Avocado Dip with Cilantro and Lime

Avocados have been on sale so I have been buying them just about every time I head to the store. I have made lots of guacamole, and had lots of avocado on wraps and sandwiches. I thinks avocado is a delightful vegetable or fruit or whatever it is. Yes it's high in fat but don't we all know by now that there's a difference between bacon and cheeseburger fat and avocado fat?

The other night, we were having salmon and I had a bunch of avocados nearing their life expectancy. But I didn't want guac. Into the fridge (and garden) to see what there was to play with. Lime, plain yogurt, and cilantro. A new dip is born!


Avocado Dip with Cilantro and Lime
1/2 cup avocado
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 chopped green onions
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
squeeze of lime

1. Mash the avocado
2. Add the rest of the ingredients
3. Serve immediately

This was really fantastic with the salmon. I could see it as a healthy alternative to cheese dips, too. Feel free to adjust the ingredients according to your taste. I think this would be really great with a little cayenne to spice it up. I would have chopped up some cucumber into this, too, if I had some. It would also have been wonderful with chopped jicama. Of course, then, it would have been more of a salad and less of a dip.

Enjoy!

Egg Salad with Crab and Watercress

Do you like your egg salad with lots of mayo and very tiny pieces of egg? Neither do I! I like my egg salad with big chunks of egg, a little bit of mayo and watercress for some extra pizazz. Last weekend, I decided to try my egg salad with a Maryland twist. You guessed it (or you read the title of the blog post). I added crab. And it was delicious!

Egg Salad with Crab and Watercress (two servings)
2 hard boiled eggs
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup crab meat
handful of watercress, broken into leafy pieces with stems removed
1 tbsp low fat mayonnaise

1. Cook your eggs and allow to cool slightly so you don't burn yourself when you are chopping them.
2. Chop your eggs into decent sized chunks. You should have 15 chunks from each egg.
3. Add the mayo and stir gently so the eggs stay together. I used Kraft Reduced Fat Mayo with Olive Oil and squeezed what looked to be a tbsp right over the top of the eggs.
4. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Please be gentle so the eggs stay together!

I like my egg salad room temperature so I serve it immediately. You can put it on toast, sliced tomatoes, or as a filling for a red pepper. How lovely! If you prefer your egg salad chilled, refrigerate for 30 minutes and then serve. Top it with a sprig of watercress for a garnish.

This is a very small amount of egg salad. You should be able to double it very easily to accommodate your needs.

Enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Burgers

If you don't know by now, I really love my Kitchen Aid Food Grinder. I use it often. It has fired my creative juices and I have made some very good things using it. Now that it's grilling season, I'm going to try to come up with some recipes for some healthier options for the grill.

A couple weeks ago, we decided to grind up some chicken for Chicken Burgers. Here is the basic recipe I used for the burgers. And below that, I will list a few ways you can jazz them up. I added some McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning which has garlic, onion and pepper, to my burgers. It gave the burgers a very hearty flavor that made my meat-missing son a little less lonely for a traditional cheeseburger.

Homemade Chicken Burgers
3 chicken breasts, ground
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
chopped onion to taste (maybe 1/4 cup)
crushed garlic (1 clove)
seasonings (I used 1 tsp of McCormick Montreal
Steak Seasoning)
Cheese of choice

1. Mix everything together and shape into patties
2. Grill for 5 minutes per side

Because these burgers are made with chicken breast they have almost no fat so it's important to be careful about the cooking time. Don't over do it or you will have hard little hockey pucks instead of tender juicy, burgers.

Variations
Before I list some ideas which are largely inspired by the overpriced options I see at stores, please note, try not to add ingredients that have a high moisture content. If your burgers get too wet and won't stay together.

• Drain some Rotel Tomatoes and add 1/2 cup for Zesty South of the Border Burgers
• Add some sautéed Vidalia Onions for yummy Onion Burgers
• Add 1/2 cup chopped spinach and 1/2 cup of feta for some Spinach and Feta Burgers
• Add some chopped basil,  garlic and Parmesan for  Chicken Pesto Burgers

Tell me how you would create your own perfect chicken burger. Enjoy!

Aunt Jen's Skinny Fried Chicken

Back in January, my friend Jen of The Whole Bag of Chips revitalized her blog and began focusing on low fat and nonfat recipes to accommodate some food sensitivities in her home. I have enjoyed many of Jen's recipes. She has found that it's actually quite easy to lower the fat in many dishes, even baked goods! I hope you'll check out her blog for some inspiration to "defattify" some of your favorite food.

By far, my favorite recipe that Jen has posted is Oven Fried Chicken. It's a South Beach Diet recipe that I love so much, I renamed it Aunt Jen's Skinny Fried Chicken.


Aunt Jen's Skinny Fried Chicken

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

1/4 cup (one ounce) grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped almonds 

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Pinch of ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2″ (I used chicken tenderloins.)

Sprig Italian parsley, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In medium bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, almonds, parsley, garlic, salt, thyme, and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

3. Place the oil in a shallow dish. Dip the chicken first in the oil then dredge in the crumb mixture.

4. Place the chicken in a shallow baking pan.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the center of a piece registers 170 degrees F and the juices run clear.  (Do not turn the chicken during cooking.) Garnish with parsley. NOTE: We decided to turn our chicken half way through cooking so it would be evenly brown on both sides.

I shared my photo with Jen the other night and she was very proud of the fact that I actually served a half a plate of vegetables with my chicken. She was a little shocked that the different foods were touching. I've made a mental note of that so that when Jen and her family come visit for 6 weeks this summer, I will make sure no one's food touches ever. (That's a little inside joke between Jen and me.)

Feel free to cut the chicken into nugget sized pieces for little kids for some really yummy homemade chicken nuggets.

Enjoy!

Individual Deep Dish Pizza

Saturday nights have become pizza and movie night in our house. Most of the time, I roll a piece of dough for each family member and let them top it, or just top it for them from a selection of ingredients.

A couple weeks ago, I was not in the mood to roll. So I decided to see if it would work to make little deep dish pizzas in my Pampered Chef Stoneware Bakers. They're the right size for a generous pizza for my two growing boys, and I figured they would hold a nice amount of veggies and crab for me.

There is no real recipe here. I can provide instructions for topping and baking, though. I used whole wheat pizza dough I purchased at the grocery store this time.

Individual Deep Dish Pizza
1. Divide the dough into four pieces and roll them a little to flatten them.
2. Press the dough into the baking dishes and then topped them as follows: sauce, meat or veggies, cheese and another layer of meat and veggies as desired.
3. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. Check to see if the dough is done. If it isn't, bake for another 10 minutes.
4. Remove from the stoneware and serve immediately.

Topping ideas
1. Pepperoni and cheese (right)
2. Spinach and mozzarella white pizza - no sauce, but brush the dough with olive oil and garlic
3. Crab (above) with green onions, old bay and cheddar cheese
4. Cheeseburger pizza - mix cooked ground beef or ground turkey into the pizza sauce and top with cheese.

Let me know how you top your pizzas! Enjoy!

Lower Fat Cheesy Grits with Shrimp

One of the things my children delight in eating when they visit their grandma is grits. Growing up, we didn't eat grits very often. Once in a while when we visited our grandparents in Florida, we would have them. They have never been at the top of my list of foods I crave.

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of recipes for Cheesy Grits with Shrimp. Hmm... I decided to see how I could "healthify" this comfort food so I could eat it with no guilt. It turns out, while grits are high in carbs, they are also high in iron, have some good vitamins, a little bit of protein and fiber and almost no fat! So adding some low fat cheese, shrimp and lots of veggies actually gives you a pretty decent meal.

Lower Fat Cheesy Grits
4 servings of grits prepared according to the package directions
1 cup shredded low fat cheese
6 sliced cooked bacon, chopped (I used turkey bacon)
2 cups or more chopped veggies of your choosing ( I used green onions, garlic, tomato and topped my grits with sliced avocado)
2 cups cooked, deveined shrimp with tails off

1. Prepare grits according to package directions.
2. Stir in cheese, bacon, veggies and shrimp and heat through.
3. Serve topped with a little extra cheese, avocado, chopped tomatoes, etc.

This would make an excellent and fast week night meal. It would also be a fabulous dish to serve with eggs for brunch, in case you have anyone you might need to cook for maybe today? (hint, hint!!)

I think these would be great with some Rotel tomatoes and chorizo to give them a southwestern kick.  So many ways to customize this recipe! Let me know what you did!

Enjoy! And Happy Mother's Day!

"Fake" Potato Soup

I feel like I'm behind on sharing soup ideas! With the warm weather, and all the activities, it's been hard to keep the soups cooking. But I think I have a good one for you today!

I love potato soup but when I make it for my family, I often don't eat it because potatoes are something I'm trying to avoid. I find I do better when I eat foods that have more fiber and protein than potatoes. And when I say do better, I mean I am less likely to get hungry in the middle of the day and resort to eating whatever is within arm's reach.

But, as I said, I love potato soup. And I love lentils! If you recall, my love of lentils was kindled by a meal of Chilean Sea Bass served over a bed of beautiful black lentils. They were delightful and delicate and have become a staple in my diet. I make my own Creamy Lentil Soup several times a week for lunch. I love it that much!

This past weekend, while shopping I came across a bag of Urad Dal or black lentils but with no skin. I popped that baby in my cart and scurried home to cook some up! I was so excited. And much to my surprise, I found that this version of Lentil Soup was just like Potato Soup! I was stunned and thrilled at the same time!

Why lentils instead of potatoes? The carb count is comparable. The calories are comparable, but a cup of lentils has almost twice as much fiber and protein. So, I ask you, if you could have Potato Soup with a healthy amount of protein and fiber, wouldn't you be happy? Now you can!

"Fake"Potato Soup
2 cups skinless urad dal, prepared according to package instructions
2 cups broth (I used vegetable broth)
1/2 cup plain fat free yogurt
dash of cumin
1 clove garlic, crushed

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Heat until warm.
3. Serve.

Top with chopped green onions, cheddar cheese or anything you would put on your potato soup.

If you have lentils prepared like I do, then you can whip up this soup in about five minutes in the morning and heat it at work. It's very filling and if you use fat free yogurt and broth, and are careful about your toppings, you are getting an incredibly tasty, fat free meal!

Enjoy!