Warm Goat Cheese Salad

On this diet, I almost always make salads to go with our dinners. Since typically do not get carbs, I like to fool myself into thinking I am not missing them. Ask yourself, if your meal choice was either a chicken breast, sauteed squash & steamed green beans OR chicken breast sauteed squash & a Greek salad-which would you pick?

So I look for ways to make salads a little more fun than just your basic side salad.

IE:
Greek Salad: mixed greens, tomatoes, black olives, cucumbers, feta cheese. Balsamic Vinaigrette
Apple Cheddar Salad: Mixed greens, apples, cheddar cheese, balsamic vinaigrette.
Spinach Mushroom Salad: Spinach, mushrooms, red onions, Italian dressing

You get the idea. Just something to give us a better variety of vegetables. Sometimes I will even top them w/almonds or pecans. (I am crazy like that)

Anyway, 1 oz of goat cheese is equivalent to one dairy serving in this diet plan. I bought some to stuff into chicken but had some leftover & was trying to figure out what to make with it. I found this recipe on myrecipes.com

Warm Goat Cheese Salad

1/3 cup olive oil --> OMIT
1/3 cup lemon juice --> OMIT
1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onions --> OMIT
1 tablespoon honey --> OMIT
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard --> OMIT
1/2 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs --> whole wheat breadcrumbs that I seasoned w/Italian Seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds --> OMIT
3 (4-oz.) goat cheese logs
1 large egg, lightly beaten --> 1/4 cupegg beaters
3 tablespoons butter --> OLIVE OIL
1 1/2 (5-oz.) packages sweet baby greens, thoroughly washed
12 pitted ripe olives, sliced --> OMIT


1. Whisk together first 5 ingredients.

2. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and sesame seeds.

3. Cut each goat cheese log into 4 slices. Dip in egg, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Cover and chill 2 hours.

4. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Fry goat cheese, in 2 batches, 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until browned; drain on paper towels.

5. Toss salad greens with olive oil mixture. Top with olives and warm goat cheese rounds.

As you can tell, this isn't very diet friendly. So I had to adjust. I didn't use their dressing-i just used a store bought low fat balsamic vinaigrette. I didn't chill the goat cheese (oops!) and i just drizzled a little olive oil in the pan to "fry" the logs.

This was really good & made my grilled chicken breast dinner a little fancier.

Thanksgiving

Now I am sure many of you will be surprised, but I do not host Thanksgiving. One would think a foodie like me would love to cook all that stuff, but the hubs & I host Easter. Its our holiday, I bake like its Thanksgiving then. Although sometimes this doesn't stop me from cooking a 8lb turkey for just my husband and I.

So for Thanksgiving this year, I brought a salad & a dessert to my husband's side of the family. I didn't get a picture of the dessert, but I have made it in the past and will probably make it again today to bring into the office tomorrow. Its Cara's Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies. I like making these b/c I often have just enough pumpkin leftover from a previous recipe to make this one.

For my salad, I made a broccoli salad. Thanks to my friend Julie for getting the recipe for me. There are many variations to broccoli salad but I really just wanted the standard one, you know, the one with bacon & raisins. Some of my friend suggested craisins, which I think would be great, but I went for the traditional.

Broccoli Salad IV
Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1/4 cup bacon bits
1 head fresh broccoli florets
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup creamy salad dressing, e.g. Miracle Whip ™
1/4 cup white sugar

DIRECTIONS
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the bacon, broccoli, cheese, raisins, onion and sunflower seeds.
In a small bowl, whisk together the creamy salad dressing and sugar. Pour over broccoli mixture and toss well to coat. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

** a few difference, my husband and I HATE miracle whip, so I used mayo. Also, I just chopped up my own bacon & cooked it.

For my parents Thanksgiving celebration, I made an apple pie, a pumpkin turtle pie, chicken enchilada dip & broccoli rice casserole. The only thing I got a picture of was the pumpkin turtle pie.

Its being broadcast all over Kraft & other magazines, so I am sure you know which one I am talking about. Along with it being really delicious, it was also very easy to make.

Back In Action!

Just as I vow to visit the gym 3 times a week I vow to update my blog at least twice a week, I don't want to be too ambitious this summer ;)
This salad is based off a recipe I received from my friend Sarah. The hubs & i do not eat enough fruit. I thought maybe if I snuck them into a salad he would be more obliged to eat them. He does love my summer spinach & strawberry salad.
Its an apple-cheddar tossed salad.

Ingredients
4 cups torn mixed salad greens--> I only had spinach
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon chopped red apple
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon cubed Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts, toasted --> I decided to candy these.
HONEY DRESSING:
1/4 cup and 1 teaspoon honey
2-1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
In a large salad bowl, combine the greens, apple, cheese and walnuts. In a blender or food
processor, combine the first eight dressing ingredients. While processing, gradually add oil in a
steady stream. Serve with salad.

*I was not in the mood to make the salad dressing so I just used my blush vinaigrette. This was delicious! Look at how colorful it is!


I'll be making it again for sure.

I am still alive!

I promise! And I have been cooking. But you know, you go in spurts. I've been cooking, baking, taking pictures, I just ha vent had the motivation to update. In fact, I haven't even caught up on GoogleReader. I am sure I have quite a few posts to catch up on. So needless to say, I apologize for overload of posts the next few days.
Lets start of with last nights dinner. My friend Amanda mentioned last week that she & her husband do a "big salad" night once a week. I thought was a great idea to get us to incorporate more veggies & fruits into our diet. We are bad, I mean really bad, especially with fruit! I can not even tell you the last time I had an apple.
The salad I made last night worked well in our favor. We didn't end up eating until close to 8pm. I love it staying light out as late as it does, but we just lose all concept of time and before you know it, its 8pm!
The salad, Chicken Chipotle Taco Salad, courtesy of Cooking Light.

Ingredients
Dressing:
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon minced chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Salad:
4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup diced peeled avocado
1/3 cup thinly vertically sliced red onion
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (8 3/4-ounce) can no-salt-added whole-kernel corn, rinsed and drained


Preparation
To prepare dressing, combine first 7 ingredients, stirring well.
To prepare salad, combine lettuce and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

Tip: Add a spoonful of adobo sauce for a spicier salad. Kidney or pinto beans also taste great in this dish.


Holy Moly this was SPICY! I added some light ranch to the dressing b/c it needed to be cooled down a bit. I seasoned the chicken with a little chili powder & grilled it on the BBQ.

Strawberry Salad

This salad always reminds me of summer. Probably b/c I associate strawberries with summer, but it is so light & refreshing!
Usually I use a different raspberry vinaigrette but the store was out it the last time I went, much to my despair, so I had to buy a different type & I just didn't like it as much.
Anyway, all you need is some spinach, some sliced strawberries, silvered almonds & red onions if you like. We don't like red onions but sometimes I'll put them in for looks!
Drizzle with your favorite raspberry vinaigrette. I like the kind that is in a clear bottle with black & white writing on it. When I get it next, I'll be sure to post it here!

This was a perfect pairing to the whiskey chops. Since the main dish was pretty heavy, this salad was a refreshing compliment.

ED: Classic Layered Salad

I needed a salad of some sort for the menu, something healthy right?? I found this recipe on Kraftfoods.com I didnt have a trifle bowl, but the Easter Bunny bought me one! And he bought me a cake stand too! I dont know how he knew I was without, but it was just in time!

Prep Time: 20
Total Time:3 hr 20
Makes:8 servings, 1 cup each
8 cups chopped iceberg lettuce
1 small red onion, sliced, separated into rings
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen peas, thawed 1 pkg.
(6 oz.) OSCAR MAYER Smoked Ham, chopped
3/4 cup KRAFT Mayo Real Mayonnaise
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup KRAFT Natural Three Cheese Crumbles
2 small tomatoes, chopped
LAYER lettuce, onions, peas and ham in large straight-sided clear glass serving bowl.

MIX mayo, Parmesan cheese and sugar. Spread over salad to seal; cover. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

TOP with cheese crumbles and tomatoes just before serving; toss gently.
** Since we were having spiral ham as one of our main meats, I used bacon in place of it here.**

What I Eat When The Hubs is Away

The hubs was out of town for the past few days for work. When he is out of town, i like to make things that I would eat and that I know he won't. For example, for dinner one night I had marinated artichoke hearts, some gouda cheese & some bread. Topped off with a glass of wine and you have a delicious dinner. At least in my mind you do.

So for lunch I made this salad. My salad greens were what the hubs would call "weeds" , with some chopped apples, gorgonzola cheese, peppered turkey breast & toasted pecans. I used a little balsamic viniagrette and there you have it-another delicious meal.

Well the hubs gets back today, so I dont think you will get to see any more weeds for awhile.

Drewie + Nemmie=YUMMY

My two friends, Drewie & Nemmie created dinner for us tonight. I said "This is good" Hubs said "Don't use the g word, its yummalicious" then proceeded to tell me this was the best rabbit food he had ever had. So, what did we have??

Drewie's Gorgonzola Chicken Alfredo & Nemmie's Chopped Salad(with some adjustments)

Nemmie's Chopped Salad

I won't post the recipe, but the salad dressing was amazing, I will use it again for sure. I omitted the pasta & chicken, since we were already having that in the main dish. And I didn't add green onions b/c we don't like raw onions.

Drewie's Gorgonzola Chicken Alfredo

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts2 cups cooked penne pasta

1 pkg sliced baby bella mushrooms

1 jar Alfredo sauce (or you make your own)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp Gorgonzola cheese crumbles

1 Tbsp butter

Cook the pasta according to directions.
Preheat oven to 350F.

Season the chicken with some S&P, saute in olive oil until done, then cut into strips. I cut into strips first then sauteed them. Remove from pan.

Saute mushrooms in the same pan you cooked the chicken in, until deep brown color. Remove mushrooms from pan.

Melt butter in the pan & add garlic. Cook until tender.

Add Alfredo sauce to the butter & garlic, add Gorgonzola cheese and stir until the cheese is completely melted.

Stir everything together & pour into casserole dish.

Bake for 20 mins.

On a side note, I can not wait to get my photobox so my pictures don't look yellow! Eating in the midwest any time after 5pm means no natural light, so my pictures are looking yellow :-(

Caprese Salad

At the grocery store, I noticed they had fresh mozzarella on sale. YUM!!! So I picked up some tomatoes, I knew had I enough basil at home & wallah! A nice yummy salad to serve with the crab ravioli.

This is so simple & yet tastes so great. I use a mixture of EVOO & Red Wine Vinegar. I also add a seasoning called Aromat. Its hard to find, so my MIL brought us 5 containers of it the last time we ran out!
Just slice the tomatoes & mozzarella, tear the basil & layer on a plate. Cover with the Aromat & the oil & vinegar mix. Place in fridge for about 20 mins to let the flavors absorb.