Figs & Gargonzola , Wine Optional

Simple and Delicious Appetizer

1. Cut slits in fresh figs.
2. Mix together gargonzola cheese with a bit of balsamic vinegar.
3. Stuff chesse mixture into figs.
4. Broil until melted.
5. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chili

On Friday, I was able to go to the local farmer's market and purchase some locally grown produce. One of the meals that I made with the produce was Sparkpeople's Vegetarian Chili. It was healthy, satisifying, and delicious.

Vegetarian Chili

1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 tablespoon olive oil 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, drained
1 pinch cayenne pepper, chili powder, or chili seasoning mix
1 tablespoon parsley, freshly chopped

1. Sauté the onions and garlic in oil in a large sauce pan.
2. Add carrots, tomatoes, herbs, spices, and beans.
3. Cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, or until the carrots are tender.

Serves 6
Calories: 141
Fat: 3 g
Carbohydrates: 23 g
Protein:7 g

Quick Sesame Chicken

I made the Sesame Chicken from Cooking Light's 1990 Annual Recipes Cookbook. The chicken was nice and moist, but I honestly would have preferred chicken with barbeque sauce. The chicken tasted like honey more than sesame. I would make this again, but would have to add sesame oil to the basting mixture. Of course, that would up the fat content.

Quick Sesame Chicken

1 (8 oz.) can pineapple slices

1 TBSP sesame seeds, toasted

3 TBSP Honey

1/4 tsp sage

4 (6 oz.) skinned chicken breast halves

Drain pineapple, reserving 3 TBSP juice. Set aside. Combine the 3 TBSP juice, sesame seeds, honey, and sage in a small bowl; stir well. Place chicken, skinned side down, on rack of a broiler pan that has been coated with cooking spray. Brush chicken with honey mixture. Broil 8 inches from heat for 25 minutes, basting often. Turn chicken; broil an additonal 5 munutes or until tender.

Baste reserved pineapple slices with honey mixtue and broil for 5 minutes, turning once.

4 Servings: 240 calories, 4.8 Fat, Fiber unknown

Shown is 4 oz of sesame chicken and two slices of pineapple. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Broccoli Bread

I made Cooking Light's Broccoli Bread expecting to create a corn bread with chunks of broccoli in it. This dish turned out to be more of a quiche than a typical bread. I thought I did not mix the ingredients together well or that I added way too many eggs. I read the reviews and other people commented the same. However, most people, including myself and my boyfriend, liked the dish anyhow. In my opinion, it was good both warm and cold. This "bread" needs to be kept refridgerated and it will only stay fresh for a few days. I accidently left out all of the melted butter and I think it still turned out good, without the extra fat.

Broccoli Bread

Packaged corn muffin mix gives this bread a touch of sweetness. If you make this corn bread-type dish in a glass baking dish instead of a metal pan, decrease the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
1 cup egg substitute
3/4 cup fat-free cottage cheese
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
1 (8 1/2-ounce) package corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy)
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the onion, broccoli, and muffin mix; stir until well blended. Pour into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 27 minutes or until set. Yield: 12 servings

NUTRITION PER SERVING: CALORIES 146(28% from fat); FAT 4.5g (sat 1.8g,mono 1.9g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 6.7g; CHOLESTEROL 8mg; CALCIUM 62mg; SODIUM 497mg; FIBER 2.4g; IRON 0.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 19.8g

Ann Taylor Pittman
Cooking Light, MARCH 2002

Inside-Out Golumpkis

Gołąbki's are a regular dish in my Polish home. When I found this Weight-Watchers recipe (included below), I had to make this casserole. I doubled and modified this recipe, by sauteing the onions first (with a clove of garlic). I choose lean ground turkey and brown rice for the casserole layers. For convenience, I bought packaged shredded cabbage. Additionally, I used regular brown sugar (to taste) instead of equal or splenda and mixed into the tomatoes with a spicy Grey Poupon mustard.

This dish is a defininte keeper and will be added to my monthly repertoire. Although this meal isn't photogenic, it is delicious. Every bite has a nice balance of cabbage, tomatoes, brown rice and meat. The seasonings are adjusted to taste and the sweetness of the brown sugar mixed with the spicy mustard is perfect. The cabbage is not overpowering like I feel it can be in a cabbage roll.


Cabbage and Rice Casserole
4 Points Per Serving

8 oz. 95% lean ground beef or turkey
2 cups chopped cabbage
1/2 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup uncooked rice
3 cups canned diced tomatoes
2 tsp. Prepared mustard
2 tbs. brown sugar twin (if not available I use 2 packets of Sweet & Low or Equal)

Brown meat, discard fat. Spray 8" x 8" baking dish with Pam. Layer cabbage, onion, browned meat, rice. Mix tomatoes with mustard and brown sugar twin, pour over casserole layers. Bake at 350º F, covered, for 1-1/2 hours, then uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Makes 4 servings - 4 points each.