roasted vegetable and lentil salad

I almost decided to post-pone posting this recipe until next week.  The reason being that my husband is away until Friday chaperoning 6th grade camp, and I didn’t want him to see what he was missing at home.  He says the camp food isn’t that bad.  They had stuffed peppers for dinner last night and Alex loved them.  Today’s pizza at lunch was a low-point, but we are pizza snobs, so he could be a little biased.  As biased as a half-Italian who has a pizza oven in his back yard and buys special Italian flour for his pizza dough.

Many thanks to my Pilates student Missy for passing on this recipe.  Marc will love it when he gets back home.

Roasted Vegetable and Lentil Salad

• 6 carrots, cut into 2 inch lengths and halved
• 3 shallots, halved
• 1/2 lb. brussels sprouts, halved
• 1 butternut squash, halved, peeled, seeds removed and cut into 1/2″ thick slices
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil (divided)
• 1/2 cup French lentils, rinsed
• 1/2 onion, studded with 4 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 6 oz. arugula
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• zest and juice of one lemon
• parmesan shavings
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, toss carrots, shallots, brussels sprouts, butternut squash and garlic with 2 Tbsp. olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place on rimmed baking sheet and roast in oven for 30 minutes, turning once.

Place lentils in a small saucepan.  Cover with 2 inches of water.  Stud 1/2 onion with cloves and place in pot, along with bay leaf.  Bring to boil, then cover and simmer until lentil are tender.  Drain off water and discard onion and bay leaf.  Season with salt and pepper.

To make vinaigrette, mash garlic in a small bowl.  Add vinegar and mustard.  Whisk in 2 Tbsp. olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Place lentils in a bowl and toss with vinaigrette.  Fold in arugula, then vegetables.  Add chopped celery and zest and juice of one lemon.  Top each serving with parmesan shavings.  Serves 6.

Recipe from Daphne Oz.

Using the Weight Watcher’s Recipe Builder, each serving has 7 PointsPlus.

 

grilled caesar salad

My dad gave me the great idea of using the grilled romaine for a caesar salad!

I chopped up the grilled romaine and used the homemade lite caesar salad dressing from my deconstructed shrimp caesar salad, toasted bread cubes, shaved parmesan and fresh ground pepper.   Yum!

Using the Weight Watcher Recipe Builder, the entire salad dressing recipe has 8 PointsPlus.  1 oz of baguette bread cubes is 2 PointsPlus (if you want more ounces, just multiply the ounces by 2 to get the PointsPlus value).  A half ounce of Parmesan is 1 PointsPlus.

 

lite blue cheese dressing

This recipe comes straight from Gina at Skinnytaste.com.  If you’ve never checked out her website, it is a treasure-trove of WW Points and PointsPlus calculated recipes.

Lite Blue Cheese Dressing

• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 6 oz. 0% Plain Greek yogurt (I use Fage)
• 1 Tbsp. light mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• salt and freshly ground pepper

In a small bowl, mash together blue cheese and Greek yogurt with a fork.  Whisk in remaining ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Makes 1 cup.

Skinnytaste.com calculates each 2 Tbsp. serving as having 1 PointsPlus!!

 

grilled romaine salad

I’d like you to meet my new obsession:  grilled romaine salad.  I’ve read about grilling lettuce for several years, but never got around to actually making it (kind of like thinking about cleaning out the junk drawer, but never quite finding the time).  The latest Washington heat wave (upper 80′s, low 90′s!) has pushed me out of the kitchen and onto the grill.

The barbecue does an amazing thing to the romaine.  It becomes sweeter, with a slight smoky flavor.  I served it with a light blue cheese dressing (recipe to come, it’s 1 PointsPlus!), one slice of crumbled bacon (1 PointsPlus)and a few halved cherry tomatoes.

There’s really not a recipe for the salad.  Heat your grill and cut the romaine in half.  Optional is to lightly spray lettuce with olive oil.  Place on grill.  Wait a few minutes and flip (you should have some nice grill marks).  Remove from grill and enjoy!

 

tomato and beet salad

I’d like to wish my mother a very happy Birthday!

Tomato and Beet Salad

• 2 lbs. tomatoes (I used heirloom), sliced
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 lb. cooked beets, sliced
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper

Arrange tomatoes and beets on a platter.  Sprinkle with feta and cilantro.  Drizzle olive oil on top and season with salt and pepper.  Serves 4.

Recipe from EveryDay Food Magazine.

Using the Weight Watcher’s Recipe Builder, each serving has 5 PointsPlus.

 

mixed greens with miso vinaigrette

I think our chickens have been eavesdropping on our conversations.

Last week I voiced my frustrations about “Bennie” and how she hadn’t layed an egg for 5-6 months.  Marc suggested it was time to get rid of her and get a younger, more reliable, egg layer.  I believe he even made a chopping motion with his hand.

I kid you not, the next day there was Bennie’s light blue egg in the nest.  As soon as I saw it I burst out laughing.

Now I think I’ll mention (loudly) that if the coop doesn’t get cleaned regularly by someone other than me, the chicken’s might have to find another home.  Like my soup pot (an empty promise, but they don’t need to know that).

I made this salad after our first bike ride of the season, and the taste blew me away.  The dressing is delicious!!  I actually used my finger to get every last bit out of the bowl.

Mixed Greens with Miso Vinaigrette

Miso Dressing:

• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp. miso paste (I used red miso paste)
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil

Salad

• 5 cups mixed greens
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 8 radishes, thinly sliced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

To make dressing:  whisk together lemon juice and miso paste in a small bowl.  Whisk in oil.

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl.  Toss with dressing.  Makes 6, 1 cup servings.

Recipe from Vegetarian Times, September 2012.

Using the Weight Watcher’s Recipe Builder, each 1 cup serving has 3 Points Plus.  Divide the salad into 3 servings, and each serving has 5 PointsPlus (oh, the magic of WW math)

 

deconstructed shrimp caesar salad

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned how much my 13-year-old son Nic loves caesar salads.  For the past 3 years, if there was caesar salad on the restaurant menu, he would order it.  It became somewhat of a family joke.  Lately, the growing boy has been surprising us by ordering large cuts of meat instead of salad, but I think the caesar will always hold a dear place in his stomach heart.

I wonder if there will be caesar salads in Rome?

The dressing is unbelievably good.  The entire dressing recipe has 8 PointsPlus (using 1 Tbsp. of olive oil).  The original recipe called for 2 Tbsp. oil, which would change the points to 11, and raise the total PointsPlus per serving to 8.  Since the rest of the meal is so light in PointsPlus, this dressing is worth the splurge!

Deconstructed Shrimp Caesar Salad

• 24 peeled and deveined frozen shrimp, thawed
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 1/3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper
• 6 oz. crusty bread, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 hard-cooked egg yolk
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 hearts of romaine lettuce, leaves separated

 Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine shrimp, half of the garlic, lemon zest and 2 tsp. olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Thread shrimp on skewers (6 shrimp per skewer).  Thread 1 1/2 oz. bread cubes onto each of 4 more skewers.  Spray lightly with Misto filled with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place on a baking sheet and bake until shrimp is opaque throughout and bread is golden, about 7 minutes.

To make dressing, combine remaining garlic, lemon juice, 1 Tbsp. olive oil, mashed egg yolk, and mustard in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Whisk until well combined, then stir in Parmesan.  Add romaine and toss gently to coat.  Serve alongside skewers.  Makes 4 servings.

Recipe from marthastewart.com.

Using the Weight Watcher’s Recipe Builder, each serving (6 shrimp, 1 1/2 oz. bread, 1/4 of the dressing and lettuce) has 7 PointsPlus.

 

beet salad with oranges and feta

Delicious, delicious, delicious.  I am having a love affair with beets.  They are easy to prepare at home with a pressure cooker, but I have also found a great source at the local supermarket.  They have precooked beets, vacuum-packed, in the produce section.  They stopped carrying them for a while, so I had a little talk with the produce manager.  I won’t admit to batting my eyes, but they do carry them again

Beet Salad with Oranges and Feta

• 2 Beets, cooked, cut in half and quartered
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 orange
• 1 lime
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped onion or shallot
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 6 cups arugula
• 1/8 cup cilantro leaves
• 2 ounces Feta, crumbled

Cut ends off oranges, then cut away peel and outer membrane, following the curve of the fruit with a knife.  Working over a bowl to catch juices, cut oranges between inner membranes and fruit to release segments into a bowl.  When segments are removed, squeeze remaining juice from membranes into bowl.  Throw away membranes.

Zest limes finely and set aside.  Juice limes and add juice to zest in a small bowl.  Add onion, vinegar, and juice from oranges.  Slowly drizzle in olive oil as you whisk.  Add beets, toss to coat, and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cover bowl and let stand at room temperature for at least 15 minutes (up to 3 hours).

Arrange arugula on four plates.  Sprinkle each plate with 1/4 cilantro.  Spoon beets and dressing equally over arugula (I actually had some dressing left over) and scatter with orange segments and feta.  Serves 4.

Recipe adapted slightly from Sunset Magazine, May 2011.

Using the Weight Watcher’s Recipe Builder, each serving has 3 PointsPlus.  If a larger salad is desired, this recipe can be divided into 2 for 7 PointsPlus each.

 

mrs. j’s sesame noodles

I was paging through my recipe binder and came across this great noodle dish.  My friend Mrs. J made this for an end-of-the-season track potluck and I hounded her until she gave me the recipe.  The kids love it and it can be easily customized with the addition of veggies.  Try steamed broccoli, sliced red cabbage, or sliced radish.

Mrs. J’s Sesame Noodles

• 1 box Barilla Plus thin spaghetti, cooked al dente
• 1/4 cup dark sesame oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. chili oil
• 1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds
• 4 green onions, chopped

Combine sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and chili oil in a small bowl.  Pour over warm, drained noodles.  Stir in toasted sesame seeds and green onions.  Serve room temperature or cold.  Makes 10 servings.

Using the Weight Watcher’s Recipe Builder, each serving has 7 PointsPlus.

 

broccoli salad with tahini and cashews

The kids are back in school today after Spring Break.  We had a “stay-cation”, since the “Italy-cation” is fast approaching.  We took a day trip to Pike Place Market, watched some movies and made homemade gnocchi (recipe coming soon).

So now that I have the house back to myself, I’ve spent the past three hours on my hands and knees scrubbing my hardwood floors.  They desperately need to be refinished, but all resources are going to our European vacation.  So I scrubbed away, humming “cinderelli, cinderelli, night and day it’s cinderelli…..”  If only I had some small creatures to help me.  Oh wait a minute, I do.  But they just went back to school

Marc has also been giving me updates from his dad’s progress in the Boston Marathon.  The temperature is in the 80′s and the officials have requested runner’s not to race today due to the heat, so his dad is just going to take it easy (as if running a marathon could ever be easy!).  After many years of trying to qualify for Boston, he’s not going to let this one go.

Even though I will never run a marathon, this salad makes me feel healthy enough to attempt it (if the feeling of health was the only thing standing in my way).

Broccoli Salad with Tahini and Cashews

• 1 lb. broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/4 cup tahini (ground sesame paste)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup cashews
• thinly sliced purple onion, to taste
• red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
• freshly ground black pepper

Steam broccoli for 3 minutes, or until crisp tender.

In a small bowl, combine tahini, olive oil, salt, and garlic.  Pour over broccoli and stir to combine.  Add onion, cashews, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve room temperature or cold.  Makes 6 servings.

Recipe from For the Love of Food.

Using the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder, each 2/3 cup serving has 5 PointsPlus.