Leftover Lovin'

Summer Squash & White Bean Sauté

I am the Leftover Queen...or at least I want to be. I usually make 2-3 meals during the week and then just serve up the left overs until every last bite has been scraped out of the Tupperware. Mostly, I just serve left overs exactly how they were initially prepared. For example, if I made spaghetti with marinara sauce on Monday, we'd be eating the same thing, spaghetti with marinara, on Tuesday...and maybe even Wednesday too. I got a little creative this week, as we had a huge bowlful left of spaghetti noodles that were dying to be swimming in anything but...you guessed it...marinara. Don't get too excited...I still used the marinara...but I just added a little something extra. Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, halved and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 1 medium yellow squash, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, or 1 teaspoon dried
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 15- or 19-ounce can cannellini or great northern beans, rinsed
  
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• Parmesan cheese
  
• 1-2 cups marinara

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add zucchini, yellow squash, oregano, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring once, until the vegetables are tender-crisp, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Stir in beans, tomatoes and vinegar; increase heat to medium and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Scoop mixture on top of a warm bed of noodles or rice (this would even be great on my favorite, Tofu Shirataki noodles!).
   
4. Pour desired amount of marinara on top of noodles and bean mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
   

Chasing Away Chipotle

The Bikini-Ready Bean Burrito

I was devastated to hear that my "healthy" go-to burrito joint, Chipotle, was packing 39-47 grams of fat per burrito. WHAT!? Okay, maybe "devastated" is a really strong word to use for a burrito, but let's face it, I get emotional about my food. For years I could share almost anything...clothes, toiletries, money, etc...but ask me for a bite of my food, and it was a totally different story. Luckily, I've mostly been able to outgrow and overcome my food hoarding tendencies...but I find myself still getting a little overprotective when it comes to guarding my nightly brownie treat.

Okay, so back to this Chipotle business. To turn this HUGE lemon into lemonade, I decided to take it as a personal challenge to make my own healthier version using some of the food from our garden (tomatoes and cilantro). Without sharing my reason for making the burrito with my husband, I was thrilled when he yelled from the living room "Hey, this tastes just like Chipotle!" HAH! Take that, 47 grams of fat!!

Here is my almost fat-free version of a fabulous burrito!
(FYI- there are 3 parts to this post- making the pico de gallo, making the cilantro lime rice, and putting it all together to make one awesome burrito)

1) Pico De Gallo - make this first, as it needs about an hour to set the flavors












4 roma tomatoes, de-seeded, and chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
juice of one lime
1 teaspoon salt
-Mix well and let the mixture sit for one hour

2) Cilantro Lime Rice














mix in a blender (or finely chop):
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 minced garlic clove
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice (the juice from one lime)
-Add mixture to about 2 cups of cooked rice

3) Bean Burrito

-Ingredients:
Pico de Gallo
Cilantro Lime Rice
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon butter (I used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter fat-free spray)
1 15 ounce can kidney (or black) beans
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
4 large tortillas (I used La Tortilla Factory low-fat/low sodium)
1 avocado, sliced

Directions:
-Make the salsa first so it can sit while you're preparing the rest of the burritos.
-Mix the cilantro and lime juice for the rice. Start cooking the rice. You can toss it with the cilantro lime mixture right before you assemble the burritos.
-Over medium heat, coat the bottom of a saute pan with cooking spray and a few squirts of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" fat free spray. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes.
-Add the cumin and chili powder and mix well. Let cook a minute or two and add the butter. Mix well and cook until melted.
-Add the beans and chicken stock to the pan and mix well. bring to a simmer, turn the heat down to low, and simmer about 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
-finish the rice by mixing the cilantro lime mixture with the rice.
-Assemble the burritos. In the middle of the tortilla, layer the ingredients in whatever order you like (rice, beans, pico de gallo, avocado). Roll up and enjoy!

Balsamic and Tomato Roast Chicken

Balsamic and Tomato Roast Chicken

Apparently I went on a chicken binge at the grocery store and I needed to finish off the stockpile...and fast. I used some in my last post "It's Soy Simple" and I just finished off the rest using my favorite...eggplant! This recipe was so easy to put together. I added my own special touch of placing the eggplant/chicken dinner on top of Tofu Shirataki fettuccine. Remember my rant about the tofu noodles it in my curried shrimp post? To avoid repeating myself, you can checkout my shameless plug for the product at

http://make-it-healthy.blogspot.com/2010/03/martha-may-i-yes-you-may.html

Or, visit the company's website... House Foods Tofu Shirataki Fettuccine Shaped Noodle Substitute

Here is the recipe...including the Tofu Shirataki noodle addition. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 thick slices eggplant
4 chicken breast fillets (or thighs)
1 14 oz can whole peeled tomatoes (drained + quartered
2 tablespoons salted capers (rinsed)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup whole basil leaves (add in desired about of dried basil)
cracked black pepper
1 bag fettuccine Tofu Shirataki noodles

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the eggplant at the bottom of a baking dish and top each slice with a chicken breast/thigh Combine the tomatoes, capers, balsamic, oil and sugar and spread over the chicken
Add the 1/2 basil leaves and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Garnish with remaining basil and and pepper to taste.

Rinse and drain Tofu Shirataki noodles. Place in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 1 minute.
Place eggplant/chicken over a bed of noodles.

It's Soy Simple

Chicken and Eggs...on Rice

Because I'm Chinese now, I have all of these fun sauces in my pantry (that I never use) that my husband brings home. I was browsing through a list of recipes the other day and found this one for Oyako Donburi (a.k.a. Chicken and Egg on Rice)...and to my complete surprise...I already had ALL of the ingredients. I'm guessing that most of my fan base (and by "fan base" i pretty much just mean my mom) probably won't have these on hand...but I thought this recipe would be fun to post anyway! When I list the ingredients I'll list possible substitutes.

Ingredients:
1 cup white or brown rice
2 chicken thigh or breast fillets, cubed into large chunks
2 eggs (separate whites from yolk in different bowls)
1-2 spring onions (a.k.a. scallions), finely chopped and remove half for garnishing
1 small onion, diced or sliced into half rings

Simmer Sauce Ingredients:
1/2 cup dashi stock (OR, maybe 1/2 cup chicken stock would work)
1.5 tbsp mirin (mirin is a type of rice wine)
1 tbsp light Kikkoman soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce

* I didn't have dark soy sauce, so I just used 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp low sodium soy sauce.

Directions:

Cook 1 cup of rice ( I think it's 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups of water)

While rice is cooking...

Mix 1/2 cup water with appropriate amount of dashi (or chicken) stock. I used a little less than 1 tsp of the powder to yield 1/2 cup stock. Next, mix in mirin and soy sauce. Set aside.

Brown chicken chunks in the skillet...about 1 minute (do not cook thoroughly...YET) and remove. Brown onion and remove. Pour simmer sauce into pan and add in browned chicken and onion. Simmer until chicken is cooked all the way through. Add spring onion/scallion and simmer for about 1 minute. Pour egg white on top of chicken/onion mixture, cover, and simmer until egg is set.

Dish out desired amount of rice into a bowl, add desired amount of chicken/egg/onion mixture on top and create a hole in the middle. Add 1 egg yolk in the middle of the hole. Hot rice and chicken mixture will cook the yolk. Serve, eat, and enjoy.

When Sweet Met Salty

Chicken Teriyaki

If you've been keeping up with my blogs it would be pretty hard NOT to notice that Martha Stewart is my go-to girl. I've really never made anything of hers that didn't get pretty good reviews (I base my reviews on the amount of food left...or lack of... on the plate by the end of the meal). To make her food so yummy, she often uses ingredients that aren't waist- line "friendly" ...but, staying true to form, I just switch, change, and rearrange until I can make it as healthy as possible. I love...i mean LOVE the combination of sweet and salty. So, what could be better to satisfy that craving than anything teriyaki (or maybe some popcorn sprinkled with m&m's?)!? Here is my thunder thigh fighting, anti-artery clogging version of Chicken Teriyaki.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger

Coarse salt and ground pepper

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pounds total)

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Honey-Teriyaki Chicken and more delicious recipes, smart cooking tips, and video demonstrations on marthastewart.com

1

• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 2 tablespoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger (I think i used 1/2 tbsp...or maybe 1 tbsp max)
  
• ground pepper
• 8 bone-in, skin-on (but skin off is healthier) chicken thighs and/or drumsticks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. In a large bowl, mix honey, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat. Transfer chicken and sauce to baking sheet.
2. Bake chicken, skin side up (unless you made the healthy choice of taking skin off), basting occasionally with pan juices, until well browned and cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve chicken drizzled with pan juices.