January 17, 2012: Healthy Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

Last year I shared a Spicy Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe with you. This year, when I’m concerned with calories, I decided to redo that recipe and make it healthier. Here’s what I came up with which, by the way, my husband loved (and he’s not counting calories!).

Healthy Stuffed Bell Peppers

½ cup brown rice

4 medium-sized green bell peppers

1 pound ground chicken breast

1 T. red bell pepper, minced

1 clove garlic, minced (divided)

2 green onions, minced (divided)

1 ½ T. green chile, minced (divided)

1/3 cup canned corn, drained

½ t. each: oregano, garlic salt, paprika, dried parsley, black pepper, dried cilantro and cumin powder

1 can condensed cheese soup (divided)

¼ cup fat free half and half

In a saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups water to boil. Add half cup brown rice. Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes. Remove from heat.

Remove the cap of the green peppers and clean out seeds and membranes inside. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each, if necessary, to make them stand up straight (good posture for peppers, ha!). Spray a baking pan with cooking spray and stand peppers within.

In a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, cook ground chicken over medium heat. Add red bell pepper, half of the minced garlic, the white parts of the green onion, and half of the green chile. Sauté for another two minutes, until veggies are soft. Add corn, rice, seasonings and ¼ cup of the cheese soup. The rice should have a small amount of unabsorbed water in the bottom of the pan; if not add a tablespoon of water to mixture to chicken mixture to thin it a bit.

Stuff each pepper with one quarter of the chicken/rice mixture. Cover the baking pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour, until bell peppers are soft.

While the peppers are cooking, mix together remaining cheese soup, reserved vegetables and half and half. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, until heated through.

To serve, place one pepper on a plate and spoon a quarter of the warm cheese sauce over the top. Goes great with a hot bowl of soup or a crisp, fresh green salad.

Serves 4 with 349 calories, 11 grams of fat and 761.5 mg of sodium each serving.

January 6, 2012: Hot and Spicy Pumpkin Dip Recipe

The Wednesday edition of the Arizona Republic newspaper contains the weekly food section and I always eagerly await it to see what kind of new recipes it might contain. Usually I’m not impressed but this week I took notice of a recipe for a sweet potato dip I wanted to try. I only had pumpkin so I did a bit of my own makeover magic in the way of substitutions and less fat to come up with this very tasty recipe.

Hot and Spicy Pumpkin Dip

1 cup cooked pumpkin (or canned pureed)

1 T. roasted pumpkin seeds

½ chipotle pepper in adobo sauce + about ½ teaspoon sauce

2 cloves garlic

½ t. paprika

½ t. cumin

½ t. sesame oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a small food processor and process until smooth. (I just got a stick blender with attachments, which worked wonderfully for this application!)

Serves 2 with calories of approximately112 (1/2 cup serving size)

Serve this Hot and Spicy Pumpkin Dip with a 10” flour tortilla torn into strips and sprayed on both sides with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle them with kosher salt. Bake the strips in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes, turning them over once, for guilt-less chips (total calories about 220).

October 31, 2011: Canadian Cheese Soup Recipe

Happy Halloween! Are you dressing up this year? Do you have kids you’ll be taking out trick or treating tonight? Stay safe and have fun!

If you’re planning a special menu for the ghouls and goblins in your life and want a black and orange food theme, try making this soup which fulfills the orange part of your menu. You might want to serve it with black olives and black grapes (which are on sale at Safeway today).

Canadian Cheese Soup

2 T. butter

½ cup finely chopped carrots

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup finely chopped onion

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

1 ½ cups chicken broth

Dash paprika

Salt and pepper

1 ½ cups shredded American cheese

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add vegetables and sauté until tender. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute to ensure it’s well incorporated. Slowly stir in milk and chicken broth. Add paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Stir in the cheese and continue stirring until melted. Do not boil.

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main dish.

September 4, 2011: Thai Red Curry Paste Recipe

I’ve been looking for Thai red curry paste at my local grocery store for some time now (it’s used in yummy curry sauces) – with no luck. I just happened to find this recipe online recently and I was ecstatic! I didn’t have exactly the ingredients as listed so I made some slight substitutions and this is what I came up with. Try it and see what you think.

Thai Red Curry Paste

3 T. red chili sauce

2 shallots, coarsely chopped

1 t. peppercorns

2 ½ t. cumin seeds

1 ½ T. coriander seeds

2 T. fresh or dehydrated cilantro

1 t. lemon balm

1 t. salt

2 t. paprika (for color)

1 t. curry powder

2 t. finely chopped lemon or lime peel

1 t. minced ginger

2 t. Asian fish sauce

1 T. vegetable oil

Using a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder, grind the whole spices to a fine powder. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Add more oil or a little bit of water, if necessary, to make a smooth paste.

Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. If desired, you can freeze any remaining paste in baggies or ice cube trays (when frozen pop the cubes into baggies or a plastic container).

August 13, 2011: Kansas City Sirloin Steaks Recipe

When I first saw the ingredients in this recipe, adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Grilling, I thought they were somewhat unusual and I was worried if my husband would like it. But after grilling these steaks, I have to say this is a winning combination! In fact, my husband loved it so much he said I should bottle this stuff and sell it! He even requested that we have it on hand every time we eat steak. Guess that means he liked it!

Kansas City Sirloin Steaks

1 T. prepared horseradish

1 T. lemon juice

1 t. minced garlic

2 t. sugar

2 t. paprika

1 t. ground black pepper

1 seasoning packet from a package of beef-flavored ramen noodles (save the noodles to use in an Asian salad)

2 thick, 8-ounce sirloin steaks (although there’s enough sauce to marinate at least, perhaps 4 steaks)

Combine all ingredients except steak. Rub mixture on steaks and marinate in the refrigerator for two hours minimum. Remove from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before grilling.

Preheat grill to medium. Cook for about 20 minutes total, flipping once, for medium doneness.

Serves 2.

April 24, 2011: Seasoned Salt Recipe

When it comes to a really versatile seasoning you can add to just about anything, this salt mixture fits the bills. It’s great on hard boiled eggs or grilled chicken and it’s a wonderful seasoning blend to take camping (my “pantry” space is always tight when we tent camp) because you really don’t need anything else to sprinkle on steaks, baked potatoes, scrambled eggs, etc.

Try this recipe as is; if you like other flavors a bit more, adjust it to fit your personal taste. For instance, I like a stronger garlic and onion flavor so I add a bit more of those spices.

Seasoned Salt

1 cup salt
2 t. sugar
2 t. dry mustard
1 ½ t. dried oregano
1 ½ garlic powder
1 t. curry powder
1 t. onion powder
½ t. celery seed
¼ t. paprika
¼ t. thyme
1/8 t. turmeric

Combine all ingredients and shake to blend. Store in an airtight container. Makes 1 1/3 cups.

Tip: Save clean, empty spice jars from store-bought seasonings to store this homemade seasoning blend in.