Elote

I'm not sure why we tried this dish, however I'm glad we did. It is now easy to see why the Mexicans are catching up to the US in terms of obesity. I mean, it never occurred to me to put mayo on corn.

It really sounds gross, but it is oh so good!

Elote

Photo by ALB

Grilled corn on the cob is a popular street food in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 ears shucked corn
Cooking spray

Preparation
Prepare grill. Combine mayonnaise and juice in a small bowl. Combine cheese and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in another small bowl. (We combine everything (Mayo through salt) in 1 bowl.)
Place corn on a grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill corn 12 minutes or until tender, turning frequently. Remove corn from grill; brush with mayonnaise mixture, and sprinkle with cheese mixture. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 ear of corn)

CALORIES 145 (17% from fat); FAT 2.8g (sat 0.8g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 5.7g; CHOLESTEROL 3mg; CALCIUM 34mg; SODIUM 227mg; FIBER 4.3g; IRON 0.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 29g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2006

Salsa Chicken

No, this isn't the recipe that floats all over WeWa about chicken in the crockpot. D doesn't like meat in a crockpot, so you won't catch many recipes here with it.

Anyway, this is a go to dish as we usually always have the ingredients on hand.

Salsa Chicken

Photo by ALB

Ingredients
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 teaspoons taco seasoning
Cooking spray
2/3 cup bottled salsa
2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1 (4-ounce) can whole green chiles, drained and thinly sliced
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons sliced ripe olives (we don't use)


Preparation
Preheat oven to 475°.
Combine chicken and seasoning in a medium bowl, tossing to coat. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook for 4 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Arrange chicken in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray; top with salsa, cheese, and chiles. Bake at 475° for 8 minutes or until chicken is done and cheese is melted. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream and 1 1/2 teaspoons olives.


Yield: 4 servings

CALORIES 207 (15% from fat); FAT 3.5g (sat 1.4g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 33.4g; CHOLESTEROL 71mg; CALCIUM 130mg; SODIUM 587mg; FIBER 2.1g; IRON 1.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 9.5g

Cooking Light, APRIL 2004

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Creamy Walnut Sauce

This recipe looked interesting when it was done. The Sauce was not creamy, but looked like hummus. Couldn't tell you why.

D cooked the spinach, and we had with basmati rice. It was really good. Reminded me of Chicken in Mushroom sauce (like cream of mushroom). I liked it a lot. Will have again.

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Creamy Walnut Sauce

2 (1 1/2-ounce) slices day-old white bread
1 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
6 cups fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Trim crusts from bread. Chop bread; combine bread and broth in a small bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Combine bread mixture, walnuts, parsley leaves, juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, red pepper, and garlic in a food processor; process until smooth.

Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

Heat olive oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 7 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add chicken broth mixture to pan; cook until hot and slightly thickened, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.

To serve, place 1 cup spinach on each of 6 plates. Place 1 chicken breast half on each serving; top each with about 2 1/2 tablespoons sauce. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon chopped parsley over each serving.

Yield: 6 servings

CALORIES 286 (24% from fat); FAT 7.6g (sat 1.4g,mono 1.8g,poly 3.2g); PROTEIN 42.4g; CHOLESTEROL 100mg; CALCIUM 59mg; SODIUM 586mg; FIBER 2.6g; IRON 2.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 11.5g

Cooking Light, MAY 2006

Cumin-Crusted Pork Soft Tacos

Well D halved the recipe for this one. It was really very good. We didn't use the sour cream or chipotles, because I left the sour cream at the grocery store in the dairy section (it wasn't on the list). However, even with out it we devoured our portions. I really liked the salsa.

We had with yellow rice.

Cumin-Crusted Pork Soft Tacos

Lightly coat the tortillas with cooking spray before heating to keep them from splitting. They can also be heated in a grill pan. Garnish with sliced green onions, if desired.

Pork:
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil

Salsa:
2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
1 cup quartered grape tomatoes
1 cup cubed peeled avocado
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

Remaining ingredients:
2 cups reduced-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped
30 (6-inch) corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 425°.
To prepare pork, combine first 5 ingredients. Rub cumin mixture over pork. Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 4 minutes or until browned on all sides. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155°. Remove pork from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut pork across grain into thin slices.
To prepare salsa, combine corn and next 7 ingredients (through beans).
Combine sour cream and chipotle in a blender; process until smooth.
Wrap tortillas, 3 at a time, in a damp paper towel. Microwave at high 20 seconds. Spoon about 1 ounce pork onto each tortilla. Top each tortilla with about 2 tablespoons salsa and about 2 teaspoons sour cream mixture. Fold in half.


Yield: 15 servings (serving size: 2 tacos)

CALORIES 345 (29% from fat); FAT 11.1g (sat 4g,mono 4.1g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 24.6g; CHOLESTEROL 68mg; CALCIUM 157mg; SODIUM 427mg; FIBER 5.8g; IRON 2.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2005

African Chicken in Spicy Red Sauce

Yum! We had this for Easter. It was a bit spicy, but the chicken was really good. D said it was pretty easy to make. We probably could put another meat in this besides chicken as well, if we wanted to.

I couldn't find Cardamon at Kroger, but it was at Whole Foods.

We had with basmati rice.

African Chicken in Spicy Red Sauce

Photo by ALB

Chicken:

2 chicken breast halves, skinned (about 1/2 pound)

2 chicken drumsticks, skinned (about 1/2 pound)

2 chicken thighs, skinned (about 3/4 pound)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

Cooking spray

1 1/2 cups chopped onion (2 medium)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons Berbere (see below for directions)

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 (6-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato paste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

4 lemon wedges

Place chicken in a shallow dish; drizzle with juice, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; cook 5 minutes (do not brown), stirring frequently. Add 2 teaspoons Berbere, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, butter, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom; cook 1 minute. Add wine, broth, and tomato paste; stir until well blended. Add chicken mixture; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until chicken is tender, turning chicken occasionally. Stir in cilantro. Serve with lemon wedges.

Note: Nutritional analysis includes 1 teaspoon Berbere per serving.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces chicken, about 1 cup sauce, and 1 lemon wedge)

CALORIES 373 (24% from fat); FAT 9.8g (sat 3.6g,mono 2.7g,poly 1.8g); PROTEIN 53.2g; CHOLESTEROL 175mg; CALCIUM 72mg; SODIUM 848mg; FIBER 3.6g; IRON 4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17.3g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2006

Berbere

2 tablespoons ground red pepper

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

Yield: 1/4 cup (serving size: 1 teaspoon)

CALORIES 6 (30% from fat); FAT 0.2g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.1g); PROTEIN 0.2g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 6mg; SODIUM 1mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 0.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 1.1g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2006

Hormel Boneless Pork Roast--Roast Flavor

Ok, we bought this because it was marked down to $2.99 for the whole thing. We put it in the freezer and forgot about it for a month or 3. Anyway, we haven't gone to the grocery store a lot this month, so D took it out of the freezer this morning to thaw. And he cooked it for dinner.

D said it tasted like a roast. I thought it had a peanutty flavor. Both of us very much enjoyed it, especially since it was $2.99.

We had it with basmati rice (D made, since we know I can't make it).

Overall, the whole dinner probably cost $3.50-$4.00 (D buys basmati in 5 pounds bags, which is why I can't make it...no directions).

If the pork is a decent price, we will definitely have again.

http://www.alwaystender.com/defaultfa90.aspx

Bourbon Fudge Brownies

Hmmm... D likes these a lot. I do not, BUT I think it is because I don't like fudge, and I think these are too fudgy. They have the same texture to me that fudge does on your teeth, that gives me the heeby-jeebies. However they did cure a chocolate fix I was having (2 took care of it). They are VERY EASY to make.

Bourbon Fudge Brownies

1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Bring bourbon to a boil in a small saucepan; remove from heat. Add chocolate chips, stirring until smooth.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well combined. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. Add flour mixture and bourbon mixture to sugar mixture, beating at low speed just until combined.

Spread batter into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Yield: 20 servings

CALORIES 148 (30% from fat); FAT 5g (sat 2.9g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 2.2g; CHOLESTEROL 31mg; CALCIUM 20mg; SODIUM 121mg; FIBER 1g; IRON 1.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 23.2g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2003