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Vegetable stir-fry with chickpeas over rice. 12/12/21
I had some leftover dressing and cabbage from Saturday’s salmon bowl and decided it would probably make a good seasoning for a vegetable stir-fry. And it was! Since cutting up all the veg right before dinner always seems onerous, I chopped everything up earlier in the day so cooking was a snap. I made plenty so now I have a delicious lunch to look forward to plus I plan on whizzing up the leftover chickpeas for a light version of hummus to spread on some pita for another lunch. Win, win, win!!
Posted in Easy, Healthy tips, Kitchen tips, Legumes, rice, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged chickpeas
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Fusilli with cannellini beans, mushrooms, broccoli. 12/11/21
Oh no, the chicken did not thaw!! Chicken parmesan is definitely not happening tonight. Quickly we came up with a Plan B. I had used some cannellini beans in my lunch salad so they were at the ready, the refrigerator yielded a few mushrooms and some broccoli, and I had pasta in the pantry. So out of bits and pieces we cobbled together quite a tasty dinner.
This dinner turned out to be quite delicious and filling. Plus it was really quick to make. Using the carba-nada pasta made my WW points pretty low for 3 ounces so I felt pretty good about my vegan pasta dish.I put a drizzle of olive oil on top and John added the oil as well as a snow storm of parmesan cheese on his.
Chicken parmesan will have to wait until Monday.
Posted in Easy, Healthy tips, Italian, leftovers, Legumes, Pasta, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, WW points
Tagged beans, fusilli, mushrooms
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Salmon rice bowl. 12/10/12
Salmon rice bowl has become one of the most requested dinners at our house. The hardest part is getting the salmon cooked enough without making it dried out. John does a 20 minute brine first in a quart of water and 2 tablespoons of salt. After patting the salmon dry he puts it in a pan with a layer of sea salt (to act like ball bearings), and cooks it over a low flame mostly on the skin side. He turns it over when it still looks pretty raw for the last two minutes. It turns out barely cooked but still warmed through with no albumin seeping out.
My job is to make the vegetables and dressing. I cut the cucumber on a mandolin and use a package of cabbage slaw. The avocados are simply sliced up but the timing of what day to make the salmon bowls all depends on when the avocado is ripe. If you have a hard one place it in a paper bag with an apple at room temperature and it should ripen in a couple of days.
Here is the recipe for the dressing. I double the amounts listed here to insure there is plenty for everyone.
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons safflower or canola oil
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped scallions
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger (from one 2-inch piece)
All that is left to do is to assemble your bowls. I usually set up all the ingredients on the counter so everyone can help themselves. Put some rice in your bowl, add the salmon, then the vegetables, and lastly the dressing over it all. A shake of furikake gives a tasty crunch sprinkled on top.
Posted in Fish, Japanese, Kitchen tips, Methods, pescatarian, Recipes, rice, Vegetables
Tagged salmon
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Gingery red lentils with kale and rice. 12/9/21
After a totally indulgent birthday dinner on Wednesday, it was good to come home and make a delicious, healthy vegan/vegetarian lentil and kale dish over cauliflower or regular rice. (Vegan preparation omit the yogurt on top.) Here is the recipe I use.
2 tsp. olive oil
1 finely chopped medium onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tbsp. finely minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. ground cayenne
1 cup red lentils
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. kosher salt
Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a medium sauce pan. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and saute for about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the salt, turmeric, cumin, cayenne and let them cook in the pan briefly and then add the lentils and broth, stir and turn the heat up to high. When the liquid boils, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover and cook until the lentils are very tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and adjust salt if needed Serve with a spoonful of plain yogurt (or not) and rice, greens,warm pita or nan bread.
The way I serve it is to put down a layer of warmed cauliflower or white rice followed by a layer of raw kale leaves (put the stems into the lentil mixture to cook), and then the gingery lentils with a topping of optional Greek yogurt and sriracha.
Mmmm, delicious!
Posted in Afghan, Easy, Healthy tips, Indian, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Recipes, rice, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners
Tagged lentils
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Carba nada fusilli with mushrooms and kale 12/7/21
Having gotten a tip from a WW forum member that Carba Nada pasta was lower in PP points and a reduced carb product, I decided to try it. I bought it at a local store and it was $6.99 for 12 ounces! That’s a lot but I love pasta. We cooked it up and it turned out to be really good. It is a wheat product product so not gluten free but look at these numbers, for a 2 oz. pre-cooked serving size 17g net carbs, 170 calories and a whopping 15g protein, 8g. fiber.
Well, of course I was not going to eat just 2 ounces. My serving size was 3 ounces and as a WW member it only cost me 4 PP. Put that together with a lot of kale and mushrooms and it works out to almost nothing!
I found the product in a 6-pack on Amazon for $23.99, so about $4 per 12 ounces. That’s still expensive but much more doable. They also have a fettuccine product. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. I will be adding fusilli to my soups and salads after my order arrives on Saturday!
Posted in Easy, Healthy tips, Pasta, Vegetables, WW points
Tagged carba nada, fusilli, kale
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Breaded mahi mahi, steamed and crisped new potatoes, salsa slaw. 12/6/21
Originally sesame salmon bowls were on the menu for Monday but the avocado is not ripe yet so we will make that dinner later on in the week.
We splurged on a little olive oil tonight to get the crispy texture on the potatoes and fish. John’s method for the mahi mahi is to slather the fish with a combo of light mayo and yellow mustard and then roll the pieces in seasoned breadcrumbs. The fish was fried in a tablespoon of olive oil and some olive oil spray. The exterior came out a little dark but the fish was moist and not overcooked.
While John was working on the fish I steamed some new potatoes. When they were cooked through I cut them in half, seasoned them, and then toasted the cut side in a little olive oil and spray. The family gave them high marks.
I also made some tartar sauce. It is a mixture of half light mayo and half nonfat plain Greek yogurt. I also added a bit if yellow mustard, grated onion, garlic powder, lemon juice, sweet relish, and capers.
Finally I made my invention, salsa slaw. Using salsa cuts down on the amount of mayonnaise you have to use. First I made a mixture once again of half yogurt and half light mayo and then added fresh salsa. I mixed that with a bag of shredded cabbage. It needed a little salt and some more zing so a squirt of sriracha took care of that.
Our daughter liked the meal but commented that mahi mahi is not as delicious as Chilean sea bass. I pointed out that it is at least half as expensive and is a good substitute in dishes where the fish is breaded like fish tacos or the faux fish stick dinner tonight.
Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Healthy tips, Methods, pescatarian, Vegetables
Tagged mahi mahi, new potatoes
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Potato latkes. 12/5/21
Sunday night was the last night of Hanukkah so we fired up our electric wok with plenty of oil and made potato latkes. Actually John did all this and I just devoured the crispy potato pancakes. We and our daughter each had four and it was plenty for dinner. There are only two things that we deep fry, potato latkes and scallops. Having something fried is such a guilty pleasure. I am thinking about getting an air fryer so we can enjoy more crispy food.
Potato latkes
- 5 medium russet potatoes (about 2.5–3 lbs total)
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp table salt (technically 1/2 tsp salt per potato, but we rounded up)
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp flour or matzoh meal
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Lots of vegetable oil for frying
- 1/4 cup olive oil for frying
- kosher salt
- sour cream or applesauce to serve
Important tools are an electric fryer and a food processor with coarse shredding disc.
Wash and dry potatoes; leave skin on. Shred potatoes in food processor. Shred onion in food processor.
Mix potato, egg, onion, salt, pepper, garlic, 2 Tbsp olive oil and flour (or matzoh meal) in large bowl. Add baking soda and stir to combine.
Pour the 1/4 cup olive oil and however much vegetable oil you need in your frying vessel. Heat oil mixture to 375 degrees F. While the oil is heating, occasionally press down on the potato mixture and drain the resulting liquid into another bowl (to discard later).
Take a blob of potato mixture and press out liquid to make a 3-inch disk. Slide carefully into hot oil. Make a batch of 6. Fry until golden brown and delicious (this is an eyeball estimation), turning them occasionally in the oil to cook both sides. Remove to a rack on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt, then move the sheet to a 275 degree oven while you fry the rest of them.
Let oil temperature recover between batches.
This should make 3 batches of 6 latkes each. Serve with sour cream or applesauce. (But really sour cream is the way to go!)
Weekly menu. December 6 – 12, 2021
My birthday is on Wednesday of this week. Like all birthdays in our household my birthday has a food component. Usually our daughter makes me some sort of wonderful baked good like Swedish tea ring or pretzel rolls. This year since I am still struggling with post-cruise weight I have asked her not to make me anything. I am happy with a card and a hug. John and I, however, will be going up to Wine Country to have dinner in a favorite restaurant.
Posted in Weekly menu
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Null soup++. 12/4/21
Back in the day when the only things that were free on Weight Watchers were non-starchy vegetables, I used to make this soup with only chicken broth and vegetables. We affectionately called it null soup. Although not very exciting, it was a good way to take up space when I was hungry.
Today’s WW allows many more free foods and my soup now contains chicken broth, non-starchy vegetables, chickpeas, and shredded chicken breast. The addition of chicken and chickpeas makes my soup so much tastier and heartier. Vegetables soup is now a destination meal rather than just “I have to eat something” kind of dish.
Posted in American, Easy, Legumes, Lunch, Poultry, soup, Vegetables
Tagged vegetable soup
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