Mix and Match Broccoli Salad

I took parts of 2 different cooking light recipes and came up with the following!

The most important part is the dressing- that is where you save your calories! So add what you like and enjoy!

I really like the taste and hope you do too! Another option - if you actually live somewhere where there is a Trade Joe or maybe Whole Foods (I haven't checked there) - get a bag of simply cranberry and nuts for the dried fruit and nut stuff - use a 1/2 cup of that! 

Broccoli Salad

4 cups small broccoli florets (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup thinly vertically sliced red onion
3 center-cut bacon slice, cooked and crumbled (drained)
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped mixed nuts
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Preparation

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine mayonnaise and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour dressing over broccoli mixture, and toss well. Chill for 1 hour.

Chicken Sate with Ponzu Sauce

I took this marinade from a different recipe, but it came out really well!

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sake (rice wine)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 garlic clove, minced


Prepare grill.

Flatten chicken breasts to an even thickness.

Combine sugar and remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a small bowl; stir until sugar dissolves. Combine half of sake mixture and all of chicken in a large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Reserve remaining sake mixture.

I got a vat of strawberries on Saturday during our jaunt to Costco and decided to turn half into this great gelato that i saw in cooking light! Hubby had an ice cream maker and it's been simply moved between houses since we met. So we had a go at it! This recipe produces ALOT! We had to do 2 batches, which meant, one last night and one this morning! Absolutely delicious!

Strawberry-Buttermilk Gelato

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
5 cups quartered strawberries (about 4 pints)
2 cups low-fat buttermilk

Nutritional Information

Dinner with the ladies!

I had a co-worker that lived downtown during the work week and then headed to the “hills” for the weekend with the hubby! We were chatting one day and she was talking about how it was a pain to cook for one and she was always eat out. I love to cook – so I said – come over, I’ll cook for you!

So she did and we grabbed a couple of the other ladies from work and had a lovely evening! The brought the wine and I did the cooking!

All my favorites!

Spinach Salad with Chile Cilantro Dressing

Grit Cakes with spicy ranch dipping sauce

Garlicky Green Beans

Asian Cucumber Salad

Spicy Shrimp with Coconut Sauce

Watermelon marinated in Riesling

The ladies brought some fabulous wine to accompany the meal. We gabbed and ate and looked out at the city from the deck after dinner!

They even forced me to let them help clean up and load the dishwasher!

We might start a monthly rotation!

This has become a weekly recipe in my house, if not more, but i keep forgetting to list it!

I finally discovered how to use my kitchen aid to make mighty quick work of this little ditty as well!

I tend to combine the "dressing" and dissolve the sugar first, then add the cucumber...

Asian Cucumber Salad

• 2 cucumbers, peeled, cut lengthwise, seeded and sliced into thin half moons (about 2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds

In a large bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. Sprinkle with sesame seeds;

Toss well to coat. Cover and chill for 20 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional info per serving:

57 calories, 2g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 2g fat, 1g fiber

This seems pretty simply and I'm sure I could have done it on my own. But I love it!

Garlicky Green Beans

Ingredients

2 cups green beans, trimmed
1 teaspoon butter
 Cooking spray
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Nutritional Information

We had this little ditty with some friends last night. It came out pretty good, but i think i needed to leave the sauce on the stove a smidge longer!

Broccoli with Cheddar Sauce

Ingredients

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extrasharp cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 pounds broccoli florets (about 9 cups)

Evening of Appetizers!

I was having friends over for dinner and decided to go hog wild with the cooking light magazines!

I decided on the following:

Middle Eastern Eggplant Dip

Layered Chili, Cheese and Roasted Corn Dip

Bean, Bacon and Blue Cheese Dip

Spinach-and-Potato Frittata

Sour Cream, Cheddar, and Green Onion Drop Bisquits

Green Onion Pancakes

The winner of the evening were the

Layered Chili, Cheese and Roasted Corn Dip

and the Sour Cream, Cheddar, and Green Onion Drop Bisquits

It was a lovely evening with lots of conversation, wine and great chocolate ganache cake brought by the guests!

 Eat up!

This little ditty looked amazing but left alot to be desired in taste. Sigh. Too bad.

Spinach-and-Potato Frittata

A frittata is an open-faced omelet. It's easier to make than traditional omelets because all the ingredients are combined at once so you don't have to fuss with flipping it over. Leftover cooked potatoes or frozen hash brown potatoes will also work in thi

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups diced peeled baking potato (about 6 ounces)
6 large egg whites
3 large eggs
1/4 cup diced Canadian bacon (about 2 slices)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
 Cooking spray
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

Nutritional Information

This one was definitely a winner for the evening! Tasty and light! Definitely will see our oven again!

Sour Cream, Cheddar, and Green Onion Drop Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1 cup fat-free buttermilk
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
 Cooking spray

Nutritional Information

This was an ok recipe. Weird to have a flavor not associated with breakfast on a griddle. Not a repeat, but ok none the less!

Green Onion Pancakes

Ingredients

 
Pancakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup chopped green onions
6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) shredded sharp provolone
 Cooking spray

Nutritional Information