Jalapeno Poppers

I have been on a Jalapeno Popper kick lately.  Although they are soooo delicious store bought they aren’t as healthy as I would like.  Therefore I set off to find a healthier version of them.   In one of my health magazines I found a recipe for them for 144 calories for 2.  The are called Gooey Jalapeno Poppers and they are from the cookbook “Now Eat This!” by Rocco DiSpirito.   They are made with reduced-fat whipped cream cheese and 75% fat free cheese.   I have already made them twice since I have found the recipe and they are awesome! Enjoy!

-K

Quinoa with Roasted Garlic, Tomatoes, and Spinach

Once again, I decided to try a recipe out from my new August Cooking Light.  Tonight, I made Quinoa with Roasted Garlic, Tomatoes, and Spinach.  This is a side dish but my roommate and I doubled the recipe and made it for 2 meals.   I have never cooked with quinoa and I didn’t even know where to find it in the grocery store (which is rare because I know everything in my grocery store).   I had to call my mom to ask her where she would find her quinoa.  Apparently I was pronouncing it wrong (pronounced KEEN-Wah.)  I eventually found it in the organic sections (where would we be without super moms!)

Roasting the garlic is pretty easy- just peel some of the papery skin off and then cut it half (so you are basically cutting every piece of garlic in half.)  Next, wrap it in aluminum foil and bake for an hour at 350 degrees.  The recipe it pretty simple and besides the hour it takes the roast the garlic, it is pretty quick.   It was so good that I ate my serving for tomorrows lunch!   Oops!

I used an onion instead of shallots because I already had one, and the garlic bunch in the picture is not a whole one because the whole one is in the oven during this picture.   I also used Pecorino Romano cheese instead of parm because I like it better.

Enjoy!

-K

Potato Latkes

My boyfriend loves potato pancakes, so I decided I would attempt to make them for him on Friday.   I picked a recipe from my newest Cooking Light cookbook,  “Cooking Light Way to Cook”  because it was a little healthier than classic recipes.  They turned out really good, but I didn’t have a working camera this weekend, so no pictures :(.

Basic Potato Latkes

2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled

1 small onion (about 6 ounces), peeled

1/4 cup egg substitute

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons canola oil, divided

1. Shred potato and onion using the shredding blade of a food processor (I don’t have this so I just used a box grater.) Combine shredded potato and onion in a colander over a large bowl, tossing well to combine.   Let mixture stand 15 minutes, pressing occasionally with the back of a spoon until most of the liquid drains off.  Remove colander from bowl. Carefully pour off the potato liquid, reserving thick white layer of potato starch in the bottom of the bowl.  Discard potato liquid.

2.  Combine egg substitute and next 3 ingredients in small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Add egg mixture to potato starch in large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Add potato mixture and parsley to bowl,  tossing well to combine.

3. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to pan, swirling to coat.   Add potato mixture in 1/4 cupfuls to pan to form 6 latkes; flatten slightly.  Cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Remove latkes from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil and remaining potato mixture.  Yield: 6 servings  (serving size: 2 latkes)

Calories 208; fat 7.2g; protein 4.9g; carb 32.3g; fiver 2.6g; chol 0 mg.

Enjoy!

-K

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Another appetizer I made for the Superbowl is Spinach Artichoke Dip.  This is a recipe from the Cooking Light Cookbook,  I changed the ingredients a little because I don’t like the taste of fat free sour cream and cream cheese.  But if you want to make a healthier version use fat free sour cream and replace one of the blocks of reduced fat cream cheese with fat free cream cheese.   Serve this appetizer with tortilla chips or toasted pieces of French bread.

Ingredients

2  cups  (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2  cup  light sour cream

1/4  cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided

1/4  teaspoon  black pepper

3  garlic cloves, crushed

1  (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2  (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened

1/2  (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and next 6 ingredients  in a large bowl, and stir until well-blended. Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

-K

Guacamole

One of my favorite appetizer to make for get-togethers is guacamole. It is incredibly easy to make and it is always a hit. Tonight for the Superbowl, I made this guacamole and it was fantastic! The recipe I use is from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook “Anyone Can Cook.”

Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 medium very ripe avocados, halved, seeded, peeled, and cut up

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1 tablespoon snipped cilantro or parsley

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 clove garlic, minced

2/3 cup finely shopped, seeded tomato (1 large) optional

Tortilla chips

Directions:

Place all the ingredients in a large resealable plastic bag. Once all the ingredients are in (besides the tortilla chips), seal the plastic bag, then squeeze and knead the bag until all the ingredients are in a almost smooth consistency (I leave it a little chunky because that is the way I like my guacamole.) When you have the desired consistency, cut the corner of the bag off and squeeze the guac into a bowl. Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

-K

Roasted Asparagus

I love asparagus so every time it is on sale at my grocery store I like to buy it and make a meal out of it.  To make roasted asparagus

Ingredients:

1 pound of asparagus

1-2 tsp of olive oil

Course Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash asparagus and break of the tough bottom part off, about 1-2 inches should break off.  Place the asparagus on the baking sheet and drizzle them with olive oil.  Then roll the asparagus around so that they are evenly coated with olive oil.  Salt and pepper them to your liking.  Place baking sheet in heated oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes.   Taste one after 15 minutes to see if they are soft enough, if not put them back in for a couple more minutes at a time (Don’t burn your mouth,  they are HOT!). 

Enjoy!

-K

Lemony Green Beans

I made these green beans the other day but didn’t have time to post about them.  This is a recipe that is from Cooking Light Magazine and goes with a recipes for Fresh Tomato, Sausage, and Pecorino Pasta.   It instantly became one of my favorite recipes for green beans and I cook them about every week. 

Lemony Green Beans:

Steam 1 pound trimmed green beans 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Drain and rise with cold water; drain and place in a bowl.  Add 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind, I tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 ½ teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper, toss well.

 Sorry no pictures,  they basically look like green beans with lemon zest on them. 🙂

Enjoy!

-K

Sweet Potato French Fries

Sorry everyone for not posting in so long, My heat is finally fixed and it is now full blast in my apartment for a hot and uncomfortable 97.8 degrees (not really but that’s what it feels like to me).   What have I been making lately? Lean cuisines and leftovers because that is about as long as I can stay in my kitchen without passing out from the heat.   Yesterday my roommate and I decided to make some Sweet Potato French Fries despite the heat. They were as always… delicious.  I don’t really follow a recipe for these but I let you in on how the awesomeness is made.

Sweet Potato French Fries

Ingredients

3-5 sweet potatoes

Olive Oil cooking spray

Salt

Pepper

Ketchup (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.   Wash the sweet potatoes and cut the ends off.   Then cut the sweet potatoes into wedges (we keep the skin on).  You can make them as thick as you want; we made ours closer to steak fries thick.   Place the cut up potatoes on a baking sheet and spray liberally with olive oil spray.  You want to make sure both sides are coated, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper to your liking.  Cook them for about 20-30 minutes until done, turned them over with a spatula occasionally.  Serve with ketchup or whatever you want to put on your fries.

Enjoy!

-K

Hot Baked Potatoes!

My heat was still broken when I got home from work today and my apartment was about 45 degrees. I was planning to make Indian-Inspired Butternut Squash from my newest Cooking Light Cookbook, but my hands were so cold I thought I might accidently cut them off while cutting a butternut squash. So I opted for left over Minestra soup from the other night and a baked potato. I use to make bake potatoes by putting them in the microwave for like 7-8 minutes. My mom showed me how to make them in the oven though and they are about a hundreds time better.
Directions:
Take however many potatoes (I use baking potatoes/russets) that you want, preheat the oven to about 475 F, and then wash the potatoes. Next you want to prick some holes in the potatoes with a fork all around and place them directly on the oven rack, no cooking sheet needed. Then cook the potatoes for about an hour. Take them out of the oven with oven mitts on, unless your hands were freezing like mine (kidding). Then cut a slit in the top (going the long way) open the potato and mash it up. I eat mine with chives, a little light cheddar cheese, light sour cream, light butter, and salt and pepper. Mmmmm

Enjoy!

-K