#WIAW #13 – Lots of New Recipes

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another WIAW. What I Ate Wednesday is a fun weekly post/blog social event started over at Peas and Crayons. If you want to follow my eats everyday, become my friend on MyFitnessPal.

This week I tried lots of new recipes. In fact, I made 3 of them for a dinner I hosted for my sister and parents on Saturday night (recipe blog pots to follow). It all started when I saw this lobster salad recipe on Skinnytaste. I’ll get into the details of that meal later, it’s a good one. Ever since school started I’ve been in the mood to try new recipes. Summertime is always really laid back, and I go with the flow in terms of recipes. Now that school’s back in, I find myself craving the creative outlet that trying new recipes gives me. It’s strange, you’d think that I’d do more innovative cooking in the summer, when I have nothing but time on my hands, but I guess I like to keep it flexible, even with cooking.

First up is a delicious baked crab cake recipe from Skinnytaste. (Can you tell I love her site?)  I tried the recipe out earlier in the week, because it was my first time making it, and I didn’t want to serve it to my parents and sister at Saturday’s dinner party without trying it first.  I modified the recipe just slightly, and although mine don’t look half as appealing as hers, they tasted great.

The diner party was designed around Skinnytaste’s Chilled Lobster, Sweet Corn, and Tomato Salad.  There’s quite a story behind making this dish, but I’ll save the details for the actual Bella Cooks blog post.  One thing I will say is that this is one time that living on the West Coast puts me at a disadvantage.  Lobster is expensive here – two lobster tails were $50!  But my family is worth the splurge, and the salad tasted so fresh and healthy that it was well worth it.

I wish this photo wasn’t blurry, because the dish really looked gorgeous.

I wanted to start off the dinner with a nice accompaniment, and my sister actually suggested an avocado salad.  I searched, and found this Chilled Avocado Soup on EatBoutique.  This was the surprise hit of the evening.  Everyone raved about it, and I agree.  I’ll absolutely make this again.  I don’t like cilantro, so I substituted Italian parsley, and it was simply divine.  And it only took about 15 minutes to put together!

Here’s a shot of the seafood feast.  One of my FB friends said that this angle makes it look like you’re sitting with us at the table, so I thought I’d include it. My mom, who is an amazing cook in her own right, was incredibly impressed by my planning and execution, and I think she was really touched that I put in all this effort for my family.

The cooking bug has struck, because even after all that cooking on Saturday, I still made unique and interesting dinners for myself this week.

Monday’s dinner was my version of these Authentically Baja Fish Tacos that I found on Healthy Chic Eats.  These were, by far, the best fish tacos I have ever eaten.  I used Swai, and I loved the way it tasted. I changed thing up a bit, because I didn’t have bell peppers or jalepeno peppers on hand, so I used Sriracha instead.

The mango salsa had red onion, green onions, lots of spices, and lime juice.  I wish this photo had turned out better, because the colors on the plate were so beautiful.  I ended up making more of a taco salad, using shredded cabbage as the lettuce, topping it off with a scoop of guacamole and a dollop of nonfat Greek yogurt.  So filling and so delish!

Finally, Tuesday night I made Skinnytaste’s Baked Chicken Milanese with Arugula and Tomatoes.  I’ve never used lemon juice and olive oil instead of egg to add breading to chicken cutlets, but I will from now on.  The citrus flavor of the lemon added so much to the chicken.  I used chicken tenders instead of full chicken breasts, but it still made enough for lunch today and dinner at least two more times.  If you have access to homegrown tomatoes, you HAVE to make this salad!  It was fairly simple to put together and reminded me of my Nana’s kitchen, while still being super healthy and low calorie.  The entire plate is only 250 very filling calories.

What was the best thing you’ve eaten today? This week?

• Which food blogs are your favorite?
• Any recipes to share? Leave ‘em in the comments, please!

I highly recommend joining in on the WIAW posts! Not only do you get a TON of great ideas for healthy, interesting meals, but you can make some new blogging buddies, too.

Read Full Post »

#WIAW #12 – Back to School & New Food Finds

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another WIAW. What I Ate Wednesday is a fun weekly post/blog social event started over at Peas and Crayons. If you want to follow my eats everyday, become my friend on MyFitnessPal.

This past week I found a bunch of fun new foods/drinks and I also started the new school year. Which means I’ve transitioned from “summer staples” to “school staples.” I have a lot of fun photos to share with you this week, so let’s get started.

My sister actually told me about this Arnold Palmer zero calorie drink from Arizona Iced Tea. It’s really refreshing and definitely not too sweet.

I’m a sucker for matching “lunchables.” I got the coffee tumbler from Target, and it keeps the coffee hot for quite some time. The insulated lunch bag is from Sachi.

My lunch staple for this time of year, before the weather turns cold. Fruit, salad (this version had mache, a tiny bit of sweet corn, 1/2 cup of sugar snap peas, and 3 oz rotiserie chicken) and Chobani yogurt. It keeps me full till dinner.

I tried The Fitnessista’s Breakfast Cookie for the first time this week, and I can say that it is the best make-ahead breakfast I’ve had. Period.  Delicious, modifiable, and packed with protein.  If you haven’t tried it yet, do it.

Next up is a fabulous food find from Trader Joe’s: Gourmet Chicken Meatballs.  I bought both flavors: sun-dried tomato, basil, provolone AND spicy buffalo style with blue cheese.   The nutrition is for the buffalo, but the sun-dried were similar (150 calories).

Tuesday’s dinner: Salad (romaine hearts, Persian cucumbers, raspberry vinaigrette), buffalo chicken meatballs, and brown rice medley.

Those who know me know that I am a coffee lover, so I was thrilled to see this can of limited edition Peaberry Kauai coffee beans at Trader Joe’s.  It says medium roast, but it’s definitely a full-bodied coffee.  A great way to start the day.

What was the best thing you’ve eaten today? This week?

• Do you have a go-to salad idea to share?
• Have you found any new foods?
• What’s your favorite make-ahead breakfast?

I highly recommend joining in on the WIAW posts! Not only do you get a TON of great ideas for healthy, interesting meals, but you can make some new blogging buddies, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a side note, late last year when school was ending, I was really struggling with heavy snacking in the afternoons, after school until dinner.  It was like I had a compulsion to overeat, and I set myself back every single day because not only was I eating way too many calories, but I would get really sluggish and not work out.  I had some ideas for how to tackle this, and I’m proud to say that so far this year (I’m only 2 days in, but I’m feeling confident about this), I’m not having that same issue.  Part of it is that I’m eating more at each meal (400 calories), but I’ve also changed my habits.  I get home, change, and take Sofi for a walk immediately.   Then when we get back, I clean up my lunch stuff and set up my lunch bag for the next day.  Afterward, I head straight into a workout.  And by then it’s time for dinner.  Alternately, I’ll go straight from school to workout, then come home and do the walk, clean-up, set out tomorrow’s clothes, and cook dinner routine.  The point is, I keep myself busy and don’t sit down until it’s finally time for dinner, and that makes all the difference.

Read Full Post »

Bella Cooks: The Fitnessista’s Breakfast “Cookie”

Today’s recipe comes courtesy of Gina @The Fitnessista. If you haven’t checked out her blog, make sure you do! Not only is she a Zumba instructor, she’s a young mom, military wife, and all around healthy-living guru. I’d been on Gina’s site many time and read about her famous breakfast cookie. It wasn’t until school was starting and I needed a make-ahead, protein-packed, stick-to-your-ribs kind of breakfast. I loved my green smoothies throughout the summer, but let’s face it, you can’t make them the night before, and I need every precious moment in the morning on weekdays. So, after reading many rave reviews, I decided to give the Breakfast Cookie a try.

The Fitnessista’s Breakfast “Cookie”

Nutritionals: Because the cookie ingredients can vary so greatly, the numbers will differ, but for the one that I made in these photos:

Ingredients: This is where you can customize it to your liking. There are so many possibilities that this same base recipe could be eaten every morning for breakfast and never get tiresome. Monday night I made the cookie with canned pumpkin (instead of banana) and pumpkin pie spice (instead of ginger) and it was delicious.  Seriously, the combinations of flavors and add-ins with this is endless.

1/3 cup oats
1/8 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop BSN Lean Dessert, Cinnamon flavor
1 TBSP nut butter of your choice (I used pb)
1 banana, mashed
cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to taste

• The original recipe called for stevia, but since the protein powder I use is sweetened, I left it out.  Again, know your ingredients and add the right amounts to suit your tastes.
• The original recipe also called for a dash of sea salt to brighten the flavors, but I find that my pb has plenty of salt already.  Modify  this for your diet and tastes.
• I was really thrilled to see the cinnamon in this recipe, because it meant that I finally found a use for the cinnamon-flavored protein powder I bought and decided wasn’t great for smoothies.  It’s IDEAL for this type of recipe.  (I bet it would be great in a protein pancake, too).

Directions: This recipe really couldn’t be simpler, but just in case you’d like a step-by-step, here goes.

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir so that the spices are well

oats, protein powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg

Add the peanut butter (I forgot this step until the end, which is why my photos don’t quite match up) and incorporate with the dry ingredients until crumbly.

Add in almond milk.

Next add mashed banana (or canned pumpkin, or applesauce, etc).

The pb that I’d forgotten in the earlier step. It doesn’t make a huge difference when you add it, as long as you have it in there.

Empty “cookie dough” onto an appetizer-sized plate and smooth out with the back of a spoon until it looks like a large, thick cookie:

It already looks great, doesn’t it? Yum!!

Cover plate with plastic wrap and leave in fridge overnight.  Doing this allows the oats to soften and the spices to become fully potent.

The finished product looks much like the pre-refrigerated cookie, so I didn’t take another picture (well, that, and it won’t be “done” until the morning and I wanted to write this up Monday night).  The cookie doesn’t really harden, but remains gooey.  Definitely something to eat with a spoon or fork.  The idea of eating a cold mass of ingredients may not sound appealing, especially on a crisp morning, but one taste and you’ll see just how delicious and satisfying it is.  I haven’t tried heating the cookie up in the microwave, but I’m sure you could for 20-30 seconds, any longer and it might get really runny.  I just left mine out at room temperature for about 20 minutes before eating it, while I was still getting ready.

The “cookie” kept me satisfied for HOURS!  I ate it at 6:45 and it held me through lunch at 12:15.  That’s the staying power of 30g of protein along with some good carbs.

I enjoyed the cookie so much that I plan on eating it most weekday mornings throughout the school year.  Try it, I think you’ll really like it.

Read Full Post »

#WIAW #11 – Late Summer Recipes

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another WIAW. What I Ate Wednesday is a fun weekly post/blog social event started over at Peas and Crayons. If you want to follow my eats everyday, become my friend on MyFitnessPal.

This week I was able to make some really yummy food, which is always fun to share on these WIAW posts.

A salad of prawns, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, corn, and chives dressed with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, a dash of olive oil, and the juice of one lemon.

This salad was inspired by the Chilled Lobster Salad with Sweet Summer Corn and Tomatoes recipe I saw on Skinnytaste.  I substituted shrimp instead of lobster and added in cucumbers for a bit more crunch.  The weather here has been over 90 degrees for a week, so a light, summer salad was an ideal dinner.  I liked the original recipe so much that I decided I’d indulge in the lobster and invite my parents and sister over on the 24th to make it for them. I’ll make sure to post pictures.

Grilled pork chop with Chaka’s MMM sauce, steamed zucchini, and toasted pine nut couscous.

This meal was my “recovery” dinner after my grilling disaster on Saturday night.  If you want to feel better about yourself as a cook, go and read that post.  This dinner turned out really well, and since it’s been one of the staple meals this summer, I was so glad to have all the components on hand.

My second attempt at these pancakes turned out much better than my first batch a month ago.

I originally found the recipe for Blueberry “Cheesecake Pancakes from Sara @ Nourish and Flourish. The first time I made them, I was making 4 servings and had to use my blender and hand mixer to get the dough blended.  It also turned out that the original recipe had been missing one key ingredient (1/4 up of milk/almond milk), and they turned out very dense.  This time I only made one serving, so I was able to use my Magic Bullet, and what  difference it made!  The Bullet completely ground up the oats into a true oat “flour,” which made my batter much lighter and fluffier.  I also used coconut oil for the first time with this recipe (to grease the pan). I love making these pancakes on a Sunday morning as a special treat that still packs quite a protein punch (37g for a 300 calorie serving).

This week I also spent some time on Pinterest, Self.com, and of course Peas and Crayons gathering great ideas for future lunches and dinners.  I can’t wait to try them out soon, and when I do, you can believe they’ll be in a future WIAW post.

I highly recommend joining in on the WIAW posts! Not only do you get a TON of great ideas for healthy, interesting meals, but you can make some new blogging buddies, too.

What was the best thing you’ve eaten today? This week?

• Do you have a go-to summer salad idea to share?
• How would you recover from a recipe gone wrong?
• What’s your favorite weekend breakfast?

Read Full Post »

FMM: In the Kitchen

Happy Monday, Everyone! This past weekend was my last one without any major obligations. This week I return to school 3/5 days, which will ease me into my full school schedule, which begins August 20th. I continued a new obsession, nail care, on Friday after a shopping trip on the cosmetic aisle at Target. I relaxed and enjoyed life most of Saturday, and then had a bit of a cooking debacle on Saturday night. And then yesterday, I spent 3 1/2 hours cleaning my house from top to bottom, which felt great. It’s sparkling clean! Now all I have is the closets, which I’m planning on tackling later this afternoon and again on Thursday. Today I’m looking forward to catching up with FaveCousin as we enjoy some pool time.

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: In the Kitchen

1. How often do you cook at home? Every single day – breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I rarely eat out, and have all but cut out social engagements that involve food until I reach my pre-surgery weight loss goal.

2. Do you eat more fresh produce, frozen or canned produce? I really only eat fresh produce. The only time I have frozen is for my smoothies because frozen fruit works better. If it’s not in season, I don’t eat it. That’s how I grew up. I’m also lucky enough to live in the SF Bay Area, where fresh fruits and veggies are locally grown and available year-round.

3. What are a few unusual staples that can always be found in your kitchen? This one is difficult to answer, because the foods I eat all seem common to me, but then again, I’m used to eating all kinds of food. Maybe ricotta?  I love having it on a piece of toast topped with a tomato.  Or spread over a wrap.  So good!

4. Look in your fridge, then tell us about the healthiest thing in there. My fridge is full of healthy things, see for yourself:

5. Now share the most unhealthy thing in it. I have some beer in the back of the fridge, in case someone comes over and wants one, but I haven’t had one in months.  In fact, I haven’t had much alcohol at all, since I’ve been stricter with my diet.

6. Do you eat leftovers? Definitely.  The one thing I won’t do is eat the same thing for dinner two nights in a row.  I need variety.

7. Do you use coupons at the supermarket? Not really.  I do pay attention to what’s on sale when I’m at the grocery store, though. Since I get most of my groceries from Trader Joe’s coupons and sales really aren’t applicable.  The one thing I do use is the “Just for You” program that Safeway has.  I like that it’s customizable.

8. How often do you try new recipes? I used to try a new recipe every single week, but now I just try new recipes when I see something that inspires me, like Sriracha-grilled tofu.  With Pinterest, it’s so easy to find new recipe inspiration.  I’m much better about trying new things in the fall and winter, when I’m less on-the-go and my schedule is more regulated.

9. Do you make grocery lists? Normally I don’t make grocery lists, unless I have a recipe in mind that I’m shopping for.  I buy what interests me at the store, as long as it fits within my food guidelines.

10. If you could buy one food item that would magically be calorie-free, which item would you choose? Pasta!

I absolutely loved this week’s topic, and I look forward to getting inspired by reading everyone else’s posts. Now it’s your turn to share. Don’t forget to go back to Kenlie’s blog to link up in the comments!

Read Full Post »

Burn, Baby, Burn or How I Cooked Two Dinners in One Night

I really shouldn’t use that little avatar to the left, I should really show one that looks more like this:

Ugh.

I had planned to cook a great dinner for my sister – Erin’s Summertime Kabobs. I had everything all set…

I was going to type up a Bella Cooks post, which is why I was taking pictures of the ingredients.

Doesn’t that look good? All the makings of a delicious dinner. I put it on the grill at a medium flame, and then went inside to cook the couscous while my sister cleaned the string beans.

I should have known things were going downhill when she told me the string beans were really tough. Luckily, I had zucchini in the fridge, so I popped those in the microwave in a Zip n’ Steam bag.

I was cleaning up a bit, and then I went outside to check on the kabobs. When I opened the grill, I was greeted with this sight:

A little charcoal for dinner? Yuck!!

I was able to salvage most of the chicken sausages, which I will have later in the week with the rest of the veggies that were left over. And when I cook those, believe me, I’ll watch the grill carefully.

But what about my sister? She has a broken foot, is feeling sick, and was expecting dinner at my house. This is when I’m glad I shop ahead and have alternatives.

I pulled out some pork chops, put them in a Ziplock with some Chaka’s MMM Sauce to quickly marinate, and popped them on the grill. Luckily, the couscous and zucchini were still good. In fact, they were delicious.

If you didn’t know any better, this meal looks like it was planned, right? It’s actually a bit more complicated than the original meal.

The meal was very good, and my sister liked it. I’m so grateful that she’s flexible and likes as many foods as I do. I’m also really glad that this didn’t happen when I was having other people over. If I had just one more person, I wouldn’t have had enough for the three of us to eat the same thing. Can you imagine how embarrassing that would have been?

The lesson here?

• Watch the grill, especially when the food has olive oil on it.
• Be prepared. It was great that I had other food in the fridge.
• Be flexible. I kept my calm and quickly prepared the second dinner.

Read Full Post »

#WIAW #10 – Summer Lunches

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another WIAW. What I Ate Wednesday is a fun weekly post/blog social event started over at Peas and Crayons. If you want to follow my eats everyday, become my friend on MyFitnessPal.

I haven’t written a WIAW post in several weeks because I’ve been eating the same foods I highlighted earlier in the summer. But when I saw that the focus for August is “summer staples,” I figured that I have a few things to share.

When school is in I usually bring a salad with grilled chicken with me everyday, changing it up with the different accompaniments and dressings that I use. I really enjoy salads, but I guess I got a bit burnt out, because I really haven’t eaten many salads this summer.

Instead, my daily staple has been wraps made with Flat Out Bread and filled with turkey, tomatoes, laughing cow cheese and some sort of sprout. Which leads me to the first photo I want to share:

My sister turned me on to these organic pea shoots from Trader Joe’s.  She adores them, and buys them every time she goes to the store.  I enjoyed them quite a bit, but I do like alfalfa and clover sprouts better.  Still, I’m glad I tried something new.

Yesterday instead of the usual wrap I had wheat toast, topped with fat free ricotta.  I love it, and I thought it paired well with the salami and grapes.  Most of the time I have thin-sliced turkey in my wraps, but I was at Trader Joe’s, and I really don’t like their sliced turkey (it’s really thick and just sort of breaks apart).  So instead I bought some salami.  Salami is much higher in calories than turkey, but it’s nice to change things up now and then.  Plus, the extra calories motivate me to push my workouts a bit father.

One of the questions that goes along with these August WIAW posts is how we like to beat the heat with our workouts.   When the weather heats up, I like to make sure to take Sofi for a walk early in the morning, around 9:30, before it gets too hot outside.  Plus, I like starting the day with a nice walk to take in all the sites and sounds that remind me what a great area I live in.  My main form of exercise has been from swimming, which is the best way to get in a full-body workout while staying nice and cool.  I’ve tried to make it to the pool almost every weekday this summer, and it’s really helped with my weight loss.

That’s about all I have for you this week, because the rest of my food has been about the same as the meals I’ve posted in previous WIAW.

I highly recommend joining in on the WIAW posts! Not only do you get a TON of great ideas for healthy, interesting meals, but you can make some new blogging buddies, too.

What was the best thing you’ve eaten today? This week?

Read Full Post »

Bella Cooks: Grilled Sriracha-Marinaded Tofu w/ Kale & Seeds Salad

Grilled Sriracha-Marinaded Tofu w/ Kale & Seeds Salad and Jasmine Rice

Tonight’s dinner was inspired by this pin on Pinterest:

http://www.thebittenword.com/thebittenword/2011/06/spicy-sriracha-grilled-tofu.html

Which is why I was so attracted to the recipe in the first place.  But I knew I had to change the marinade, because the original recipe called for 3/4 cup of Sriracha – talk about breathing fire! I like things really spicy, but I also want to be able to feel my tongue after dinner.

After perusing Pinterest for more grilled tofu recipes, nothing seemed quite right. So I did what my mom says good cooks do, I took a little of this and a little of that and made my own. I decided to pair it with my sister’s Kale & Seeds Salad because it just seemed like they’d be perfect together.

Nutrition Info/Ingredients:

I apologize that I don’t have the usual step-by-step photos that I put in my recipe posts. I completely forgot to snap pictures until the end! But since this was such a hit, I know I’ll make it again soon, and when I do, I’ll update this post with those photos.

The first thing to do with the tofu is place it between paper towels and push out the excess water. Some recipes say to put the tofu under a stack of books to really squeeze all the water out, but that’s unnecessary for this recipe. Since the tofu will be grilled, any excess water will come out then. Plus, if it was too dry to start with, it would get bone dry on the grill, and that just sounds unappetizing, doesn’t it?

Next comes the marinade. I put everything into a small bowl and just did taste tests to adjust it accordingly. About 4 TBSP of Sriracha, 1 TBSP of sesame oil, 1.5 TBSP low sodium soy sauce, and 1/2 TBSP (if that) of the Island Teriyaki from Soy Vey. I loved the final product because it was well balanced, and the spice hit you at the end, not as soon as you tasted it.

I left the tofu whole when I marinated it, but you could easily cut it in half (width) from the start. I left it in a covered container for 9 hours total. About halfway through, I flipped it over. Then about an hour before I put it on the grill, I cut it in half, made sure the marinade was covering all of it, and left it out to come to room temperature.  The key to the tofu taking on the flavor of the marinade is to let it stay for as long as possible, overnight would have worked really well, too.

I wanted to make sure that the tofu wouldn’t stick to the grill, so I put some oil on paper towels and coated the grill before I turned on the heat. It worked perfectly.

Place the tofu on the grill and leave it there without moving it for about 8 minutes. After that time, flip it over and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes. If all goes well, you’ll end up with something that looks like this:

Check out those grill marks! They make me look like an expert!

While the tofu was heating up, I made the kale salad by chopping the kale and adding each of the ingredients you see above. Some taste testing is needed for the dressing, which is why I made it in a tiny bowl first. Adjust the amounts according to your taste preferences. I liked lots of lemon juice, but you may not.

Finally, I decided to add some jasmine rice to complete the meal, because I thought it would help cut any spiciness from the Sriracha tofu.

The meal turned out better than I could have hoped. The moment my sister put her first bite in her mouth, she was praising the dish! She told me that she thought it was amazing, and that she was definitely going to make it herself soon.  She loved it!! I was so happy that this little Pinterest experiment worked out.

Doesn’t that look delicious?  This dinner was both light and very filling, if that makes sense.  The kale has so much fiber that you feel incredibly satisfied, but the tofu is so light and almost airy that you don’t feel as heavy as you do after eating a piece of meat.  This is the ideal dinner to have after a long day of high temps.

The other thing I really liked about this meal is that it wasn’t the same old run-of-the-mill grill recipe.  It was something completely new.  You can only have so many grilled steaks, lamb chops, or chicken breasts before you get a bit tired of it.  At least that’s how I’ve been feeling lately.  The grilled tofu was something so fresh and different.

Do you think you’ll try grilled tofu?  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, if you do.

Read Full Post »

Bella Cooks: Grilled Portabella Mushrooms

Grilled Portabella Mushrooms with Balsamic Vinegar, Sauteed Onions, and Blue Cheese Crumbles

Lately I’ve been grilling most of my dinners, but I didn’t want to have the same old thing tonight.  There’s only so much chicken, salmon, or red meat you can eat, right?  Plus, when the weather warms up, I enjoy having some lighter fare at dinner. This recipe was perfect!  Quick, easy, and very satisfying.

Nutrition Info: As I made it, with blue cheese, sauteed onions, and some olive oil, each mushroom is about 205 calories, 25g carbs, 11g fat, and 6g protein.

Ingredients:

Portabella mushrooms
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
oregano (or any other fresh herb you like)
blue cheese crumbles
1/2 onion, sliced
minced garlic
salt, pepper, garlic powder

Directions:

The first step is to wash the mushrooms, which are notoriously dirty.  It’s incredibly important to make sure you dry them completely, otherwise the mushroom will steam on the grill, and that’s not what we’re going for.  Place the mushrooms on a plate gill-side up, and add balsamic vinegar (about 1 TBSP).  Add a tiny drizzle of olive oil, oregano, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

While the mushrooms are slightly “marinating,” cut an onion into slices.  Add 1 tsp of olive oil to a pan, add onion slices, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Saute on medium to medium high heat.

Cover with a lid so that the steam can wilt the onions.

While the onions are sauteing, bring the mushrooms to the pre-heated grill and place them gill-side up.  I had the heat about medium high.  Close the lid and let them cook for about 5-8 minutes, depending on size.  Once the mushrooms begin to shrink in size and get a bit of water pooling in the gills, it’s time to turn them over.

Flip over and cook for 3-5 minutes.  Because of the olive oil, the grill may flame up, so be careful.  The water that has welled up in the mushroom will release when you flip it, so be ready for quite a bit of steam/smoke.  The scent from the BBQ made my neighbor ask what I was cooking.  It was divine!

I love the rustic look of these, especially with those grill marks.

While all of this grilling goodness is going on, do not forget about your onions, or they may go from “sauteed” to “blackened,” as mine almost did:

Even dark, these onions were such a nice accompaniment to the meal.

Once you’ve removed the mushrooms from the grill, put them back on the plate gill-side up, and add some blue cheese crumbles. (You can add any crumbled cheese you like – goat cheese or feta would also be great).

Next, top with sauteed onions.

You can pair the mushrooms with anything you’d like.  Last night my parents made the BEST grilled shrimp, so I had four of those, along with some tomatoes to round out the meal and add some additional color to the plate.

Doesn’t this look delicious?  The entire plate was 320 calories, 33 carbs, 12g fat, and 17g protein.  To increase the protein without adding too many calories, I would have added more prawns, if I had them.

Side tip: if you grill jumbo prawns like this, it’s best to leave the shell on so that the shrimp remain moist and juicy.  If you take the shells off before grilling, the shrimp will curl up and get really dry.   Thanks, Rachael Ray for this great tip.

This doesn’t have much to do with the meal, but since my sister gave me a set of these as part of my bday gift, I thought I’d show it off. (It’s filled with Crystal Light iced tea).

The mushroom tasted just like a steak, especially with the blue cheese and onions as topping.  It was smokey, robust, and just so good.  The nice thing is, it didn’t take long to make, but the outcome is incredibly impressive, even to your foodie friends. This recipe is definitely going into the rotation this summer.

Read Full Post »

WIAW #9 – 4th of July

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another WIAW. What I Ate Wednesday is a fun weekly post/blog social event started over at Peas and Crayons. If you want to follow my eats everyday, become my friend on MyFitnessPal.

Since today is the 4th of July, I decided to feature a special, one-dish edition of WIAW. Plus, most of my food this past week has been much the same as the last few weeks – smoothies, fruit, wraps, grilled meats, salads – yummy summer freshness.

Today’s item is actually the dessert that I’m bringing to my parents’ house for our 4th of July BBQ. Since we’re all health conscious, and it’s going to be a warm day, I figured a nice light dessert would be perfect. I saw the pin on Pinterest, and thought it was too cute to pass up. It was also a really easy thing to put together, but it displays so well. Sometimes it really is the simplest things that make the most impact:

Happy 4th of July to all of my readers in the United States. I hope you have a fun and healthy Independence Day celebration!

I highly recommend joining in on the WIAW posts! Not only do you get a TON of great ideas for healthy, interesting meals, but you can make some new blogging buddies, too.

What was the best thing you’ve eaten today? This week?

Read Full Post »