I'm Sorry

Dear Blog Friends,


I have to apologize.  I have not added any blogs since last May. I have made excuse after excuse to myself.  First I told myself that no one cooks in the summer, it is too hot and we all grill.  Then I decided to retire so work became a little hectic and I just put blogging on the back burner.  But the truth is blogging is hard work.  However, I have decided to bite the bullet and try again with this new recipe.


As you know from my previous blogs, I am constantly trying to find ways to make meals that are lower in calories, but edible.  Lately I have been making Eggplant Parmigiana.  Normally this is considered a high calorie dish because the eggplant is fried.  However, I have been making the lower calorie version below.


Directions:

Start with one nice firm eggplant. Cut the top and bottom off the eggplant and slice the eggplant into eighth inch rounds (I like to peel the skin off using a potato peeler - but you can leave the skin on).  Dip the eggplant slices one at a time into a beaten egg and then into a mixture of plain bread crumbs seasoned with pepper, dried basil and dried parsley (the bread crumbs and all the other recipe ingredients already contain salt).  Add the coated eggplant to a non stick frying pan that has been sprayed liberally with vegetable spray.  Brown the eggplant slices on both sides.

Now here is where I cheat.

Layer the bottom of 10 by 13 glass baking dish with some of Dave's Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce (I bought it at Stew Leonard's because I am a sucker for new products and I must tell you it is delicious). 

http://store.davesgourmet.com/productdetails.asp?productcode=dabps+conv

Place a layer of eggplant over the sauce.  Top the eggplant with a heaping layer of the butternut squash pasta sauce and sprinkle with low fat shredded mozzarella cheese.  Continue layering the eggplant, sauce and mozzarella cheese until all the eggplant has been used.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese.  Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Uncover the baking dish and bake another 15 minutes. 



Nutritional information:
Per CalorieKing.com, Eggplant Parmigiana has 504 calories and 1471 mg of sodium per serving.

How did this version stack up? 



Butternut Squash Pasta sauce  100 calories and 360 mg sodium per serving
Eggplant 20 calories and 0 mg sodium per serving
Bread Crumbs 110 calories and  200 mg sodium per serving (unless you get the no sodium version)

Part skim shredded mozzarella cheese  80 calories and 170 mg sodium per serving
Grated Parmesan cheese  20 calories and 70 mg sodium per serving.


Total 330 calories and 600 to 800 mg sodium per serving


Try it and let me know if you like as much as we do.

Never Buy Store Made Again

Summer is coming and what better side dish than cole slaw.  Unfortunately, store bought cole slaw is 230 calories for a 1/2 cup serving with 10 mg of cholesterol per serving.  Until recently it made sense to buy store made cole slaw because home made was really a chore.  Now with the advent of bagged salads, making your own home made cole slaw is a breeze.   To make the cole slaw, empty 1 bag of cole slaw (about 6 cups) into a large bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of Helmann's light mayonnaise (140 calories), 2 packets Splenda, 3 TB lemon juice.  At this point you can get creative -- add a tsp of Dijon Mustard or a tsp of White Horse Radish for a little zing -- and whisk all the ingredients together. 

Pour the mayonnaise mixture over the cole slaw, mix well and enjoy.

This recipe makes about 10 servings with 50 calories per serving vs the 230 calories in the store bought version!

A True 30 Minute Meal

First of all I need to apologize to all my fans for not updating this blog sooner.  Passover came and went and there were really no new and exciting recipes to write about.  Now that things have calmed down I am ready to share one of my favorite true 30 minute easy, low-calorie meals.  One problem that I have with the TV cooking shows is that I can never complete even one of dishes in 30 minutes, much less an entire meal.  Sometimes I don't even have all the ingredients. However, this dish  can be made with what I consider staples.  I usually keep several varieties of Chicken Sausage (I get the lowest calorie per serving I can find) in my freezer along with different frozen vegetables that I have bought on sale.  You will also need one onion, a clove of garlic and left over wine (I used white) or beer.  The original recipe for Sausage, Potato and Green Bean Stew called for 2 Italian style sausages and 2 small red potatoes per person, one onion, 1 package of whole green beans, 1tsp dried thyme and 1/2 cup water.  For my dish I used 2 Chicken Sausages (any style) per person.  I browned the sausages on my non-stick pan, minced the garlic, cut the onion into eighths and added those to the pan.  I let everything brown for a few minutes.  I placed frozen spinach (you can use any frozen green vegetable) on top.  If you have potatoes wash and cut them into quarters and place them on top of the spinach.  In a measuring cup mix together 1/2 cup of white wine, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp cumin.  Pour  this mixture into the pot, cover, bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.  Calorie wise the Chicken Sausage has about 90 calories for a 2.4 ounce link, and three ounces of red potato has about 60 calories, so if you have two sausages and one potato it is less than 250 calories per serving. The cumin and white wine gives the dish a wonderfully smoky flavorful taste that the original recipe was missing.

Simply Brisket

I have been looking at the Passover recipes on various blogs and the brisket recipes are really complicated.  Here is my version of Passover Brisket which has 5 ingredients.  It is better made the day before the Seder and allowed to steep in the cooking juices overnight.  Also doing this makes it easier to skim off the excess fat.

When you buy the brisket get pieces that are not much bigger than 2 1/2 pounds each.  I have found that using 5 or 6 pound briskets produces tough results.  For this Passover I have purchased 2 2 3/4 pound briskets.  Use a shallow roasting pan that is only large enough to hold the meat.  Line the roasting pan with aluminum foil.  Wash and pat the meat dry and put into the pan.  In a small bowl, for each brisket,  mix together 1 entire package of onion soup mix 1 tablespoon mustard powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 2 tablespoons of olive oil (gotta keep this as healthy as possible) so that it forms a thick paste.  Spread the paste over the first brisket, prepare a second batch the same way and spread it over the second brisket.  Tightly cover the briskets with a second piece of aluminum foil. If you have prepared this a day or two before the Seder put the pan into the refrigerator overnight.  For this year I am hosting the second night.  I will prepare the meat mixture on Sunday night, refrigerate and cook the brisket on Monday.  I'm not sure if the onion soup mixture acts as a marinade, but I have found that the brisket is tastier when I do it this way.  When you are ready to cook the brisket, place it in a 325 degree oven for 2 1/2 to three hours.  Let the brisket cool before slicing. Skim the excess fat off the sauce and serve.  Enjoy!

Miriam's Fluffy Matzo Balls

Passover is coming and there are probably as many versions of matzo balls as there are Seders.  I will share the one that I have been making for years because it results in really fluffy matzo balls.  I start with the basic Manischewitz matzo ball recipe that I cut off an orange Manischewitz Matzo Meal box many, many years ago. I am linking to this recipe so that you can see how food preparation has changed in the last twenty years.  The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of melted fat.  Now in Jewish terminology, that means liquid chicken fat, better  known as schmaltz.  Schmaltz is the most flavorful fat there is, but it is a definite no-no.  Instead of schmaltz, I use olive oil, not as exciting but better for you.  To get the matzo balls fluffy, substitute three tablespoons of plain seltzer (yes plain seltzer) for the water or chicken stock.  While you are waiting for the water to boil, place the matzo meal mixture into the freezer, not the refrigerator, to chill (I never bother to cover the mixing bowl) for about fifteen minutes.  When the water has come to a boil, take the mixture out of the freezer.  There may be some ice crystals on the side, but just incorporate them into the one inch balls you are forming from the mixture.  I am not sure if the freezing makes the matzo balls extra fluffy but I have always done this.  

To cook the matzo balls, fill a two or three-quart pot with 1 1/2 quarts of slightly salted water (if desired) and bring to a brisk boil.  Reduce flame and into the slightly boiling water, drop balls approximately 1 inch in diameter formed from the mixture. Cover pot and cook 30 to 40 minutes.  

Have soup at room temperature or warmer and remove matzo balls from water and place in soup pot.

When ready to serve, allow soup to simmer for about 5 minutes.

You, my readers, will have to tell me what you think after you make your own matzo balls.

In case you are wondering about the calorie count, this recipe makes about eight matzo balls with approximately 150 calories per serving of  2 matzo balls.

Manischewitz Matzo Balls Recipe by Western Foods

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons melted fat or oil - use olive oil instead
• 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup Manischewitz® Matzo Meal
• 2 tablespoons soup stock or water - substitute 3 tablespoons of plain seltzer
• 1 teaspoon salt, if desired    

                    

                                                                                                                      

How Low Can You Go - Limbo Low Limbo High

Sometimes when I am working on these recipes I feel that I am dancing the Limbo.  For example, I read Clean Eating Magazine which has very interesting recipes, but they are not always low in calories.  My daughter recently made Moroccan Chickpea Salad from the March 2011 issue of Clean Eating Magazine which has 254 calories in a 1 cup serving.  Well I don't know about you but a 1 cup serving would not even begin to fill me up, so I decided to see "How Low I Can Go" revamping this one.

As you look over the ingredients, you will notice that I am chopping the vegetables. Chopping softer vegetables like these is an easy job if you own an onion chopper like the one below.  It not only chops onions, it does a great job on garlic, cucumbers, radishes and baby carrots.  Just don't use it on tomatoes or lettuce. 

Ingredients for about 3 large servings:
Salad
2- 3 green leaf lettuce leaves chopped
1/2 cup baby carrots chopped
3 green onions, thinly sliced
3 radishes chopped
1 kirby cucumber chopped
2 handfuls grape tomatoes
1/2 cup canned chick peas
Sprinkling of fat free feta cheese
For the Dressing mix together the following
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp lite salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
pinch cayenne pepper

Assemble the salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour the dressing over.

                              

Calories per serving about 125 based on the following calorie count:   
1/2 cup chick peas 100
1 1/2 tbsp oil 150 calories
4oz grape tomatoes 30
4 oz baby carrots 40
1 oz fat free feta cheese 60

Eat Your Greens

We have been all told to "Eat Our Greens", but frankly eating them is ugh.  Finding a good recipe is difficult.  My son, the Vegetarian, loves Swiss Chard.  He told me he sautees the Swiss Chard in garlic and oil and then drizzles some lemon juice on it.  I followed his directions and well frankly - yuk!  I did not like it.  Then, I found this recipe in the March 19 Wall Street Journal and decided to give eating exotic greens another try.  But there were some obstacles, I did not have Wild Halibut,  I could not find Sorrel in the stores and I don't like steamed fish.  But that did not stop me from trying to make a healthy adaptation of this recipe.  My recipe serves 2, and since I like alot of sauce on my foods, I did not halve the sauce recipe.

I started with 2 six-ounce Haddock fillets.  I soaked the fish in an egg white bath.  Meanwhile, I poured 1/3 cup of cornmeal (I prefer yellow) into a plastic bag with a few shakes of Lemon Pepper seasoning and dredged the fish fillets in the cornmeal.  I heated up my skillet and sprayed it with Pam cooking spray.   I added the 2 fillets to the hot pan and then drizzled 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil into the pan and let it run under the fillets to give them a bit of a crunch.  I turned once and then added the second 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan following the same procedure.  This way I sauteed the fish without using alot of oil.  I turned the oven on to 350 degrees and while the fillets were cooking lined a small aluminum baking dish with foil and sprayed it.  I transferred the fillets to the baking dish and placed them in the oven while I prepared the sauce.

For the sauce I decided to be brave and bought about 3/4 pound of Swiss Chard.  I cleaned it and cut it into 3/4-inch strips.  Since I have started this blog, I have been treating myself to some new cooking utensils.  So I pulled out my brand new Calphalon  21/2 quart saute pan (Bed Bath and Beyond had a $39.95 special - plus I used my 20% off coupon).  I sprayed the pan with Pam spray and about 10 sprays of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray for the buttery flavor.  I added the garlic, thyme (dried of course) and Swiss Chard, let it cook until the garlic was translucent.  Next I added the wine and covered the pan and let it simmer for a few minutes.  After that I added 1/2 cup of bottled clam juice (available in Shop-Rite and other local supermarkets) and let the it cook for another 4-5 minutes.  At this point I turned off the oven so that the fish would not over cook.  Instead of 1/2 cup of heavy cream (100 calories and  40 mg of cholesterol per serving), I used 1/2 cup of Fat Free Half and Half (20 calories 0 mg of cholesterol per serving) to turn the sauce into a something that my cardiologist would approve of.  I followed the remaining directions substituting I Can't Believe It's Not Butter for the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoon of butter.  If you would rather use butter, then Land O' Lakes Light Whipped Butter has only 45 calories per tablespoon vs the 100 calories in every tablespoon of butter.  Whatever you decide to do, this recipe is a definite keeper and changed my mind about "Eating my Greens".

Matt Dillon's Steamed Wild Halibut With Sorrel Sauce | Slow Food Fast - WSJ.com