Coriander Chicken with Tomato Corn Salad

Another of my favorites from the Cooking Light collection.

Chicken Ingredients:

1 Tbls olive oil
1 ½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (The last time I made this I didn’t have chicken breasts on hand, so I used six boneless skinless chicken thighs)

Salad Ingredients:
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup sliced green onion tops
2 Tbls thinly sliced basil
1 Tbls balsamic vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
7 oz can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed

Directions:

To prepare chicken, heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. Combine coriander, and next 5 ingredients; rub evenly over both sides of the chicken. Add chicken to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side, or until done.

While chicken is cooking, prepare the salad. Combine all salad ingredients and toss well.

Slice the chicken breasts and serve over the salad. Yields four servings (if using chicken breasts – three if using chicken thighs)

Key Lime Pie

I really love Key Lime Pie. I've tried to make it on several occasions - but it never turns out quite right. I got this recipe from a fellow Salem Oregon blogger - Pie O My. Click here for her picture and recipe. It was easy, turned out perfectly, and is DE-LI-CIOUS!

I used Redi-Whip for the garnish, (rather than actually whipping the cream) and some lime zest. Easy as pie! Enjoy!

Pastitsio

There is a fabulous restaurant in Portland called Mother’s Bistro. Delicious comfort food served every day, and each month the restaurant celebrates a different Mother and that mom’s favorite dishes. The Cooking Light 2004 Annual Recipes cookbook spotlighted Mother’s and remade some of their famous dishes to contain fewer calories and less fat. Here is one of my favorites!
Filling Ingredients:

1 pound uncooked spaghetti
1 pound ground sirloin
½ cup finely chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup dry white wine
1 – 15oz can tomato sauce
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp black pepper

White Sauce Ingredients:

3 Tbls all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
3 cups 2% reduced fat milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
5 Tbls white cheddar cheese ( I believe I used jack cheese the last time I made this)
Cooking spray
¼ cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
Update - June 2013
I wanted to make this dish a little spicier and give it a bit of a kick.  So, I've begun adding red pepper flakes to the meat sauce mixture.  You could also add cayenne pepper if you don't have red pepper flakes.  I added 1 teaspoon of the flakes and it was perfect for us - but we like spicy!

Directions:
To prepare filling, cook pasta according to package directions, omitting fat and salt from water. Rinse with cold water, set aside.

Cook beef, onion and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned; stir to crumble. Add wine, tomato sauce, ½ tsp salt, nutmeg and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, or until thick.

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare white sauce, place flour and ½ tsp salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk until blended, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, set aside. Combine eggs and egg whites in a large bowl. Gradually add hot milk mixture to eggs stirring constantly with a whisk. I typically add about 1 tablespoon of the milk mixture at a time to temper the eggs until the eggs have warmed to a like temperature as the milk mixture. You don’t want to end up with scrambled eggs. You want the mixture to be smooth. Add 1 Tbls of white cheddar cheese and stir until blended.

Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with the cooking spray. Spread 1 cup of the beef mixture in the bottom. Arrange half the pasta over the beef mixture. Alternate layers of beef, pasta and beef. Pour white sauce over the top of the casserole. Use a spoon or fork to “adjust” pasta to allow the white sauce to cover and go through the layers. Sprinkle top with remaining cheddar cheese and the romano cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting and serving. Yield 8 servings – 416 calories each. The individual servings warm very nicely in a microwave. I like to take the leftovers for lunch. Delish!

Pork Chops with Bourbon Peach Glaze

This recipe was inspired from one of my favorite cookbooks - Cooking Light Annual Recipes, 2004. Even my son, who normally doesn't like sauces on his food, really enjoyed this for dinner. He liked it so much that he requested the left overs for lunch tomorrow!


Ingredients:


4 boneless center cut loin pork chops
15oz can of sliced peaches in lite natural sauce
½ cup bourbon
¼ cup honey
3 Tbls soy sauce
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp ginger
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil for frying pork chops

Directions:

Drizzle olive oil into non stick skillet that has a lid. Heat the olive oil. Salt and Pepper both sides of pork chops. Add pork chops to heated pan. Cook 4 – 5 minutes on each side, turning once. Remove pork chops to platter.

Combine bourbon, honey, soy sauce, cayenne pepper and ginger in a cup or bowl.

Drain peaches; add to pan. Sauté for a minute or two. Add bourbon mixture. Cook until bubbling for about 5 minutes. Return pork chops to pan, reduce heat, cover and cook for about 5 additional minutes.

Remove pork chops back to platter. Continue cooking peach bourbon mixture until it begins to thicken. Gently mash the peaches, but leave some of the whole slices. Continue reducing mixture until it has thickened. If need be, thicken with a small amount of cornstarch and water.

Serve the pork chops with the bourbon peach glaze generously spooned over the top.

Savory Breakfast Casserole

This is a wonderful recipe from the Cooking Light Cookbook – 2004 version. You can prepare the recipe as is, or if you want to be “sinful” use more of the egg yolks and real Italian sausage. While the recipe calls for reduced-fat cheese – I use regular. Gotta have SOME fun in life!

Ingredients:

2 cups 2% milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
½ cup chopped green onion
½ tsp dry mustard
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground pepper
8 large egg whites*
4 whole eggs*
14 oz. meatless fat free sausage, crumbled (I use “Gimme Lean” brand)*
4 slices of white bread, cubed
Cooking spray

* If I were making this NOT in the Cooking Light method, I would use a dozen whole eggs and a pound of cooked Italian sausage that had been crumbled. I supposed you could also substitute crumbled cooked bacon. Mmm!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place eggs in large mixing bowl. Beat lightly. Add milk, ½ cup of the cheese, green onions, and the spices. Whisk mixture.

Divide the sausage and bread evenly between 2 (8 x 4-inch) loaf pans that have been coated with cooking spray.

Pour egg mixture evenly into the two pans; top each pan with ¼ cup of the cheese.

Cover each pan with foil; back at 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover pans and continue baking for 40 additional minutes.

Yields two casseroles, 3 servings each.

Tiger Prawns

CostCo had some gorgeous Black Tiger Prawns last week. I got 16 of them, just slightly over a pound. I knew that I didn’t want to fuss with them very much, and I wanted them to retain their natural sweetness and succulence. So, I prepared them very simply. Easy, quick and delicious – what more could you want in a meal. I served these as an accompaniment to tri-tip steak. They were devoured quite quickly.

Ingredients:

1 lb. tiger prawns – deveined, shelled, tail off
1 Tbls olive oil
1 Tbls butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
Fresh Lime juice

Directions:

Clean and rinse the shrimp; pat dry. Lightly sprinkle one side of the shrimp with the seasoning salt.

Heat a nonstick skillet; add olive oil, butter and garlic.

Place shrimp, seasoned side down, in skillet. Lightly sprinkle other side of shrimp with the seasoning salt.

Cook until shrimp begin to turn pink, should only take a couple of minutes. Turn and cook other side. Be careful not to overcook, otherwise the shrimp will be tough and chewy.

Squeeze ½ a lime over the shrimp just before removing from the pan. Place shrimp in serving dish, pour pan juices over all and enjoy.