Healthy Enchiladas!

We recently stumbled across the Highwood Restaurant district in a nearby neighborhood.  With a broad range of eateries including, a cute Chicago-style hotdog spot, Indian, Chinese, Italian, French, American, etc., all in a square mile radius.  We had no idea that so many published amazing restaurants were so close to us.  Nestled in that same area is a small Kosher Mexican Restaurant, La Casa De Isaac.   Below is my recipe and "interpretation" of what I think is in there dish, Issac's mom's enchiladas.  Of course it tastes totally different (but still good) as I am certain my spice blend, and enchilada sauce is prepared completely

Chicken Paillard, a Must Try Dish!

A few weeks ago my husband and I had lots of family in town.  Translation, going out to dinners almost every night since we all have jolly bellies!  Fast forward to last week and meal planning at home, I decided to try to recreate a few of my favorite dishes from my prior weeks AMAZING restaurant experience.  One of our favorite restaurants serves Chicken Paillard, Abigals on the North Shore.  Who knows what they put in it, but below is my "healthier" version of what I thought might be in it.



The bottom layer of this dish is a Sauce Gribiche (ingredients pictured left).  I first want to start out by saying the way I made this sauce is NOT the traditional way its prepared.  I'm a "cook", not a chef so technically speaking, it might not even be a sauce gribiche after I got through with it.  If you want to stick to an original I am sure you can look it up on the internet.  I am not a fan of cooking with raw egg which is needed for the base of the sauce.  In a traditional recipe you basically make a mayonnaise and then add all the other ingredients to that base.  I decided to substitute a similar texture and much healthier fat--what I used, Avocado!  It actually tasted similar to the traditional but it didn't have that extra zing that mayo gives you--but again, HEALTHY!

After the Sauce is made, its an easy dish to prepare!  The entire recipe... 

Ingredients :

For Chicken:

1 LB pounded 1/4 inch (or butterflied) chicken

1/4 cup of parmesan sprinkles

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

(optional: egg and flower to drudge chicken so parma mixture sticks, I choose not to for healthier version)

For Salad:

2 handfuls of arugula

1/4 cup thinly shaved fennel

1 apple thinly sliced
Fresh shaved parmesan cheese 

For Sauce:

1 cornichons (or pickle) finely diced

2 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 medium shallot finely diced

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh minced taragon

4 capers

1 garlic clove finely diced

sprinkle of salt and pepper

1/2 avocado cubed

1 tbs olive oil

up to 4 tbs water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Meanwhile make sauce, throw all sauce ingredients up to avocado into a food processor and mix until thoroughly blended.  If sauce is to thick, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time or olive oil until it thin outs.  I added about 2 tablespoons of water to mine.  It should be about the consistency of hummus or mayo, not as thin as dressing (see picture above).  Chill in fridge until you are ready for assembly.

Mix parmesan and bread crumbs together.  Next, grab the chicken and toss in the parma/bread mixture. If you want a heavier based breaded chicken you will need to drudge with egg and flower before you toss in mixture.  Spray oven safe dish with olive oil cooking spray to eliminate sticking.  Bake the chicken for about 40-55 min (we like everything extra well done, 55 min for us).

Meanwhile while your chicken is baking, prep the salad. Make sure to slice the fennel as thin as you can as it just gives it a much better taste.  Slice the apple thin but not as paper thin as the fennel.  Chill the salad ingredients till your chicken is finished baking.

Next you are ready for assembly, first spread a layer of the sauce on each plate.  Then place the chicken on the sauce, top with Arugula, apple and fennel.  Last, add your parmesan cheese and you are ready to ENJOY!

Light Watermelon Green Bean Salad

In the summer I love coming up new light clean salads so we are not constantly eating the same thing.  The other day,  I had green beans on hand and wanted them to be secondary in a dish.  This is how I came up with the Watermelon Green Bean Salad.  Pair with the following meatball recipe for a complete and healthy meal.  Below is the recipe and directions.

Ingredients

Handful Arugula (about 1 1/2 cups unpacked)

2 Handfuls baby lettuce mixture (about 2-3 unpacked cups)

1/4 cup feta cheese

1/2 cup cubed watermelon

3/4 cup preped green beans (cut 1-2 inches in length)

1/3 shallot onion sliced thinly

1 teaspoon fresh garlic

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinaigrette

1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Add the baby lettuce, arugula, feta, watermelon to a bowl and chill in fridge.  Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan (to about med temp) and add the garlic and onion, saute about 2 min until garlic becomes translucent.  Next, add the green beans to the pan and continue to saute for about 5 min.  I like my green beans to still have a little crunch to them so I saute for only 5-6 min.  Remove pan from heat and let beans cool down to room temperature (about 15 min).  Next add the entire pan to the chilled lettuce including olive oil as this is part of the dressing.  Then add the balsamic vinegar, toasted pine nuts and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Toss together and ENJOY!

Turkey Meatballs

Sometimes its hard to find a light filling summer meal.  I do a spin in the summer on my Turkey Meatballs and pair them with a salad instead of pasta because it feels lighter.  Make extra because they are even better heated up the next day on rye bread as an open faced meatball sandwich.  Here is the recipe...

Meatball Recipe

1 lb of ground turkey meat 

2 tablespoons cumin

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 cup chopped basil (loosely packed)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

3 tablespoons grated parmasean cheese

3 tablespoons bread crumbs

2 teaspoons garlic

1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

Additional Ingredients 

*sauce (about 15 ounces (store bought or home-made) )

* low fat mozzarella cheese for topping (I use about 4-5 ounces)

*parmasean cheese for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all ingredients (up to additional ingredients) and roll out rounded tablespoon size meat balls so they are about 1 inch thick.  Spray cookie sheet with olive oil non-stick spray.  Bake meatballs for about 45 min (until not pink in center) turning once half way through.  Next transfer meatballs into a deeper baking dish (picture I used 4 single size baking dishes) and poor sauce over meatballs so they are all covered, add the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top and continue to bake for an additional 10-15 min until cheese turns golden brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle parmasean for additional flavor.  ENJOY 

Prepare a salad, asparagus or pasta, whatever you prefer for a complimentary side. 

Santa Fe Steak Salad

On a hot summer day, a salad with grilled steak, chicken or seafood is such a refreshing meal choice.  Below is my recipe for a very healthy Santa Fe Steak Salad.. A May house favorite :)


STEAK
1 pound Skirt Steak or Filet (whatever you prefer)
2 limes juiced
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced (I like a lot but you can add 1 if you like less)
1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano
1/2  tablespoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin (My FAV)
Pinch of fresh ground pepper (I like white pepper for mexi cooking)
Pinch of salt

Directions
Combine lime juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, chili powder, and cumin in a bowl.  Pour marinade over meat in plastic zipper bag or bowl whatever you prefer.  Add the fresh pepper and salt.  If you have time marinade for 4 hours or over night.  The longer you marinade the better but if you do not have a lot of time 30 min will do.  You can also add a little corona to the marinade if you have it on hand--I do this when we are having a beer with our dinner.  Just gives it a little extra kick.

Preheat grill on high heat, Brown on both sides.  If you like your meat med plus like us, cook for about 4 min on each side if its thin skirt steak.  If its Fillet you will need to cook longer to get the med plus temp.

SALAD
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 ripe tomato diced
1/2 avocado sliced
1/4 cup thinly sliced jicama
1 chopped green onion
1/4 cup of mexican shredded cheese
1/8 green pepper thinly sliced
1/8 red onion thinly sliced
1 grilled corn cob (can be taken off cob and mixed in salad or ate on side)
1 grilled poblano pepper

DRESSING
3/4 cup olive oil
splash of balsamic vinegar
1 lime juiced
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon coriander
pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions
Toss all salad ingredients together in large bowl except for the last two.  Grill the corn and the pepper when you grill the steak.  The corn can be cut off the cob and tossed in the salad or served on the side.  The Poblano pepper can be cut up and tossed in the salad or served on side as garnish.  Mix the dressing and toss in salad.  Top with grilled steak and spritz with fresh ground pepper.

ENJOY!

Turkey Tacos

I am really excited that people are interested in trying my recipes mainly because I love food and I love to cook!  This is one of my favorite recipes so I am very happy to share!  I have a favorite rice and bean mixture that I pair these low fat turkey tacos with and I think it completes the meal (see below pic).  This is cheating because we live a low sodium diet (or at least try to) and this rice is high in sodium, but everything in moderation right? Also the rice is not made from scratch (which I prefer to do since I know what I am eating) but this is 2013 so sometimes you have to save yourself some time! 

Ingredients: *these are estimates since I do not measure.. but will work on getting more accurate

Seasoning Mix
1/3 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust for your spice level)
1 1/2 tablespoon of cumin 
1 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 
1/4 teaspoon oregano (or Italian seasoning.. I switch it up)
1 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar

Rice we like, VIGO! 

pinch of paprika 
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of salt

Turkey Meat
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons cilantro 
1/2-1 cup water

Toppings
whatever you like--see pic for ideas :)

Turkey Tacos! 

Directions:
First, I like to mix the entire list of seasonings together and then set aside, this allows me to be able to chop up the taco toppings when browning the turkey.  Meanwhile preheat oven for hard shell tacos (around 350 deg), we like hard shell the best for this type of meat.  In a large skillet on med heat start to brown and crumble ground turkey, about 10 min later (half way through) add in onion, green pepper and garlic--continue to cook for about 5 more min, if you feel as though the meat is sticking you can add a little olive oil to make it more smooth when mixing about 5 min after adding onion etc, add the cilantro and cook for 5 more min (about 20 min total).  Now you can start to slowly add your seasoning.  Keep the water and seasoning on hand and add about 1/4 of the seasoning with 1/4 cup of the water continuing to cook on med heat.  Add more stirring and letting the meat soak up the water with the seasoning every time you add more.  This is where personal taste comes into play, depending on how strong you want the meat seasoning to taste, after adding a little over half the seasoning, taste the meat and see if this is enough for--if not add more till you feel as though you have reached your desired taste.  We nearly use all the seasoning.  I like to cook it a litlte extra longer about 2 min more after adding our desired amount of seasoning to make sure all the water is soaked up and my fiance likes his meat extra extra well done! Don't forget to take your shells out before they burn, I leave them in about 8 min.   Top with your fav toppings and ENJOY! 

Enhanced: chicken pot pie

Perfected.. In my opinion!  I make my recipes based off of memory and no measuring, this translates into the recipe changing every time.  Here is the small twist on the Chicken Pot Pie recipe I already posted with estimated measuring amounts.  Hope you enjoy the changes..

~only 375 calories per serving~

INGREDIENTS:
1lb grilled pulled chicken breast (cook breast on grill or in pan, then pull apart)
1 bag frozen mixed veggies 
20 ounces of *low sodium chicken breast
10 ounce can of cream of celery 
1 baked potato cubed 
1/3 teaspoon of pepper (we like a lot)
1 teaspoon fresh oregeno
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 tube low-fat biscuits (you can make your own if you like, i do--will post recipe later) 

DIRECTIONS:
Grab all ingredients and preheat oven to 375.  On high heat in 4 quart saucepan whisk together chicken broth and cream of celery dissolving all lumps and bring to a low boil.  Add in diced potato, pulled chicken, frozen veggies (or fresh if you prefer using fresh), pepper, oregano and thyme.  Bring back up to a low boil.  Spoon mixture into large oven safe dish while mixture is still pipping hot.  Place bisuits on top of mixture with sides touching, you can stretch them out a little if needed.  Bake for about 15-20 min (according to the biscuits directions, until golden brown.  ENJOY! 

Winter Salad with Adult Grilled Cheese

In the winter it is hard to eat clean and light--but I think this was well accomplished with this Bistro like meal.  

      (left: salad dressing after blended, top: ingredients for salad dressing, bottom: salad ingredients) 

Cooks Note: Allow about 30min prep time and 10 min cook time

Winter Salad Ingredients
Dressing Ingredients: 
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, or as needed
2 ounces brown sugar
1 Gala apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 garlic clove minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
juice of 1//2 lemon
salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup expeller pressed canola oil

Salad Ingredients:
5 slices thick-cut bacon
6 ounces mixed greens 
1/4 celery root peeled and very thinly sliced or cut into matchsticks
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, halved and sliced very thinly
3/4 cup pecans
1 tart apple, cored, halved and sliced very thinly

Directions:

First, preheat the oven to 375 and toss in bacon strips.  Combine 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and the brown sugar in a small skillet and cook over medium heat.  Stir and cook until the mixture turns a dark caramel color and begins to thicken   You will start to see big foamy bubbles on the surface.  Add the apples and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until the apples are tender about 5 minutes.   Remove from the heat and put into a blender along with the remaining 2 tablespoons of vinegar, thyme, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.  Mix until blended.  Then add the oil blending the dressing till emulsified.  Taste and season with salt and more vinegar if needed.  Combine the bacon with the remaining ingredients for the salad and toss with about 1/2 the dressing, add more to taste.  (reserve the rest of the dressing for another delicious use)

Adult Grilled Cheese

Ingredients: 
Baguette cut into skinny diagonals 
Gruyere Cheese (1/2 slice per sandwich)
Cheddar Cheese (1/2 slice per sandwich)
butter (just a tad to butter bread on outside for golden touch)
Ham optional 

Directions:
Assemble sandwich and grill on panini pan for about 6 min till you reach desired darkness.

Wish I had more time to write but here are the basics; its amazing, a fun new recipe and well balanced...back to work and wedding planning!  Enjoy and please leave comments after you make--love to hear feedback!

NO FRY, FRIES

One of my favorite foods is French Fries--especially McDonalds.  But now, since I try to stay as healthy and fit as I can, I make them from scratch and bake them.  This way I feel less guilty!

Ingredients:
1 large long russet baking potato
1 tablesppon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat Oven to 425.  Meanwhile slice potato the long way about 1/4 thick--to make this easy, first I cut it in half for more stability (but make sure you do it the long way).  Next, slice into 1/4 pieces again, so now you have long rectangle potato pieces that are 1/4 on every side. (See pictured right)

Toss Potatoes in Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper.  Lay flat on baking sheet, bake in preheated oven for about 25 min, turning over half way through.  I like to make these with Turkey Burgers (click for recipe)

ENJOY!

Best Turkey Burger (base recipe)

Turkey burgers are much healthier than red meat so we try to make them as often as we can. If your like me and feel they lack flavor, I have a recipe on what to add to them before you grill them. Here you go...




Ingredients (Yields 4):
*knead all ingredients into turkey meat
1lb Lean Turkey meat
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
Pinch of Garlic Salt
1/3 Teaspoon Black Ground pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
Dash Hot Sauce
Dash Worcestershire Sauce
add in chopped jalapenos if you like spicy
(I also sometimes mix the cheese in right away with it, I did not this time)

As you can see here, we topped it with all sorts of good stuff. The recipe is a great base for the burger and you can add on from there. Toppings in picture; Colby Jack Cheese, Sprouts, Avocado, Banana Peppers, Pickles, Ketchup, Mustard all on an English Muffin!

Healthy Chicken Pot Pies!

It is hard to mix healthy and yummy! But I think my Homemade Chicken Pot-Pie Recipe combines the two very well! Hope you ENJOY them...

Makes 5 mini pot-pies and ONLY 375 Calories each!


Ingredients
1 lb grilled pulled chicken
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies (recommend: carrot, green beans, peas (I pick them out..lol), and corn. you can also use chopped fresh)
20 ounces of *low sodium chicken broth
10 ounces of cream chicken or mushroom
1 baked potato cubed
1/3 teaspoon pepper (we like a lot)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tubes low fat crescent rolls (you will have extras)
(5) 1 lb mini loaf pans for individual servings


Preparation:
(see cooks notes below before preparing) Grab all Ingredients and preheat oven to 375. On high heat in a 4 quart saucepan whisk together chicken broth and cream of chicken dissolving all lumps and bring to a low boil. Add in, diced potato, pulled chicken, veggies, pepper and oregano. Bring back up to low boil. Spoon mixture in evenly across the 5 mini loaf pans while mixture is still pipping hot. Place 2 low fat crescent rolls on each pan covering mixture leaving slight overhang on sides of pan. Bake for about 20 min until crescent rolls turn golden brown. ENJOY!


* Cooks Notes*
I prepared extra grilled chicken a few days before for an Enchilada dish I was making--immediately taking it off the grill I pulled it apart in about 1 inch chunks using 2 forks(it pulls apart easier when it is still hot). I also baked the potato in advance when I made pizza the night before. I like to plan all meals out a week before. Therefore, this makes grocery shopping less expensive because you can use ingredients from previous meals in addition to being less wasteful. It also saves you time because it is less trips to the grocery store.

Healthy and Tasty Patsta

Ingredients:
12 ounces bowtie pasta
1 cup chicken broth
1 lb spicy Italian sausage
1 cup broccoli
2 cups fresh spinach (packed)
1/2 white onion
fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 tbs olive oil
(pepper, sea salt, garlic salt to taste)

To Make:
Boil water--cook pasta (meanwhile) warm skillet on medium heat with 1 tbs of olive oil. Chop onion and saute till onion becomes translucent. Add in Italian sausage turn up to med/med-high and saute another 10-15 min, drain fat. Add in chicken broth, spinach, broccoli, and pasta and continue to cook over med-high stirring until liquid reduces. Add seasoning and cheese to taste. Serve and Enjoy!