar
1/8 t pepper
¼ t salt
Combine cabbage and carrot. In another bowl combine all the rest of the ingredients and then pour over the cabbage and toss well. Chill in the refrigerator.
I usually skip right by kabob recipes – threading the skewers is a pain and a lot of time, the food falls off into the grill. Now I use a grill basket instead and gather up as many kabob recipes as I can 🙂 Just be sure not to stir or shake the basket too often. You want the food to get the nice little charred ends just as you would if you were cooking on skewers. Add some extra veggies and a bit more spice to bulk up the meal without adding too many more calories – grape tomatoes, button mushrooms, different color peppers….they all work well.
Mexican Kabobs
4 servings
145 calories per serving
1 lb boneless pork cut into 1 inch cubes
1 T taco seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 large onion in thin slices
1/2 medium green bell pepper in thin slices
Pam
Combine all ingredients and toss to coat well. Grill 10-15 minutes in a grill basket sprayed with Pam or on skewers that you have thread with the pieces. Here’s a link to the grill basket that I use:
You can also put all the ingredients in a bowl to mix, and then place on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam under a heated broiler for 10-12 minutes.
Sometimes nothing can replace the taste of a good old Sloppy, Messy, Ketchupy Sloppy Joe. This recipe has just enough of the sweet along with just enough of the spicy. For under 400 calories, you can’t go wrong !
Sloppy Joes
4 servings
330 calories per serving
1 t oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
3/4 c ketchup
1 1/2 T brown sugar blend by Splenda
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
4 whole wheat burger buns
Heat oil in skillet and cook onion, pepper and garlic 5 minutes then stir in beef and cook 10 minutes or until no longer pink then add ketchup, sugar, Worcestershire, cumin, salt, pepper and chili powder and cook 4 minutes. Serve on buns.
Any kind of fish will do ! And these are a great change to the boring lunch sandwich. Whenever I have bits of fish leftover, I freeze them – then you can just defrost and do a quick reheat and you are ready to make tacos !
Fish Tacos
4 servings
370 calories per serving
½ jalapeno pepper finely chopped
2 T lime juice
1 T chopped cilantro
1 T oil
1 lb. firm white fish filet (halibut, orange roughy, etc.)
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
8 corn or flour tortillas
2 c shredded lettuce
1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
Mix jalapeno, lime juice, cilantro and some salt. Heat oil in a skillet. Sprinkle fish with chili powder, cumin and some salt to taste and cool 5 minutes per side or until done. Warm tortilla according to package and them fill with fish, lettuce, tomato and avocado. Top with jalapeno mix.
Peppersteak is great no matter how you slice it 🙂 But this recipe really is a winner – the sauce made with coffee and balsamic turned an already savory dish into something just exquisite.
Texas Peppersteak
4 servings
226 calories per serving
½ t ground cumin
½ t ground coriander
½ t chili powder
¼ t salt
¾ t pepper
1 lb. boneless top sirloin steak, trimmed
1 clove garlic, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T oil
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 t brown sugar
½ c brewed strong coffee
¼ c balsamic vinegar
Combine first five ingredients. Rub steak with cut garlic and then rub the spice mix into the steak. Heat 2 t of oil into a skillet and cook the steak 6-8 minutes per side or to desired doneness. Get a nice sear on the outside for extra flavor ! Remove steak from pan and tent with foil to keep warm. Add 1 t oil to the skillet and stir in the pepper and onions and cook 4 minutes then add the minced garlic and brown sugar and heat a minute before stirring in the coffee and vinegar. Heat 3-4 minutes. Slice steak into thin pieces and plate with pepper mix on top. Pour any sauce from pan over platter.
The grapes did not really ‘make’ the dish and the chicken could certainly be served on its own since the sauce was really tasty. But the grapes certainly made a more standard chicken dish into something special and definitely company worthy !
Chicken with Grapes
4 servings
229 calories per serving
2 t oil
4 5 oz. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T flour
½ c dry white wine
¾ c chicken broth
½ t salt
¼ t pepper
¼ t rosemary flakes
2 c seedless red and green grapes, halved
3 T low fat sour cream
¼ c parsley, chopped
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Dredge the chicken in the flour and shake off any excess, but reserve it for later. Cook the chicken 3 minutes per side or until browned. Add the wine to the pan, increase heat to high and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the broth, salt, rosemary and pepper and bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Add the grapes and cover and cook another 5 -7 minutes or until grapes are tender.
Whisk sour cream and any leftover flour. Stir into the pan and cook, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes or until the broth is thickened. Plate chicken and add parsley to the sauce and then spoon it over the chicken.
‘Souvlaki’ is a Greek preparation of meat, usually skewered, and marinated in a lemon based sauce. Rather than the traditional side of tzatziki, this one has a side of a yogurt / tahini mix that ends up tasting like a cross between tzatziki and hummus. It was all quite delicious !
Pork Souvlaki
4 servings
279 calories per serving
1 lb. pork shoulder cut into ¾ inch cubes
3 T oil
¼ c plus 2 T fresh lemon juice
Lemon wedges for serving
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T chopped fresh oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 T plain Greek yogurt
¼ c tahini
1-2 T water
Combine pork, oil and 2 T lemon juice with garlic and oregano then season with salt and pepper. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator 1-8 hours. Whisk yogurt, ¼ c lemon juice, tahini and 1-2 T water – enough to make the consistency like that of heavy cream. Heat a pan to high heat and cook pork until brown on all sides, about 12 minutes. If the pork releases too much moisture, make sure to dry out the pan a little by blotting with a couple of paper towels – if you don’t the meat won’t brown up and get all the tasty bits on the edges. Serve with yogurt sauce and lemon wedges.
Once again, without FiberGourmet pasta, this meal would not have been near as substantial for the low amount of calories – I can’t live without FiberGourmet Pasta !
I was a bit heavy handed on the crushed red pepper and this came out just fantastic tasting – spicy and hot with a nice deep flavor from having simmered all day long.
Pasta and Lentils (Crock Pot)
4 servings
230 calories per serving
½ c chopped onions
½ c chopped carrots
½ c chopped celery
2 c canned diced tomatoes, undrained
1 c tomato sauce
4 oz. dried lentils, rinsed and drained
½ t oregano flakes
½ t basil flakes
½ t garlic powder
¼ t crushed red pepper
4 c FiberGourmet pasta (cooked)
Up to a cup of hot water
Mix all except pasta in the crock and cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high 3-5 hours. If your crock pot gets hot and this mix is drying out too much, add up to a cup of hot water. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add cooked, drained pasta to crock and serve immediately.
Roasted chicken is a bit higher in calories than chicken breast cooked without the skin, but sometimes you just gotta splurge 🙂 Even though you peel the skin off to stay at the low calorie level, because it was cooked with the skin on, it is super moist and quite tasty.
Roasted Chicken
142 calories per 3 oz. serving of white breast meat
1 Roaster chicken
Water
Salt
Pepper
Lemon Pepper
1-2 onions
Pam
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove chicken from wrappings, wash it off inside and out. If there are any packets of giblets or anything stuffed inside the chicken, be sure to remove them.
Place the chicken in a roaster pan, or a baking dish atop a rack. If you don’t have a rack or a roaster, you can just place it in a baking dish and it will do fine, the bottom will just have a bit of a different texture.
Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper and then stuff with the whole, peeled onions. As the chicken cooks, the onion flavor really flavors the meet nicely. Lay the chicken back down breast side up and sprinkle with salt, pepper and lemon pepper. Place ½ c water in the bottom of the pan so the chicken will ‘steam’ as it cooks. This helps keep the meat moist.
Spray one side of aluminum foil with Pam. Place this side toward the chicken and cover the pan trying not to press the foil down against the chicken – make more of a tent of the foil.
Cook chicken for the time directed on the package which will be based on the weight of the chicken. The juices should run clear when it is completely done. Chickens usually cook for 15 minutes per pound.
Let it sit a bit before carving so that the juices do not all leave the meat as you carve it.
Here are some great instructions for how to carve a chicken – it’s really not hard ! Especially if you are mainly wanting nicely sliced breast meat (and you can save the thighs, legs and other dark meat for making soup).
http://www.howcast.com/videos/8687-How-To-Carve-a-Chicken
If you can resist the urge to stir these, the outsides get so nice and crispy ! Combine that with the soft and fluffy insides and it’s quite a taste treat. The dry mustard gives these an unexpected flavor – very subtle but still noticeable.
Home Fries
6 servings
122 calories per serving
1 T oil
1 ½ lb. small red potatoes cooked and quartered (to cook, boil in unsalted water 15 minutes or until tender)
2 medium shallots, chopped
1 t paprika
½ t parsley flakes
½ t dry mustard
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
In a large skillet heat oil on medium high heat. Add potatoes and cook on one side 3-4 minutes. Resist the urge to stir 🙂 If you let them sit, they will get a nice brown ‘skin’ and taste so much better ! Turn potatoes, add shallots and cook another 4 minutes or so. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Saute 1-2 minutes or until potatoes are completely done.
