Chicken Shawarma

I found this recipe on the Cooking Light website. I had not previously eaten shawarma, in fact I'm not sure that I've ever heard of it. Shawarma is a Middle Eastern dish of garlicky meat or poultry served on pitas. This chicken version is flavored with a savory yogurt sauce. I decided not to go through the process of threading the chicken onto skewers and then grilling. So, I pan fried the chicken strips in a tiny amount of olive oil. Turned out GREAT! The chicken was succulent, perfectly spiced, and really delicious!

Ingredients:

Chicken:

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 16 (3-inch) strips

Sauce:

1/2 cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons tahini

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 garlic clove, minced

(Note: Sometimes when I eat tahini, my mouth gets very sensitive. So, I decided not to use the tahini. I added 1 tsp of curry powder to the sauce. It turned out delicious.)

Remaining ingredients:

Cooking spray

4 (6-inch) pitas

1 cup chopped romaine lettuce

8 (1/4-inch-thick) tomato slices

Directions:

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

2. To prepare chicken, combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss well to coat. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes.

3. To prepare sauce, combine yogurt and next 4 ingredients (through 1 garlic clove), stirring with a whisk.

4. Thread 2 chicken strips onto each of 8 (12-inch) skewers. Place kebabs on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until done. (This is where I deviated from the recipe. I opted to just fry the chicken pieces in a non-stick skillet with a small amount of olive oil.)

5. Place pitas on grill rack; grill 1 minute on each side or until lightly toasted. Place 1 pita on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1/4 cup lettuce and 2 tomato slices. Top each serving with 4 chicken pieces; drizzle each serving with 2 tablespoons sauce.

Click here for printable recipe.

Spinach Frittata

Love this recipe. So good for lunch, or for a light supper. It is one from the Richard Simmons collection. Truly spectacular. I really like tofu, but if you're not a fan... trust me... you'd never guess there was tofu in it!

Ingredients:

1 - 10 oz pkg. Frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained
12 oz of well drained SOFT tofu
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 crushed clove garlic
1/4 tsp. Pepper
2 tbls. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
3 tbls. Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp. Dried basil
1/2 cup steamed sliced leeks, white part only
1 can of redi-cut tomatoes, drained
4 oz. (1cup) shredded low fat mozzarella cheese
Lemon & parsley for garnish.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In food processor or blender, combine spinach, tofu, lemon juice, Parmesan, mustard, basil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Process until smooth.

Fold in leeks, tomato and cheese.

Pour mixture into a 10” pie plate coated with non-stick spray.

Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until set. Let sit 15 minutes before slicing

Garnish with lemon slices and parsley.

Makes 4 servings - 202 calories.

Click here for printable recipe.

Beef Stroganoff Soup

My friend Stephanie recently moved to Scotland. On her blog she wrote about making beef stroganoff, but she didn’t realize that the cream of mushroom soup she purchased was not condensed, and therefore the stroganoff was runny and more like a soup. This gave me the bright idea to intentionally try to make Beef Stroganoff soup. I think it turned out really good. It’s creamy and delicious and definitely a keeper!

Ingredients:

1 – 1 ½ lbs extra lean ground beef (I use 7% fat – but if you use a higher fat content, make sure to drain the fat from the meat.

6 oz. egg noodles, cooked and drained – according to package directions

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 white onion chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 oz. sliced mushrooms (I used “Baby Bellas”)

¼ cup brandy

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

4 cups beef broth

1 ½ cups water

2 beef bouillon cubes

½ teaspoon thyme

8 - 10 oz sour cream (I used light)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish

Directions:

Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Cook the ground beef until browned and cooked through. Place the cooked meat in your soup pot, along with the cooked noodles.

In the same non-stick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter into 1 tablespoon of olive oil; sauté the onions and garlic for about 7 minutes. They should be translucent – but not yet browning. Add the mushrooms and continue to sauté until the mushrooms are cooked and everything is nicely browned. Add the brandy and continue cooking until bubbly. Add everything to the soup pot. (If you feel confident, light the brandy on fire after adding to the mushrooms and onions. Let it flame for about a minute – or until it burns out. This burns off the alcohol.)

In the same skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Add the flour to make a roux. Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture becomes a light peanut butter color. Be very careful not to let the roux burn. Gradually add 3 cups of the beef broth to the roux, whisking to thoroughly combine, making sure to not leave any lumps. Add to the soup pot.

Add the remaining beef broth to the soup pot, along with the water, the bouillon cubes, and the thyme. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and let simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Make sure to thoroughly combine and not leave any lumps. Serve with fresh chopped parsley sprinkled over all.

Click here for printable recipe.