evol Veggie Curry Review

Last night I was tired. Sitting in my freezer are a bunch of frozen meals that at some point I bought because I thought they would be worthy of a trial. The evol veggie curry wrap had ended up in that dark cold place waiting to be microwaved and eaten. So last night I took it out, wrapped it in the obligatory paper towel and popped it in the micro for just under three minutes.

And the result...eh, it was just ok.

evol Veggie Curry wrap


I had a few major disappointments with this wrap, but I wanted to like it so much. I gave it points for being vegan, and made with mostly organic products, but the image on the box, has nothing to do with what the actual wrap looked like. I loved it for the taste, but the texture, and my inability to identify any of the ingredients inside was disappointing. There were no cubes of tofu, sticks of carrots, and other veggies, all I could see was a mash of what looked like and felt like pre-chewed tofu and brown rice, and some green stuff (what veggie was that?) Every once in a while there was a piece of orange or a different green color that would show up when I took a bite, but those sitings were few and far between.

I wanted, more veggies, less rice and more tofu in this wrap. The wrap boasts that it has 11 grams of protein but for vegan, who needs to bulk up on non-animal protein this just wasn't enough in my eyes. Also 4 grams of fiber?? my sugary terrible for you cereal has more fiber than that in it. The entire wrap was 340 calories, so basically it was a lot of wrap a lot of rice and little of the things that are actually good for you. I think this wrap needs a re-do. Keep the flavor, boost the tofu, and the veggies. All in all it would increase the goods on the nutrition, the fiber and protein and end up reducing the calories, by removing some of the unneeded fillers.

evol, i want to love your products, but this one just doesn't do it. Sorry.

Roasted Pumpkin

It's pumpkin season and after roasting the largest pumpkin that would fit in my oven I'm ready to make as many pumpkin recipes as I want.

I would totally recommend everyone who is planning on making a few pumpkin recipes this season to do this. Roasting your own pumpkin instead of using the canned stuff just brings your recipes to the next level. It's pretty easy to do just takes a bit of time and then you can make pumpkin muffins, bars, cookies, anything and everything you want. Pumpkin is also a great addition to your vegan recipes, as a binder instead of eggs.

Roasted Pumpkin
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 40 minutes
oven temp: 400 degrees
yield: varies (depends on size of pumpkin)

1 pumpkin
olive oil


Make sure you wash your pumpkin before beginning. If you're working with a small pumpkin (which i was not) just go ahead and cut the pumpkin in half. across the middle. If not just cut into manageable size pieces. Scoop out all the seeds and insides. (Rinse the seeds and roast the seeds for a great snack.)You want to take the stem off completely before roasting.

 Place skin side up on your baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil. Place into your 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. Once finished in the oven you want to take out and let the pumpkin cool before handling. The skin will just peal off, and can be thrown away. Using a Cuisinart pulse the pumpkin into a puree. The one thing that you should do is remove some of the water that will pool at the top of the pumpkin puree. The easiest way to do this is to place in a container and use paper towels. Just gently push the paper towels onto the top of the puree and you will see the paper towels start to absorb the excess water. You can use the pumpkin right away in another recipe or place in Tupperware and store in the freezer.

Pumpkin is also great for dogs and mine loves it. I'm thinking I'll be making some pumpkin dog treats later this week!

Spaghetti & Turkey Meatballs

Ben and I decided that we wanted to make a romantic dinner for Valentine's Day. Ben looked at me with those blue pleading eyes and smiled and asked, "can we have pasta?" "Yes, Ben. We can have pasta," I replied.


Ben had bought me Ellie Krieger's cook book almost a year ago and we still had not tried to make anything from the book yet. I picked it up and instantly saw the cover was spaghetti and meatballs. What a perfect idea! Since I don't eat any four-legged animals the turkey meatballs in Ellie's cook book were perfect.


They were super easy and so good. Oh yeah and healthy! I would definitely make these and eat these again. (I'm not a huge fan of turkey, but I was thrilled with these meatballs.) One whole package of pasta, bottle of sauce and these meatballs will serve 4 people.

Turkey Meatballs

1.25 lbs lean ground turkey
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
1/4 cup reduced fat grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 large egg
salt & pepper to taste

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients for the turkey meatballs with your hands until everything looks mixed through. Roll into 2 1/2 inch balls (Ben and I got 13 big meatballs.) Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes until browned.


While in the oven start heating your sauce in a large sauce pan. (Ellie Krieger has a recipe for sauce in her cook book with the meatballs, but Ben and I were feeling lazy and did not want to buy all those ingredients to make the sauce so we just picked up a bottle of sauce. Any kind you like will work.) Also put the water on to boil for your spaghetti.


Once the meatballs are done place them into the pot with the sauce mix them in, cover and let cook for 10-15 more minutes. Cook your pasta according to the directions. Drain the pasta and plate. Top with a few meatballs, sauce and extra parmesan cheese.


I loved this meal. Yes Ben and I did do a Lady and the Tramp kiss. It was a great way to celebrate our Valentine's Day. We will be making this again.

Seared Scallops with Asparagus & Linguine

Ben and I had a small celebratory dinner last night, just a little nod to the fact that we have now been together for 2 and a 1/2 years. We don't really celebrate anniversaries, why if we love each other why do we have to congratulate ourselves for sticking in the relationship? We are together and it's great, there is no reason to count or list the days, hours, minutes that we've lasted.

But nice dinners together are something that I think we both cherish, so there is no reason that we can't do that on a weekly basis, and just enjoy each other.


I sent Ben a few different options for dinner. We decided on a pasta dish because neither of us could remember the last time we had pasta (which is almost a crime.) We also like trying new things and neither of us had ever made scallops before, and they are a food that we both like. So we experimented, guided by a cooking light recipe.

Seared Scallops with Asparagus & Linguine

1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated linguine
1 bunch asparagus
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp Romano cheese, divided
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
Handful of chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 lbs sea scallops
1 lemon

In a medium size pot bring the water to a boil to cook the pasta. While waiting for the water to come up, rinse and cut the asparagus into bite size pieces. Once boiling place the asparagus in the water, let come up to a boil again and then add the pasta in. Cook according to the package (2-3 minutes) then drain pasta and asparagus in a colander over a bowl. Combine pasta, 1/4 cup cheese, 1 tablespoon oil, chopped basil, the juice of 1/2 a lemon and pepper in a large bowl; toss well.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Sprinkle salt evenly over scallops; add scallops to pan. Cook 1 minute on each side or until golden.


Serve pasta with scallops on top and extra lemon wedges on the side. Sprinkle with cheese to finish the dish.


So the pasta was good, not great, the flavors were there that Ben and I love but we had a few issues with the dish. First, apparently I don't like fresh pasta, for some reason the texture was too chewy, it stuck together and I just didn't enjoy it. So if we make this again the first thing we would do differently is use dried pasta.


The second thing we would do is not over cook the scallops. I said "Ben it says scallops one minute on each side, that's it, don't over cook the scallops" about 7 or 8 times before we started to cook them. (Ben was in charge of the scallops while I did the pasta.) It got to the point where I knew I was annoying him, but I had this feeling that he would cook and cook and cook the scallops and they would be like rubber. Well...that's exactly what happened. We sat down to eat and Ben popped a scallop in his mouth, looked at me and smiled..."I over cooked the scallops," he said. Oh well...at least we'll know for next time. I'm sure that we will make scallops again, I can't wait to perfect it.

One last thing that we would change, adding the cheese to the pasta while it was hot made one big clump of cheese in the middle of a bunch of pasta, because the temperatures of the cheese and the pasta were too cold to have the cheese mix in well, so I would just take that whole part out and add the cheese on the top over everything at the end. I would also next time use Parmesan cheese not Romano.

But all that said, the flavors were there, the lemon, asparagus, seared scallops, it was yummy and I can't wait to redo it and make the dish really a winner. Ben took the leftovers to work today for lunch so...it was good enough to keep and eat again, just not as fabulous as we thought.


The night was not ruined because this is what we love, to cook, eat and be together, it's fun to be in the kitchen, mixing, stirring and pouring. I boss Ben around, his dinner gets cold while I try and take a million pictures and for us, this works.

Shrimp, Chicken and Tofu Stir Fry

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the new year so far. I know that many people have made New Years Resolutions that include getting healthier, working out more and being overall happier with yourself. Ben and I are part of this group that made these resolutions and we've both stuck to it for the past 6 days. :)

The past few nights for dinner I've been experimenting with an Asian vegetable mix, and tonight Ben and I added Shrimp, Chicken and Tofu to the mix. It turned out really good. I accomplished making two new things (Shrimp and Tofu) and succeed in part of my resolution to try and eat more balanced, healthy meals. On my own I tend to not eat enough protein so experimenting with Tofu and Shrimp tonight was very exciting. I did try the shrimp, however I have to say it is not on my list of seafood that I like. Ben ended up eating 5 and 3/4 of the 6 shrimp we cooked.


Ben and I agreed that it was a great meal, easy, super fast and great for you. I'm not sure anyone would be looking for anything different in the New Year.


Shrimp, Chicken and Tofu Stir Fry

1 boneless skinless chicken breast
6 large shrimp, peeled and devained
1/4 block extra firm tofu
1/2 tsp chopped fresh ginger
6 Tbsp low sodium Soy sauce
1 tsp hot sesame oil
3 cups Oriental Style frozen vegetables*
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt
pepper
rice noodles (we followed the packaging and made about 2.5 servings at 150 calories per serving)

*French green beans, onions, broccoli, and mushroom mix.

Slice the raw chicken breast into bite size pieces. I cut the chicken on an angle so that the slices were thin and would cook as fast as the shrimp. Add the chicken and shrimp to a bowl with 3 Tbsp Soy sauce, 1/2 tsp hot sesame oil and the ginger. Let marinate for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour (or more if you have the time.) Slice the tofu into whatever size pieces you want to use and set aside.


Cook the rice noodles according to the package. While the noodles are cooking place the vegetables in a sautee pan, and let cook until warmed through (about 5 minutes) add the shrimp, chicken, tofu and marinate mixture to the pan. This will all cook very quickly, you will only need to make sure that the chicken is no longer pink and the shrimp is just turning white and pink. Add the rest of the soy, oil and the spices. Stir to combine.


Drain the rice noodles and spoon the vegetables mixture on top and pour any extra liquid over everything. This made two servings perfectly. Eat and enjoy, we did!

Pulled Chicken Chili

Ben and I were going to make dinner last night, but those plans got derailed due to a need to return some Christmas gifts. (Ben ended up with great stuff he would have never bought himself...so it was a very successful return.) So tonight I decided that we'd make something, invent a recipe based off of a few others and have a delicious dinner.


This pulled chicken chili is based off of a Chipotle-Black Bean Chili from Cooking Light. I knew that Ben would need some meat in this meal, beans and tomatoes may hold me over, but Ben would be hungry in 10 minutes. So I wanted to add chicken. I love that pulled chicken texture (in my Mom's chicken soup she chunks the chicken in to hearty pulled mouthfuls) and this was what I thought would put this Chili over the top, make it that extra something special. Mouthfuls of chili soaked chicken, juicy and yummy.



Pulled Chicken Chili

1/2 tsp olive oil
2/3 cup diced onions
1 diced bell pepper*
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 chicken breasts, boneless skinless
3 tbs chipotle salsa
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, with the liquid
1/2 cup chicken broth OR water
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
1 4.5 oz can diced green chilies, drained
Cilantro, to taste

*We used a yellow bell pepper, any color you prefer will work.


In a medium sized pot, heat the oil and add in the diced onion. Let cook until translucent. Add the bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, salsa, and tomatoes. Bring this mixture to a boil (if you want your chili extra spicy like I do add the cayenne pepper in with the other spices.)

Meanwhile, salt and pepper the chicken breasts. Place the chicken in the pot with the tomato mixture and let simmer for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. The liquid in the pot should cover the chicken. If it does not, you then need to add the chicken broth or water. This is so that the chicken cooks evenly in the liquid. The amount will depend on what size pot you use and how thick your chicken breasts are. We used about 1/2 a cup. Let simmer uncovered.


Remove the chicken from the pot and shred with two forks. Add the beans, green chiles and the chicken back in. Bring back up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Right before serving, toss in a bit of chopped cilantro. Stir to combine and then ladle into bowls.

You can serve the chili on top of some white rice or sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top. Plain's good too!


Ben and I both went back for seconds. This is a must make. So good!

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa and Chicken

So I wanted to try Quinoa, and I've wanted to try it for a while, but I was told all the healthy benefits of eating it and decided it was time. I looked up a few different recipes online and figured out that roasting some vegetables and mixing it with the quinoa would be the best first try of the grain. (Technically it is not a grain and is from the spinach/swiss chard family.)


Quinoa

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 onion
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 orange pepper
6 or 7 small tomatoes, cut in half


First you need to rinse the quinoa, just by soaking it in water for a little. Bring the water to a boil in a small sauce pan, add the quinoa and leave it uncovered for 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. While the quinoa is cooking place the vegetables (skin side up) on a greased pan under the broiler. It will take 5-10 minutes until the vegetable start to brown, take them out and chop into about 1 inch pieces. Our tomatoes had to come out before the rest of the vegetables, but just watch them. Once the quinoa is cooked add the veggies, salt, pepper and olive oil. Stir until combined and plate.


We ate this with just some sauteed chicken breasts with salt, pepper, chyanne pepper and oregano.


Quinoa is good. The texture was very interesting a little crunchy but creamy too, there was not a lot of taste to the quinoa, but the roasted vegetables and the chicken defiantly made it a good meal. Would I make it again, yes. Would I find a recipe to incorporate more flavors, yes. With all the health benefits it's kind of hard to argue with eating it...you just have to bump up the flavors of the other things you are pairing this with.

Spicy Chicken Soup

Ben and I made our first dinner at my new apartment. It was spicy, yummy and quick. A perfect mid-week dinner.


To figure out what we wanted Ben and I listed the things that we were craving. I said I wanted spicy, Ben said soup, I asked chicken? and Ben agreed. I then searched for something that would match our key words on Cooking Light's website. Low and behold we found Spicy Chicken Soup!

Spicy Chicken Soup

3 Tbsp chipotle salsa with adobo sauce
1 tsp olive oil
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium to small onion, chopped
1 jalapeno without seeds, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cups cooked chicken breast strips
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans fat-free, chicken broth
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
1 can whole-kernel corn with sweet peppers, drained


Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onions, jalapeno, and cumin; saute 4 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Stir in salsa, chicken, broth, tomatoes, and corn. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes.

We grated some reduced fat cheddar cheese over the top, with some crackers on the side it was a fabulous dinner. This recipe makes 4 servings of 2 cups.


So this dinner takes about 15 minutes to put together but tastes like it simmered all day, the flavors are so good and spicy. This soup warmed us up on a chilly fall night. (The cooking light nutrition facts are about 350 calories, 11 grams fat, and 40 grams protein.) Ben reheated the extra for lunch and it was just as good the second time around.

Thai Fish and Noodle Soup

Tuesday night dinners with Ben has become a bit of a substitute for Ben's Poker night with the boys, and I love it (saves him money and gets me a yummy dinner.) I usually look around blogs and Cooking Light to find a recipe that looks good to us. For some reason I've been trying to make a lot of fish on these Tuesday dinners. I saw Thai Fish and Noodle Soup and instantly sent the link to Ben. He was very excited about it and said "yummmm." That was it, we were making Thai Fish and Noodle Soup. I thought the recipe would be so good because it had all the flavors that Ben and I love but instead of a Spanish or Mexican flavoring it was Thai influenced. We love jalapenos, spinach, lime, asparagus and rice. This soup had all that and more.


But...there was something missing. Ben said he wanted a sauce on the noodles which I kind of agreed with, there was not a lot of soup in this soup and since it is made with water it's really thin with not a lot of flavor. It needed that little extra punch of something, I'm not sure what. But it was good for what it was and very filling. I don't know if I would make it again...I want to be clear it was good, just not great it just needed something more to make it great.

Thai Fish and Noodle Soup

1/4 lbs uncooked pad thai rice noodles
4 cups water
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp diced jalapeno
2 tbsp thin sliced lemon grass
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp salt
6 cups sliced mushrooms
2 cups julienne red pepper
1 cup asparagus cut into 1 inch slices
1 cup julienne carrot
4 (4 oz) fillets halibut (we used cod since halibut is out of season)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
10 cups chopped spinach
1 1/2 cups thin sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Preheat your broiler and prep you fish, wash and dry the fish spray your pan with Pam and then place the fish on the pan and coat with 1/8 tsps of salt and pepper.

Place the noodles in a bowl and cover with warm water for 3 minutes and drain.

Meanwhile in a medium sauce pan heat the water through the salt in the above ingredients and bring to a boil. Add in the noodles, mushrooms, red pepper, asparagus and carrot, bring back to a boil then let simmer for 7 minutes.

Put the fish in the oven to cook, will take 6 to 7 minutes depending on thickness of fish, it will turn white and flake easily when cooked through.

Stir in spinach, green onion and cilantro into soup, let cook for a minute until the spinach wilts. Ladle and serve one fillet over a cup of soup.


This will make 4 servings (2 cups of soup and 1 fillet per serving.) Ben and I halved the recipe so that it would be enough for just the two of us. We could not finish the soup. There was a lot and the whole dinner was very filling.

We followed the cooking light recipe, we usually make some changes and we did have to use a different kind of fish but for the most part since we are not familiar with Thai cooking and did not want to make changes that would hurt the flavors in the recipe.

Cooking light had the nutrition facts as 338 calories, 4 grams of fat and 32.7 grams of protein. So a great meal all around. I served the soup with a few rolls (I know they're not Thai inspired but there was nothing in whole foods that I thought would work to keep in the Thai theme.) Both Ben and I like to dip our bread in the soup.

This meal defiantly warmed our bellies on a cold Tuesday night.

Green Risotto

I used to cook for myself, almost every night, and it was actually how I lost about 15 lbs after college. I ate a lot of risotto, some because I heard it was healthier than eating pasta, but mostly I just came from 4 years of eating pasta almost every night and was tired of it. I decided to revisit that tonight and make myself some yummy risotto, full of veggies.


I popped over to the grocery store to pick up somethings for another recipe you will soon see, and decided to kick up my risotto full of green veggies (it was what I was attracted to in the store.) I'm trying to make smarter choices about food and eating what I want rather than eating dinner and then snacking because dinner was just dinner and not something that I enjoyed.


Green Risotto

1 small onion
1/3 cup risotto rice
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups chicken broth
4 asparagus trees
1 small bunch broccoli
2 cups chopped spinach
4 small mushrooms chopped
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

To prepare the risotto bring the broth to a simmer (to add in later) in a small sauce pan. In a medium sauce pan spay some Pam and add in the diced onion, let them start to cook down about 3 minutes until tender. Add the rice to toast it, about a minute or two. Add in the wine to de-glaze the pan. Cook for 30 seconds or so until absorbed by the rice. Slowly add in the broth 1/2 a cup at a time until all absorbed should be about 25 minutes. Stir frequently.

Once all the broth is absorbed add in the asparagus pieces, broccoli, mushrooms and then the spinach. Stir until the spinach has wilted add the parmesan if you are using it and stir until combined.


Plate and serve. This will make 2 servings. Use it either as a side dish or a main course as I did. Add in whatever veggies you have in your refrigerator or you are craving. This is a great meal that will fill you up and is pretty healthy. Not using oil, cream or a lot of cheese in the risotto keeps the calories and the fat down, adding the veggies keeps you interested.

Crispy Salmon with Spinach Risotto

WOW. So good. This was I think one of the best dinners that Ben and I have ever made. The fact that it was so fabulous and so healthy too is just a huge plus. I was almost speechless to how good this dinner was, so filling and healthy! Yay. I wish I could serve this to anyone who is doubtful that healthy food tastes good. This meal puts all those bad ideas to rest. Healthy food is good food too.


It was really good that I didn't have work today and happened to be watching the Today Show this morning where Jamie Oliver was on and showed how to clean leeks. This was my first experience with leeks and both Ben and I loved them, they added a lot of flavor without being overwhelming. They are from the onion and garlic family of vegetables and have a milder onion flavor. They look like an overgrown chive almost two inches thick. You need to clean between the layers to make sure all of the dirt comes out, cut off the end and the tops of the green leaves. Chop and go. Yum. I can't wait to make something else with them. We found the original recipe here, however like always we add and subtract things.

Spinach Risotto

2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 generous cup chopped leek
3/4 cup Arborio rice
1 Tbsp white wine
3 cups chopped spinach
4 mini plum tomatoes chopped
1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt*
pepper*
fresh rosemary*

*All to taste.

Salmon

1 tsp olive oil
2 5 oz fillets of salmon*
salt
pepper
fresh thyme

*10 oz of Salmon is about .65 pounds.


To prepare the risotto bring the broth to a simmer (to add in later) in a small sauce pan. In a medium sauce pan heat the oil over medium to high heat and add in the leeks, let them start to cook down about 3 minutes until tender. Add the rice to toast it, about a minute or two. Add in the wine to de-glaze the pan. Cook for 30 seconds or so until absorbed by the rice. Slowly add in the broth 1/2 a cup at a time until all absorbed should be about 25 minutes. Stir frequently.

Once all the broth is absorbed add in the spinach, tomatoes, cheese, salt, pepper and rosemary. Stir until the spinach has wilted and tomatoes have been brought up to warm. Turn off the heat and plate.

While adding in the broth to the risotto you should start on the Salmon if you want everything finished at the same time. Heat the oil in a pan over medium to high heat. Coat the salmon with the herbs and then place the salmon skin side up and cook until fish has turned to whitish pink, and then flip to the skin side down to finish cooking. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of your fillet. Fish will start to flake when ready.

This made 3 servings of the risotto and 2 servings of the fish. The original nutrition information that came from Cooking Light says 569 calories and 18.8 grams of fat. Since I took out one part of the original recipe (they roasted tomatoes with oil and garlic) and took out the half and half from the risotto. I think that we had a similar amount of calories that the original recipe reads even with the additional risotto. Also most of the fat in this recipe comes from the salmon which is really healthy fat. This meal also had 37 grams of protein which is almost crazy for me.


So you need to make this. That's it, no discussions you make this and you see healthy food is good and filling and makes you feel so good too. You ate something, you're full and tomorrow you're not going to feel like you ate the world, or like your arteries are closing from the fat. You're going to feel good, and when you feel good you're just a better, happier (maybe even lighter) person.

Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup

Yumm-O as Rachel Ray would say. This soup was beyond good, it was well balanced, flavorful and healthy. I found this recipe on Cooking Light and modified it slightly for our tastes. It was the perfect dinner for a rainy thursday night.


Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup

10 button mushrooms sliced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 small yellow onions diced
5 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 tsp fresh rosemary chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme chopped
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 16 oz can Cannellini Beans drained and rinsed
2 14 oz cans chicken broth
crushed red peppers to taste

Heat oil in a medium sized pot add the onions and mushrooms and let simmer until tender. Add the spinach, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, beans and broth to the onions and mushrooms let come up to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Shake on a few crushed red peppers to the top of your soup bowl.

Serve with a hunk of crispy bread.

Ben and I absolutely loved this meal. Usually I get concerned about dinner that does not have meat in it for Ben, if it is enough food, if he'll be hungry in 10 minutes, but because of the mushrooms and the beans in this soup it had body, it was thick and filling.


I'm almost positive Ben and I will be making this again. So easy, so yummy and so healthy. (Cooking light nutrition facts list their version as 78 calories 2 grams fat for 1 cup.)

Spaghetti with an Heirloom Tomato Sauce

Last night Ben and I decided that we wanted to go out for dinner, a date night on a weeknight. It would be fun, and we don't do it very often. Some unforeseen things happened so we then decided it would be just as fun, healthier and cheaper to just make something. My mom bought me great tomatoes the other day, they were mini heirloom, yellows, reds, even purple tomatoes. We decided to make a simple tomato sauce and some spaghetti.


It turned out just as good as in a restaurant, and it took about 20 minutes total to make. Ben and I were both part of the club last night, that is, the clean plate club.

Heirloom Tomato Sauce
1/2 tbs olive oil
1 small yellow onion (finely chopped)
1 pint mini heirloom tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
4 fresh basil leaves

1/2 lbs spaghetti
shaved Parmesan cheese to taste

In a pan over medium high heat sautee the onion in the oil until translucent, add in all of the herbs except the basil. While the onions are cooking down start heating the water for the spaghetti and half all of the tomatoes. Once the onions are translucent add the tomatoes and reduce the heat to medium. Stir once in while. Tomatoes should start breaking down about after about 10 minutes in the pan. You don't want them to end up completely mushy, just until they start loosing their shape.


Place 1/2 lbs dried spaghetti into water once it has come to a boil, add salt to water, 1/2 tbs or so. Once spaghetti is cooked according to the package instructions, drain.


Tear the basil leaves right into the sauce, you want to do this right before adding the spaghetti into the sauce so that the leaves don't wilt, and loose that great basil flavor.


Toss spaghetti in with the sauce for about 30 seconds, so that the pasta starts to absorb the flavors of the sauce, plate and garnish with as much or as little Parmesan cheese as you like.


I absolutely loved the ease, and taste of this meal. It tasted like the sauce took hours to make, and it wasn't one of those heavy sauces that makes you feel like you gained 10 lbs after the meal. It was just so good. I asked Ben if we could make this once a week from now on.

Enchiladas y Coronas

It's Cinco De Mayo, well it was yesterday, and it had been a while since Ben and I had made dinner together. So we decided, yes over AIM at work that we would make a Mexican feast to partake in the celebration of Cinco De Mayo. I looked through a few different recipes on Cooking Light's website and found this one. And it looked almost perfect for dinner. Ben was excited all day long saying he could not wait to make our Enchiladas. We enhanced the recipe a bit, but just added a few more veggies in to kick up our version of this traditional Mexican Dish.



Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas
Pam
1 medium onion
1 orange bell pepper*
1 10 oz can enchilada sauce**
3 cups boneless skinless chicken breast***
1 cup pre-shredded reduced fat Mexican blend cheese
1 15 oz can black beans
2 jalapeños
1/2 tsp cumin
8 6 in corn tortillas
1/4 cup fresh copped cilantro

*We used orange becasue we like orange but any color bell pepper you want to buy or have on hand will work.

**We used Old El Paso enchilada sauce like the recipe called for, our supermarket only had mild and hot, so we picked mild to be on the safe side, because neither of us had ever had the enchilada sauce. Next time I'd buy the hot, because even with the jalapeños in the dish I thought it wasn't spicy enough.

***Perdue Short Cuts, precooked chicken is the best product ever. We used the original roasted but the plain grilled would have been fine too. You can also sautee up some chicken breast if you have some handy just with a little salt and pepper or you can use leftover chicken from the night before.


In a medium skillet coated with Pam heat the peppers, onions and hot peppers over medium high heat, saute for just a few minutes. Add in the entire can of enchilada sauce and bring to a boil, then reduce down to a simmer and cover for 5 minutes, to thicken.


In a seperate bowl mix chicken, black beans (strained,) 3/4 cup cheese, and cumin toss well to coat.

In the microwave heat the tortillas according to the directions, we just did 30 seconds and found that they were not warmed enough, and started cracking when we were rolling. Spoon 1/4 cup of the mixture into the tortilla and roll, place seem side down in a 11 X 7 inch baking dish coated with Pam. Repeat until all are filled and rolled. We had extra middle mixture so we just put it on top of the tortillas, then pour the entire sauce mixture over the enchiladas. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 7 to 8 minutes until the enchiladas are heated through. Add the remaining cheese to the top and place back in the oven for another one to two minutes.


Garnish with cilantro and serve.

This makes 4 servings of 2 enchiladas each which was plenty for me, Ben had 3. :)


This was so good, there were a few changes that we would make for next time. We correctly followed the original directions on the website to put under the broiler for 3 minutes, and found that our enchiladas were warm and not hot, and so I made that correction above. I loved the addition of the black beans and jalapeños. This meal was cheap (about 17 dollars for all the supplies) easy, (took about 30 minutes to do everything) and healthy (the original recipe says it was 364 calories 10 grams of fat per serving.) And wow was it yummy. You could not tell that this was a healthy meal it was so flavorful and good, Ben and I have already started making plans for making it again.


I highly recommend this recipe not only for Cinco De Mayo but for any night of the week. So good! Don't forget your Corona and a lime to complete this festive meal.