YOU: On a Diet - recipes
 

Ok guys, let's start sharing some tried and true recipes with each other.

Realizing that different people may be following the diet to different extents, please keep that in mind as you look at these recipes. We all do what it takes to keep ourselves on plan, and sometimes it may take a bit more sugar and/or fat to do so.

That being said, however, please do make sure that the recipes you post are pretty close to keeping with this plan.

Enjoy!
Cindy

Meatloaf:
2 pounds very lean ground turkey.
3 slices of whole wheat bread crumpled up
2 large eggs
In a food processor grate 1 bellpepper, 2 carrots, 1 celery stalk and many mushrooms
Tomato product of you choice and an amount to make it as tomato-y or not as you wish.
Mix all ingrediants together well and place in a baking dish.
Bake at 350 until done (about 30 minutes) Could top with a little extra tomato stuff if you life the ketchup topped meatloaf. I don't but it would just be your preference.

All the grated veggies add a lot of flavor to the meatloaf. As well as nutrition.

Kid tested on my 9 year old and he loves it.

Cauliflower soup
 

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion
saute till soft
add:
2 small potatoes cubed
1 head of cauliflower cut into pieces
1 and a half lg cartons low sodium chicken broth

Cook with lid on pot till soft

Place immersion blender in potand whirl away till everything is smooth...
YUMMY

I tried this recipe tonight and thought it was great!

Orange Glazed Ginger Beef
(from College Inn beef broth)
4 servings

1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce
2T. frozen OJ concentrate
2T. cornstarch
1t. ground ginger (I used minced, in a jar)
1t. grated orange peel
1 pound lean beef, cut into strips
2 c. broccoli florets (I used frozen and added at the end)
1 md. onion cut into thin wedges
1 T. vegetable oil
1 can low sodium beef broth
Hot cooked brown rice

In large bowl, combine soy sauce, oj concentrate, cornstarch, ginger and orange peel; stir to dissolve cornstarch. Add beef; marinate 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in large skillet, cook and stir broccoli and onion in oil until tender-crisp; remove. Drain beef, reserving marinade. In same skillet, over med-high heat, cook and stir beef 3-4 minutes until browned; remove. Add reserved marinade and broth to skillet; boil 5 minutes. Add beef and vegetables; heat. Serve over rice.

Per serving:
325 calories, 39g protein, 14g carbs, 12g fat, 4g sat. fat

bet it would be good with chicken to BfL Cat!!

Chicken Orecchiette

1 (16 oz) package medium ww penne
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup yellow pepper, diced
1/2 cup green onions
3 cups cooked and cubed chicken meat
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (or 2-3 tsp. dried)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 oz. feta cheese (the kind that is flavored with basil works great)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and place hot pasta in mixing bowl. Pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over pasta. Add drained tomatoes, bell peppers, scallions, and chicken. Toss well. Add basil, salt, pepper, feta, and Parmesan cheese. Toss well and serve immediately.



I copied this from the other YOU: recipe thread - made a few modifications, like cutting the oil and vinegar in half - in my opinion it still made plenty of "sauce".

This was fast, easy and really good - even DF liked it! And, it makes at least 4 servings - maybe more like 6 - hard for me to tell because DF eats way more than me, and we still had plenty of leftovers. I think I would add a bit more chicken to increase the protein a bit.
Cindy

If you watch cooking shows as much as I do..haha...you will notice the trend now is to add a little pasta water to your dish to help with the sauce..this would make more sauce for this dish then adding all the oil. Just a thought..sounds very good and ymmy@@

Here's a recipe that I haven't tried, but a fellow member of another thread I frequent shared this. It seems like a good way to get oats in at times other than breakfast.
Cindy

Yoga journal had this recipe for Oat Risotto from a book called "The Splendid Grain". I made it tonight and it is really good. I modified it a little but here it is:

Easy Oat Risotto With Pine Nuts

2 cups steel cut oats
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used 2 tbsps of olive oil)
1/4 cup minced shallots (I used 1/2 vidalia onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pine nuts (I used 1/2 cup walnuts)
1/2 tsp salt (I omitted)
4 cups vegetable stock, hot
2 tbsps minced fresh parsley (I omitted)
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
ground pepper to taste

Put the oats in a saucepan over medium high heat and toast, stirring constantly for 2 to 3 minutes or until aromatic and lightly browned. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Stir int he oats, pine nuts and salt and saute for about 5 minutes or until oats glisten.

Begin adding the hot stock, a half-cup at a time, stirring constantly until each half-cup is absorbed.

When the oats have a rich creamy texture with a bit of bite left, remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley, lemon juice, pecorino and pepper. Serve hot.

Ohh that actually sounds kind of good. I will have to test it out.

Italian Pork Chops

½ onion, chopped or sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. olive oil
4 pork loin chops, bone-in or boneless
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes
¼ c. dry white wine or chicken broth
1t. dried oregano
1/8 t. pepper

In a large skillet, sauté onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add pork chops; brown on both sides. In a small bowl, combine the tomato sauce, tomatoes, wine or broth, oregano and pepper. Pour over chops. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10-15 minutes or until tender.

Serve with brown rice pilaf and salad.

I make this all the time - I know it has 4 legs, but since pork is "the other white meat", and I cut all the fat off of the chops (I use boneless), I think it's ok to have often.
I found this recipes on allrecipes.com. The can of tomatoes is my own modification - this really increases the volume of the sauce, which makes it nice for serving over rice or maybe ww pasta. I'm also considering adding some chopped green peppers as a variation.
Enjoy!
Cindy

Cindy’s Stuffed Peppers

1 pound ground beef or turkey
½ cup uncooked brown rice
1 cup water
4-6 green bell peppers
2 8oz. cans tomato sauce (or sub marinara sauce)
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. Emeril’s Essence (store bought or see following recipe)
1 t. Italian seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook ground meat until evenly browned. Drain and rinse the browned meat, then add water, one can tomato sauce and uncooked rice. Bring to boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked.
3. Cut peppers in half (I prefer lengthwise), and remove and discard tops, seeds and membranes. Simmer in a skillet with ½” boiling water to par-boil to shorten baking time.
4. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with hollowed sides facing upward. Spoon an equal amount of the meat/rice mixture into each hollowed pepper. Mix remaining can of sauce with Italian seasoning, and pour over the stuffed peppers.
5. Bake, covered with foil, 25-30 minutes (or 1 hour if not par-boiled) in preheated over, basting with sauce every 15 minutes if desired. Peppers should be tender.

If you don't want to use the Essence, you can season meat mixture with ¼ t. garlic powder,
¼ t. onion powder and salt and pepper to taste.

I find that this takes a long time to make, so I now make my filling mixture one day, then just reheat it and fill my peppers before baking the day I plan to have this for dinner.


Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
Yield: about 2/3 cup

Cindy

Balsamic Chicken Breast Salad (from Oxygen, Aug. 2005)

4 servings

3 cups cooked, skinless, boneless chicken breast, chopped and cooled
1 cup chopped red apple
1/2 cup diced celery
3 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3 T balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup Vegenaise mayo (I use LF regular mayo)
1 tsp French's Bold n'Spicy mustard
1 tsp freshly ground four-blend pepper

Instructions.

1. Boil chicken breast in a large pot until cooked. (I grilled mine instead after letting it marinate in lime juice - which added some great flavor to the dish.)
2. In a large bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients.
3. In a small bowl mix the dressing ingredients
4. Mix chicken and dressing together, stir well and refrigerate 2 hours. Serve over a bed of lettuce.

calories 383
protein value not given
carbs: 10 gram
fat: 22 gram

Taco Soup
(WW recipe)

1# ground beef or turkey
28 oz. canned diced tomatoes (Rotel works well!)
1 can corn, drained
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 pkg. Taco seasoning, low sodium
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
Water as desired

Brown ground meat, drain and rinse. Add seasoning mixes, and all canned goods. I only drain the corn, all the rest go in as canned- the bean liquid helps to thicken this a bit. Add additional water as desired - maybe 1/2 cup for me. Heat through and serve with whole wheat tortilla chips and low fat shredded cheese.

This is a winter favorite. A bit high in sodium, so we only have every other week.
Cindy

looks great Cindy,,Im worried about the sodium as well...Im not very good at making soup (acutally I suck at it.haha) but Im wondering if I could substitute cumin and other spices in it..to flavour it instead of the packages of mix.

Does anyone have a tried and true salmon recipe they would like to share??? I make the one fromt he You book,,,and I make salmon cakes but Im looking for more ideas..its starting to get boring to me..and I need to eat it at least once a week.