Watermelon, Mâche, and Pecan Salad

It's spring time! You know what that means? Time for some spring salads! This one I found online and decided to make because it seemed different and I had purchased the gorgonzola for another recipe anyway - I was half way there! I enjoyed the peppery aftertaste with the sweetness of the watermelon and the nuttiness of the pecans really heightened the dish. Note: I almost burned the crap out of my pecans. Toast with caution folks!

Ingredients
3/4 cup chopped pecans
5 cups seeded and cubed watermelon
1 (6-oz.) package mâche, thoroughly washed (I didn't have mâche, so I used bib lettuce -which according to the interwebs is an acceptable substitute...that or watercress.)
Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette (see below)
1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Arrange pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake at 350° for 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes or until completely cool.
2. Combine watermelon and mâche in a large bowl; add vinaigrette, tossing gently to coat. Transfer watermelon mixture to a serving platter, and sprinkle evenly with pecans and cheese.

Ingredients
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup pepper jelly
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon grated onion (I used shallots instead)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preparation
1. Whisk together first 6 ingredients. Gradually add oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until blended.

Ina Garten's Hummus

I love hummus but I've never made it myself...until now. This was super easy to make and tastes so much better homemade. With fresh veggies and bread, this is the perfect spring lunch! To my WW peeps: 1/4 c of hummus is 4 points. 

Ingredients
4 garlic cloves
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons water or liquid from the chickpeas
8 dashes hot sauce

For the bread:
1 roll of pizza rough
2 teaspoons EVOO
1 tbsp truffle salt

Directions for hummus:
Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop the garlic down the feed tube; process until it's minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Directions for bread:
Preheat oven to 450. Roll the pizza dough out and drizzle with EVOO. Use a brush to spread the EVOO evenly. Sprinkle with truffle salt. Let bake for 15/20 minutes. Cool and cut into strips. Serve with hummus!

Sauteed Shrimp with Penne and Roasted Asparagus

These Patagonia shrimp reminded me of Icelandic lobsters! I ordered these off Fresh Direct and prepped them simply with a saute of mainly onion and garlic. The penne and roasted asparagus made it a meal. 12 points total.

Ingredients
2 cups Whole Wheat Penne
1 bunch asparagus, washed and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound jumbo shrimp (I used Wild Patagonia Shrimp)
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 shallots, finely chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Directions
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook 2 cups of penne. Heat oven to 400. Take cut up asparagus pieces and coat in 1 tsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 20 minutes. Spray a pan with cooking spray and put on medium heat and garlic and shallots. Cook and stir for 1 minute until soft. Add the lemon juice and chicken broth, give it a stir and let it cook down for 1 minute to thicken slightly. Put the shrimp in the pan and coat in the lemon sauce. Add pasta, asparagus and remaining EVOO and give it a good stir. Let sit one more minute to marry the flavors. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Chicken Gorgonzola Pizza

I knew I wanted to make something different and satisfying for dinner. 1/4 of this pizza is 12 points - and that's being generous - it might be closer to 10 or maybe even 9. I used part skim mozzarella, one chicken breast for the whole pie and only 1 ounce of gorgonzola for the whole pie. I am happy with how this came out: the creamy blue cheese was tangy and harmonized with the tart tomatoes and melted mozzarella. The crust was thin and crispy and the chicken juicy. Homemade pizza is the best!

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup water
1 (10 ounce) bag washed fresh spinach
1 (12 inch) pre-baked pizza crust (I used dough from Fresh Direct)
1 (14 ounce) jar pizza sauce
1 tomato, sliced
4 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stir in the chicken breast, and cook for a few minutes until the pieces begin to plump. Stir in the Italian seasoning, onion, and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has turned translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the water and spinach, and cover; cook a few minutes until the spinach has wilted.

Place the pizza crust on a pizza pan, and spread with sauce.

Top with the chicken and spinach mixture. 

Arrange the tomato slices over the pizza, then sprinkle with Gorgonzola and mozzarella cheeses.
Bake in preheated oven until the cheese has melted and lightly toasted, 20 minutes.

Roasted Chick Peas

Want a hearty and nutritious snack? These guys are my go to. So simple to make too. Shout out to Meghan Sullivan for snacking on them at work one day and introducing me to it. WW peeps - 1/2 a cup is only 3 points!

Ingredients
1 can of chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt

Make it:
Coat the beans generously and place on a baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool a few minutes. Munch away!

Kalua Pig

A good friend of mine made this pork for me before. I looked up the recipe and was surprised to find how simple it was. Just required a long time to cook is all...and Hawaiian salt, which lucky for me I had some. I served it up to the boys and they enjoyed it immensely. WW peeps - one 4 ounce portion is 5 points.

Ingredients
Original recipe makes 12 servings
1 (3 pound) pork butt roast
1 1/2 tablespoons Hawaiian sea salt
1 tablespoon liquid smoke flavoring

Directions
Pierce pork all over with a carving fork. Rub salt then liquid smoke over meat. Place roast in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on Low for 16 to 20 hours, turning once during cooking time.
Remove meat from slow cooker, and shred, adding drippings as needed to moisten.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

It's not quite summer yet. I'm trying to get in my hearty winter soups before it's ridiculous for me to make them. This one is getting better every time I make it. I think I've nearly perfected the recipe! And to all you on Weight Watchers, one serving is 6 points...even with CREAM! Say, what!? Giddy up!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons fake butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups cubed butternut squash
1 cup diced carrots
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 quart chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup light cream
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
5 to 6 sage leaves

Directions
Melt 2 tbsp fake butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in onions and cook until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add squash, carrots, apple, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.
Carefully puree the soup in batches in a blender, or use a stick blender to puree the soup right in the pot. Once the soup has been pureed, return it to the pot and stir in wine and cream. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper; simmer gently for 5 minutes. Take 1 tbsp fake butter and fry sage leaves. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fried sage. 6 WW points. Original recipe makes 4 servings.

Turkey Kielbasa, Kale and White Bean Stew

I had some leftover kale and thought a nice stew would be good. I found this recipe online and it was very good - and good for you. It reminded me of navy bean soup with the beans and the onions but the kale was a great addition and the turkey kielbasa was salty and hearty. It was hard only eating 1.5 cups!

Ingredients
4 cups uncooked kale, roughly chopped
6 servings Turkey kielbasa ring rope, chopped into bite size pieces
4 cups chicken stock
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup onion, diced
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp table salt
2 tsp mixed cracked pepper
5 sprays olive oil cooking spray
1 Tbsp minced garlic

Instructions
In a non stick skillet, saute onion and garlic in cooking spray. Add keilbasa and cook for an additional 4 minutes. In a large soup pot, bring chicken stock, kale , italian seasoning and white beans to a boil. Add onions, garlic and keilbasa and reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for an additional 35 minutes. Yields about 8 servings at 1.5 cups each. 5 points per serving.

Southwest Salmon

This dinner was really flavorful and satisfying. My sous chef doesn't eat fish that often (he's a meat and potatoes guy), but he enjoyed this very much. The spices really added a ton of flavor and the lime was a nice touch.

Ingredients:
Servings: 2
8 oz salmon fillets (skin on)
1 bunch fresh cilantro
2 limes
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt
pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix together cumin, chili powder and several chopped cilantro leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Coat flesh side of fish heavily with rub and allow to marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours. Bake fish on skin side down for about 25 to 30 minutes. Fish should be cooked through, but still very moist. Before serving top with crushed limes and chopped cilantro leaves. A 4 oz piece is about 6 points. Enjoy!

Kale Strawberry Smoothie

 My office hooked up with Weight Watchers recently and we now have meetings every week (including weigh ins) at my office. I have done WW before (about 5 years ago before my wedding to lose 5 or 8 pounds). I've done tracking online, but it was in the meeting yesterday when the coordinator said something that struck me - a lot of people are "completely on or completely off" when it comes to eating right. This is so me. I'm either raging hard core in the gym and depriving myself of everything or I'm eating whatever and drinking whatever and not caring one bit. The trick is to learn balance. I don't want to say "I'm on a diet". I want to just live healthy and not feel deprived. This morning, I started my day out with an energizing smoothie.

Ingredients
1 low fat vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup(s) strawberries
2 cup(s) Kale

1 packet Pure Acai  (I bought mine from Fresh Direct)
1/2 cup(s) ice cube(s)

Instructions
Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Makes 2 servings. 3 points each. Perfect before or after a workout!