Shepherd's Pie, My Oh My.

When I was a kid my parents took me on a weekend trip up to Woodstock, VT. We spent our time playing tennis, touring local shops and taking long bike rides to the small surrounding towns. On one of those bike rides we stopped in Quechee, VT for lunch, where my father and I both enjoyed Shepherd's Pie. It was the first time I had ever had this dish, which consists of a hearty beef and vegetable mixture topped with creamy mashed potatoes. It wasn't until I married my husband that I was reminded of this wonderful meal, and we recreated it so that it is not only delicious, but healthy as well. I have made the recipe below for 2 people, but you can easily double or triple and still get the same great taste.

Shepherd's Pie
PointsPlus value per serving: 11
Calories per serving: 485
Servings: 2

Ingredients
Potato Topping
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup fat-free skim milk
salt/pepper to taste

Pie Mixture
1/2 pound 90% lean/10% fat raw ground beef
1/3 cup canned green peas
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels
1/3 cup diced carrots
1 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 clove garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp canned tomato paste
1/4 tsp fresh rosemary
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 cup canned beef broth

Instructions
-Peel potato and dice into chunks. Put into a pot, cover with water, and bring
to a boil. Let simmer for 12 minutes. Drain, add skim milk, salt and pepper
and whip with a hand blender. Set aside to cool.
-Over medium-high heat saute onions and carrots in a large frying pan sprayed with PAM. After 5 minutes, add ground beef and crushed garlic.-Saute beef until pink is gone.
-Add flour and cook 1 minute, making sure that the flour evenly coats the beef
mixture.
-Add broth, tomato paste, corn and peas. Stir well. Add spices, salt
and pepper. Saute 1 additional minutes until a creamy sauce forms.
-Pour meat mixture into two bake-proof ramekins (you can make it in one large dish if you prefer, I just find portion control to be easier when I split it up). Top with potato mixture (you can use a pastry bag if you want to be fancy, or just spoon it on). Bake in 350 degree oven until top starts to turn golden brown.

Healthy meals to Nourish Your Mind.

Bean there done that--Alyssa's Vegetarian Chili

So who knew that Georgia could be so freaking cold? When we moved from New Jersey I donated many of my sweaters and coats to Goodwill, envisioning a life of short-sleeved shirts and tank-tops. Boy, was I wrong! It is COLD here! So cold, that I needed to whip up one of my graduate school favorites (yes, Syracuse, NY was cold too, but I knew that going into it). My friend Alyssa introduced me to this recipe, and I have been making it ever since. You can use any types of beans, but this combo is my favorite. I know I have featured it before, but I wanted to re-calculate the recipe based on the new Weight Watchers program, so here it is, again, as delicious as ever.


Alyssa’s Vegetarian Chili
8 servings (one cup per serving)
PointsPlus™ Value: 6
150 calories per serving

Ingredients
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can chickpeas
1 can great northern beans
1/2 medium yellow pepper
1/2 medium sweet red pepper
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 cup salsa
1 tsp soy sauce
1 packet Chili Seasoning Mix
1 cup water

Instructions
-In a large pot, saute diced onion sand peppers until soft.
-Drain all of the beans and rinse them off with cold water. Add to pot.
-Add remaining ingredients. Simmer on low, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
-Remove lid and continue to simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Healthy meals to nourish your mind.

It's all Greek to me--a healthy twist on Spinach Pie

I love Greek food—it uses ingredients that I never really had as a child. My first time using fillo dough I was very intimidated, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. In this recipe you spray each layer of the fillo dough with cooking spray rather than brushing them with butter, eliminating a lot of extra calories and fat. For best results, cook right before you are going to serve, or the top crust will get soggy.

Spanikopita (Greek Spinach Pie)
Serves 4
WW PointsPlus Value: 7
250 calories per serving


Ingredients

6 sheets Fillo dough
4 eggs
6 oz reduced-fat feta cheese
1/2 small raw onion
1 tsp dried dill weed
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp black pepper
20 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained

Instructions
-Pre-heat oven 350 degrees.
-Thaw and drain spinach. Place in bowl.
-Dice onions and mix in with spinach.
-Add lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper.
-Wisk together eggs and mix into spinach mixture.
-Add feta cheese and mix until well blended.
-Spray 9x13 pan. Layer 3 piece of filo dough, spraying each layer with PAM.
-Spread spinach mix over evenly.
-Top with last sheet three sheets of filo dough, spraying between each layer and on the top layer.
-Bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Healthy meals to nourish your mind.

En-THAI-cing Chicken with Peanut Sauce

In the New Year I am trying to incorporate more spices into my meals to change things up. The strong taste of fresh ginger root mixed with tumeric, garlic and hot sauce are a great way to use fresh ingredients in an easy cooking preparation. This can be served as a main meal, or as an appetizer.

Have extra ginger root left over? Put it in a zip-lock bag and throw it in the freezer--next time you need it just grate the frozen root directly into your dish.


Thai-Style Chicken with Peanut Dipping Sauce
PointsPlus Value: 10 per serving (chicken with 1/6 of sauce)
460 calories/20g fat

Ingredients
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips

Marinade
6 cloves garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice, canned or bottled
1 small raw onion, chopped
3 Tbsp ginger root, grated
2 tsp ground turmeric
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ tsp hot sauce

Sauce
Reserved marinade
2/3 cup(s) creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup(s) canned chicken broth
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp whole milk

Directions
-Puree all marinade ingredients together in a blender.
-Pour over chicken and let marinade over night.
-Remove chicken from marinade, and skewer strips onto individual bamboo skewers.
-Grill on bbq or indoor grill pan until cooked through.
-Place reserved marinade into a small pot.
-Add remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil.
-Let simmer for 5-10 minutes, adding more chicken broth if a thinner sauce is desired.
-Divide chicken into 6 equal portions and serve with a side of 1/6 of peanut sauce in a small dipping bowl.

Healthy meals to nourish your mind.

New Year, New You

Happy New Year!

So as many of you know my recipes always include the Weight Watchers points at the end, so that those of you who follow WW are able to incorporate these meals into your daily plan. I recently learned that Weight Watchers now follows a new points system, called Points Plus. The new system focuses on the way your body processes food, rather than just the caloric value of the meal.

Moving forward I will include the new Points Plus points on my recipes. As I cook the old recipes in my weekly rotation, I will update the old points values to reflect the new program.

I hope 2011 is a great year for you all, and I promise to include many yummy recipes on my blog to help you create healthy meals that will nourish your mind and your soul.