Thai Peanut Noodles and Vegetables

This is a wonderful spicy, tangy, sweet and peanut-buttery sauce for vegetables, pasta, chicken, seafood or beef.

Spicy Thai Peanut sauce:
1-1 1/2 ts garlic ginger paste (jar)
1 TB rice wine vinegar
1 TB Asian spicy chili sauce
1 TB teriyaki marinade
1 - 1 1/2 ts brown splenda
1 -1 1/2 ts PB2 (peanut butter powder by BellPlanatation)
1/4 cp low-sodium, ff chicken broth
optionally: 1 ts lime juice

1 cp vegetable
2 oz Fibergourmet fettucini

Heat the garlic ginger paste in a saute pan for 1/2 min. Add the remaining ingredients for the sauce, mix, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat. After boiling for 1-2 min, the sauce will reduce to a thick consistency. Add vegetable, and heat through. Serve over fettucini!

Baked Penne in Tomato Sauce with Cheese Crust

2 oz fiber gourmet penne
1/3 onion, diced
1/2 garlic clove, grated
1 TB tomato paste
1 TB low-fat ricotta
a few basil leaved, thinly sliced
1/4 cp low-sodium chicken stock
salt, pepper to taste
1 laughing cow cheese wedge (any flavor), cut in small cubes

Cook penne in salted water for ca. 8 min. Meanwhile, sautee onion and garlic in olive oil. Add tomato paste, ricotta, chicken stock and basil, and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat for 2 min, and turn off the heat.

Drain cooked pasta, and fill into a baking dish. Layer sauce on top, and distributed LC cheese on top. Bake at 450F for 8-10 min in toaster oven, until cheese melted and slightly browned.

200kcal.

Giant Butter Beans in Smokey Tomato Sauce

1/2 garlic clove, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 fresh tomato, diced
sprinkle of extra-virgin olive oil (@Wholefoods Market)
1/2 15oz can butter beans, rinsed (150kcal) (Goya brand)
1/3 can plum tomatoes (whole)
2/3 cp low sodium, ff chicken stock
1 ts Herbs de Provence
1/2 ts smoked paprika
1 TB Morningstar Farm meal starter crumbles
salt, pepper to taste

Sautee garlic, tomato and onion in olive oil. Add herbs de provence, and butter beans. Stir, add canned tomatoes, and break them up with a laddle. Add smokey paprika and chicken stock. Stir, and simmer on very low heat for 30 min. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

(220kcal)

Italian Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil

1 oz of wholewheat rotini (I use Ronzini Healthy Harvest)
1 large fresh tomato
1 oz mozzarella, cubed
5 fresh basil leaves (large ones)
1 garlic clove, microplaned
1/2 ts good olive oil
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt, pepper
1/2 cup of passata di pomodori


Cook pasta according to instructions. Meanwhile, cube tomato, mozzarella and basil and fill into a larger bowl. On the stove, heat the olive oil and add the garlic. Saute only 30 sec (burns easily) and add the passata, salt and pepper, and heat through. Also add the lemon zest. 1 min before the pasta is done, pour the tomato sauce over the fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, and stir. Then add the drained pasta, and 2 TB of preserved hot pasta water. Mix through, and serve!

1 lunch entree (200 kcal)

Red Current Cheese Cake

Cake base layer:
1/4 cup Krusteaz pancake mix
1/4 cp vanilla soy slender milk
1 Tbsp egg whites (or eggbeaters)
¼ ts vanilla
¼ ts baking soda

Cheese cake filling
4 TB lf quark (or ff greek yogurt)
1/2 ts vanilla
1 TB eggwhites (or eggbeaters)
1 TB splenda
1/2 TB Krusteaz pancake mix

Red current topping:
1/2 cp frozen or fresh red currents
1/2 ts vanilla
1 TB Torani SF Raspberry syrup

Make the batter and the fillings in three separate bowls. For the cheese cake filling, mix quark and other ingredients until it is a really smooth, creamy texture. Mix the red current topping with the vanilla and the raspberry syrup.

Fill all batter in a larger single, sprayed spring form or divide it between a small sprayed spring form and a small metal pan for more dessert size cheese cakes. Bake at 400F for 5 min. Take out of oven, pour cheese filling over solid surface of the cake base, and pour red current filling on top of cheese filling. Bake for another 20 min at 400F. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

This a entire breakfast or 2 desserts. (250kcal for breakfast)

For a simple version of quark, you can also strain yogurt.

French Lentil Stew

1 ts olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
Freshly ground black pepper, salt
1 large garlic clove, microplaned
1/2 can of diced tomatoes (no salt) or 1 cp of canned cherry tomatoes (WholeFoods brand)
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalked, diced
2 bell peppers ( red, green), diced
1/2 summer squash, diced
1/4 cup red wine
fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme and several bay leaves)
3/4 cp french lentils, dried
1 rapunzel vegetable bouillon cube, dissolved in 1 cup of hot water

Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil. Add all the vegetables (besides the lentils), and sautee for 5 min. Add red wine, and sautee until the liquid is evaporated. Add herbs, lentils and bouillon. Simmer at low heat for 30 min.

Makes 8 servings a 110 kcal.

Tangy Wheatberry Salad with Salmon

This salad has been my favorite for a while at the Wholefoods salad bar.... a tangy wheatberry salad. This is my reinvention of it, a perfect and healthy side to fish and chicken. In this meal, a Trader Joe's salmon patty (80kcal) and some summer squash and cherry tomatoes.

1 TB tamari
1/2 ts sesame oil
1 TB balsamic vinegar
2 TB fruity olive oil
4 scallions, sliced
1/4 cp dried cranberries
1/4 cp pecans, toasted
1/2 red onion, diced

Cook in vegetable broth until al dente:
1/4 cp japonica rice
1/4 cp wild rice mix
1/2 cp wheat berries

Mix all ingredients, add some lemon juice, chill and serve as a side as 1/4 cup (ca. 100kcal).

Healthy Cookies

For a christmas tea, I was looking for something that is not necessarily low-cal, but at least very healthy, and very tasty, of course. These cookies are flour-less, egg-less, butter-less and almost sugar-less, thus, vegan and low-glycemic, but they taste like out of this world.

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a food processor, ground the almonds to a fine, sand-like consistency. In a little sauce pan, melt the coconut oil to a liquid consistency (don't really heat, just melt). Add to the food processor. Also, peel the bananas, break into pieces and add to the food processor. Add vanilla, shredded coconut, cinnamon, and salt. First pulse, then mix the ingredients to a mousse-like consistency.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, and baking powder. Add the wet ingredients from the food processor and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, that's ok. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 1 tablespoon in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or silicon mat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 14 - 16 minutes. I baked them until I could see some light brown coloring on the oats.

makes about 60 cookies a 50 kcal.

Bucatini with Spicy Turkey Bolognese

Pasta:
2 oz bucatini, cooked al dente

Bolognese sauce:
1/2 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 oz ground turkey meat
1/2 ts anchovy paste
salt, pepper, rosemary
1 TB balsamic vinegar
1/2 cp chopped tomatoes
1/2 cp spicy ajvar (roasted red pepper spread) or Trader Joe's red pepper spread


Heat a large enough skillet with some olive oil spray, add the onion, garlic and the anchovy paste. The anchovy paste will dissolve. Once onions are slightly browned, add the ground turkey and brown. Then, add salt, pepper, and rosemary (dried or fresh) and the chopped tomatoes. Stir well, and sautee for 5 min. Add the balsamic vinegar and the ajvar, heat another 3 minutes. Serve with the bucatini.

1 dinner entree + 2 veggie servings

Chocolate Amaretto Cake

This is one of my favorite cakes in the real-world, and this is a single-serving, skinny version of it. It required a bit more effort, but is well worth it, a luxurious amaretto chocolate coffee cake.

2 Tbsp Heart Smart Bisquick
7 baby amaretti cookies (0.5 oz) , ground
1 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp any whey
2 Tbsp Splenda
1/2 Tbsp slivered or sliced almonds
2 Tbsp FF milk
¼ Tbsp Parkey FF butter spread
¼ cup egg beaters
1/2 ts almond extract
1 ts fresh orange zest

Preheat toaster over to 400F.

This cake is best prepared in a small food processor. First, add the amaretti cookies and ground them to a fine powder, then add heartsmart bisquick, splenda and mix in the blender. Then work in the wet ingredients including the almond extract and the orange peel. Mix to a liquid like consistency (it's very liquidy, don't worry). Fill into a small sprayed spring form, and bake for 15-20 min.

Remove from oven, and cool for 5 min, and serve!

(215 kcal)

Peach Oatmeal Cookies

1 NS maple sugar oatmeal
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 c Fiber One bran (pulsed in food processor)
1 ts brown splenda
2 dried peach halves, diced
2 TB egg beaters
1 ts Parkay spreadable butter
1 TB (real) maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix all dry ingredients in small bowl, then add in wet ingredients and combine well. Scoop cookies on to sprayed baking sheet; it made six reasonably sized cookies for me. Bake cookies until lightly browned and slightly crispy (ca 12 min).

1 breakfast entree + 1 fruit



Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

1 NS maple sugar oatmeal
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 c Fiber One bran (pulsed in food processor)
1 ts brown splenda
1 TB dried cranberries
2 TB egg beaters
1 ts Parkay spreadable butter

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix all dry ingredients in small bowl, then add in wet ingredients and combine well. Scoop cookies on to sprayed baking sheet; it made six reasonably sized cookies for me. Bake cookies until lightly browned and slightly crispy (ca 12 min).

Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatos and Tapende

One of my all-time favorites.

1.5 oz orecchiette
1 cp fire-roasted tomatoes
1/3 red onion, diced
1 ts olive oil
1 ts fresh thyme
1 TB lkalamata tapenade

Tapenade:
1 cp marinated, pitted kalamata olives
2 TB cured kalamata olives
2 TB capers
1/4 cp fruity olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 TB dried oregano
fresh ground pepper
optionally: 1 ts anchovy paste

Mix all tapenade ingredients in a food processor.

Cook pasta in a pot of boiling water. In a saute pan, heat olive oil and saute onions slightly. After 3 min, add the diced fire roasted tomatoes and fresh thyme. Saute for 3 min. Add 1/2 cp of hot pasta water, and simmer the sauce. Once the orecchiette is al dente, add it to the pasta sause. Mix in the tapenade, and serve!

1 serving 250 kcal

Lobster Saffron Pasta

Some days, you just need to be spoiled....... this is a dish for it. Quick, flavorful, luxurious and even skinny.....

1 oz spaghetti
4 oz cooked lobster meat
2 TB light cream
1 TB cognac
a few strands of saffron
salt, pepper

Cook pasta according to instructions. Meanwhile, heat lobster in mixture of light cream and cognac and a bit of vegetable stock. Add saffron, mix, and just heat up. Take off heat. Once pasta is al dente, add pasta to pan with lobster sauce, mix and heat again. Serve !

(250kcal)

Skinny Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup

Copy cat version of the chicken enchilada soup at the Chilli's restaurant.....

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 chicken breast fillet
1/2 diced onion
1 garlic clove, grated
1 jalapeno, diced
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup masa harina
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup enchilada sauce
handful frozen veggies (corn, beans, etc.)
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
5 slices ff Kraft cheddar cheese, shredded
salt, to taste
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 bay leaves

Garnish (optional)

shredded cheddar cheese
crumbled corn tortilla chips
marinated jalapeno peppers
pico de gallo or salsa

Add oil to a large pot over medium heat, and add (thawed or fresh chicken breast to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes per side. Set chicken aside. Add onions, jalapeno pepper and garlic to pot and sauté over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until onions begin to become translucent, then add chicken broth.

Combine masa harina with water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended. Add masa mixture to pot with onions, garlic and broth. Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices to pot and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 min until thickened. Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot.

Serve soup in cups, and garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled corn tortilla chips, and pico de gallo. Enjoy!

This makes 4 servings a 150 kcal.

the in-restaurant version.....

Roasted Pumpkin with Blue Cheese Crumbles and Candied Pecans

Today, I had a wonderful lunch. The carved pumpkin had its night to shine and lure the tricker treaters, and this morning it returned to its original purpose. I cut some large slices, and baked them in the oven at 400F with salt, pepper and herbs des provence and some olive oil.

Once they were tender, I serve them with 1 tablespoon of crumbled blue cheese, 1 ts of candied pecans and 1/4 cup of farro, which I had simmered for 20 min in College Inn Thai Flavored Chicken stock (yum!).