Recently in Recipes Category
We moved back to Louisville a couple months ago. We were very lucky and landed exactly where we wanted to be. Our neighborhood is incredible, absolutely incredibly. It's terribly walking and biking friendly and we try to take advantage of that as much as we can. We walk or bike to the bread shop, the coffee shop, the grocery for small items, and of course the farmer's market every week. Ah, the farmer's market. At the same time my eating habits have changed for health reasons my eating habits have evolved because of food politics and philosophical issues. Those two things combined have given me some pretty strong guiding principles about what I eat, what I don't eat and where I get what I eat. In a nutshell my food philosophy is "eat as much local, seasonal produce as possible. Eat organic whenever possible. Eat more whole foods, less processed foods. Bake with really excellent ingredients. Support farmers and sustainable agriculture by buying direct from farmers whenever possible. Supporting farmers includes supporting meat and dairy farmers so buy humanely raised and slaughtered meat products and humanely cared for dairy and egg products."
So each Saturday morning we walk to the farmer's market and load up on whatever is good and fresh. Then we build our week's menus around those fresh items. Obviously we don't eat farmer's market produce at every meal but it does make up the bulk of our meals. It's glorious.
Being back home in Louisville gives the opportunity for more fresh, local produce than we can shake a stick at actually because we're now quite close to my family and the farm country I grew up on. In the past two weeks two different aunts have come to visit, each with bags full of fresh veggies from their farms. Between the two of them (I'll be seeing them both this weekend), the farmer's market, and our own backyard tomatoes we buy very little product from the grocery store and we eat glorious fresh vegetable based vegetarian dishes at almost every meal.
From this embarrassing wealth of fresh riches comes fabulous lunches and dinners including this Summer Vegetable Saute that I made last night for dinner. I didn't measure the vegetables exactly so I can't give you exact nutritionals but a good estimate is 90-100 calories per cup of veggies so 2WW points if that's your bag.
Summer Vegetable Saute
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small eggplant
1 small red onion
2 yellow squash
1 small zucchini
1 bell pepper
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained (I used diced tomatoes with peppers and onions)
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Dice all vegetables into small but not tiny pieces.
Over medium heat saute minced garlic in oil. Add bell pepper and onion. Cook for about 3 minutes until onions start to soften. Add all of the remaining vegetables. Cook for 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, stir the tomatoes and vegetable mixture really well. Add your salt, pepper, and oregano. I can't even give you estimates on the amount because it's completely dependent upon taste. Just experiment until it tastes well season to you.
Cover pan and cook on low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes depending on how much firmness you want your vegetables to have and how cooked you want your tomatoes to be.
Serve over whole wheat pasta. 2oz dry pasta is 4 points so if you have 4 points in pasta, 2 in veggies you've got a really hearty, really delicious dinner for 6 points. Since there are only 2 of us we ended up with a good amount of leftover veggies.
In just a few minutes I'm going to take 1 fat free tortilla, 1/4 cup 2% Mexican shredded cheese, and 1 cup of these veggie leftovers to make a simple and tasty veggie quesadilla for lunch. Yum.
The base for this recipe comes from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking. We loved the basic concept but decided it needed a little something. So we've played around with it a few times and finally a couple nights ago came up with the definitive version.
I pound extra-firm tofu
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 chopped onion
1 teaspoon curry powder
10oz fresh spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can diced tomatoes with green peppers partially drained
- Drain and press tofu, crumble into small pieces. We typically put the tofu in the fridge to press the night before we plan to make this dish
- Heat oil in skillet over medium heat, add garlic and onion. Cook for a few minutes until onion is soft and the garlic smell starts permeating the kitchen
- Add curry powder, stir well, add tofu
- Cover and cook for 3 minutes until tofu is mostly heated through
- Add spinach, stir to combine it well with the other ingredients
- When spinach has wilted add salt, pepper and tomatoes
- Stir well and cook 2-3 minutes
Notes:
- Add as much or as little liquid from tomatoes depending on how thick or thin you want this dish to be. I don't put very much liquid because I don't want it to be soupy
- You can add more or less curry powder based on your preferences. I find 1 teaspoon to be ample for both flavor and heat because of the peppers added with the tomatoes
Makes 4-6 servings
Serve with a big salad
Nutritional information varies depending on the specific tofu you use but a rough estimate is 4-6 Weight Watchers points per serving. We use a light tofu that is really wonderful but I can't remember the brand name right now. I'll add it to this recipe later. Update: The tofu we use is Nasoya brand.
If you aren't a Cooking Light subscriber I can't recommend enough that you run out to pick up the December 2006 issue. There are some super fantastic recipes in it that are just fantastic for the holiday season. The biggest hit in my house so far? Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting. I'm not a huge peppermint fan so I only had one cupcake when it first came out of the oven but these were a huge hit with my partner B and with all the colleagues she shared them with. And at 5 points per cupcake these are barely a splurge. These have definitely become part of my holiday baking rotation.
These cupcakes are fantastic. Another great Cooking Light recipe (October 2006 issue).
Cupcakes:
Cooking spray
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Frosting:
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 tablespoons amaretto (almond-flavored liqueur)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped almonds, toasted
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cupcakes, place 12 muffin cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Set aside.
Place granulated sugar and 1/4 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring with a whisk. Combine banana, yogurt, and 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla, stirring well. Beating at low speed, add flour mixture and banana mixture alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups (cups will be full). Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center of 1 cupcake comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare frosting, place 1/3 cup butter, liqueur, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt, beating just until smooth. Spread frosting evenly over cupcakes; sprinkle evenly with almonds.
Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 cupcake)
7 Points per cupcake
This recipe, from a few year's old issue of Cooking Light magazine, has become a fast favorite in my household. Coming in at 176 calories/4 Weight Watchers points per serving it's a really decadent treat that can easily fit in to a balanced eating plan.
3/4 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk, divided
1/4 cup butter or stick margarine, melted and cooled
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 (18.25-ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow creme (about 1 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup peanut butter morsels
Preheat oven to 350°.
Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Combine 1/2 cup condensed milk and marshmallow creme in a bowl; stir in morsels. Spread marshmallow mixture evenly over brownie layer. Carefully drop remaining batter by spoonfuls over marshmallow mixture. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
Yield: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 brownie)
Nutrition info
CALORIES 176(25% from fat); FAT 5g (sat 2.1g,mono 1.6g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 2.6g; CHOLESTEROL 6mg; CALCIUM 30mg; SODIUM 212mg; FIBER 0.8g; IRON 0.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 29.9g
