South Beach Chicken Capri

I am trying to get back on track this week after I splurged for several birthday celebrations over the last few weeks. This is one of my favorite South Beach recipes. It is easy and soooo yummy! I also had to share a photo of the mixed salad because it had such great colors.

This is featured in The South Beach Diet Cookbook by Arthur Agatston, M.D. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 cup crushed tomatoes
4 slices of reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a blender or food processor, combine the ricotta, oregano, salt and pepper. Process to blend. If I am running short on time I just stir this together in a bowl for easier clean-up.

Rub the chicken with the garlic powder. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 12 minutes per side or until cooked through (mine usually take about 5 minutes per side!!!). Place the chicken breasts, side by side, in a large baking dish and allow to cool (I usually skip the cooling part).

Spoon 1/4 cup of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1/4 cup tomatoes onto each chicken breast. Top each piece of chicken with 1 slice mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of a chicken breast registers 170 degrees and the juices run clear.

340 calories each serving

Fresh Strawberry Milkshakes

My brother-in-law loves strawberry milkshakes. So, I decided to make him a real one for his Spring Break visit last week. This is a recipe from Emeril Lagasse. It makes 2 servings. I doubled the recipe and it served 5 adults. I think it would be fun to play with the extracts and perhaps make it an adult milkshake with some liquor!



Fresh Strawberry Milkshakes

serves 2



Ingredients:

1/2 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

2 heaping tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup milk



Directions:

In a mixing bowl combine the sliced strawberries, sugar and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Set aside and allow to macerate for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.



Place the strawberries and their juice, ice cream, and milk in a blender and blend until smooth.

Classic Banana Bread

It is dangerous for me to be home and bored. I bake. Not so good for the waistline. I came across this recipe from cookinglight.com for Classic Banana Bread and I happened to have a lot of bananas. It uses yogurt in place of some of the usual oil/fat. I usually like walnuts in my banana bread, but forgot to add them this time. Next time, I will try using egg substitute in place of the eggs for more calorie and fat reduction. This was moist and did not last long!

Classic Banana Bread

by cookinglight.com

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup white and 1cup whole wheat)

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed, ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/3 cup plain non-fat or low-fat yogurt (I used non-fat vanilla)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a wisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon batter into a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on the rack (We are never patient enough to let it cool before helping ourselves to a slice).

Approx: 14 servings; 187 calories each

Rigatoni with Meat Sauce

Rigatoni with Meat Sauce

From The Most Decadent Diet Ever! by Devin Alexander

We all really liked this recipe. It is a keeper. However, I will not do again on a weeknight, unless I have the marinara already made. I simmered it for about 1 1/2 hours and I still thought it could thicken a little more. It had a wonderful flavor with the addition of the fennel seeds.

The first thing you need to do is make the homemade marinara sauce:

Mostly Mom's Marinara Sauce

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 TBS minced fresh garlic

Two 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes

1 TBS dried oregano

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp salt

(I added a little dried basil too.)

Saute the onions in the olive oil over medium heat until they are tender, but not brown (7-10 minutes). Add the garlic and saute for a minute, then add the tomatoes, oregano, sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir and turn the heat to low. Simmer, partially covered for at least one hour, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, brown 1 pound lean ground beef until mostly cooked through. Drain if needed and return to pan.

Add to the beef:

1 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Stir and cook until beef is fully cooked. Add to the marinara sauce.

When the marinara meat sauce is thickened to your liking, serve over cooked pasta. Rigatoni is what the recipe called for, but this sauce would be good on any pasta. This made enough for three people and enough leftovers for another 3 servings! I think this sauce will freeze beautifully to enjoy some other time.

Hello

Hi. How is everyone? I am excited to have a place to share some of my favorite recipes and all my new culinary experiments. I recently received a new cookbook for my birthday by Devin Alexander called The Most Decadent Diet Ever. The first recipe I plan to try is her rigatoni with a homemade marinara meat sauce. I'll let you know how it turns out!