Dijon Scallopped Potatoes

No cheese, no milk, no way... you say!! I'm telling you, these scallopped potatoes are creamy and delicious without the milk and cheese!! I used a food processor to slice my potatoes paper thin... I think it helps get the ultimate creaminess possible!

(paper-thin potatoes)

Ingredients
1 kg potato, with skin, sliced paper thin
1 small onion, sliced
3 tbsp vegetable shortening
3 tsbp all purpose flour
2 cups fat free chicken broth
2 tbsp Old-Fashioned Dijon mustard (grainy) *
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste


Directions
1- Spray a 3 liter dish with some non-stick spray.
2 - Preheat oven to 170 C.
3 - In a saucepan, melt shortnening over low medium heat.
4 - Remove from heat and stir in flour.
5- Stir in broth and other ingredients and return to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
6 - If sauce is too thick, add some water to thin it out.
7 - Arrange half of the potatoes in the bottom on the greased dish.
8 - Add all the sliced onions.
9 - Add half of the sauce.
10 - Add remaining potatoes and top with the rest of the sauce.
11 - Bake for 2 hours or until soft.
* if you arent a dijon fan, use 2 tsp instead. It will taste strong in the sauce at first, but will be barely noticeable when the finished dish comes out of the oven!

before heading to the oven

Delicious Yummy Greatness!

Nutritional Data
4 servings
per serving
6 points
293 calories
9.5 g fat (2.3 g sat)
45.8 g carbs
4.7 g fiber
2.6 g sugars
5.9g protein

6 servings
per serving
4 points
195.3 calories
6.4 g fat (1.6g sat)
30.5 g carbs
3.2 g fiber
1.7 g sugars
3.9 g protein

Onion & Carrot Foil Packs

Sorry I've been M.I.A for a month...

We are having summer weather here in Budapest and so we've been doing lots of barbecuing.
Here's a nice little recipe we like to have along side whatever meats we are grillin'. My little critics usually pick out the onions, which I don't mind, since it leaves more for me ;)

It's a nice change from potatoes!


Ingredients
(5 servings)
1 kg garden carrots, peeled and chopped *
2 medium onions (~ 300 gr), chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Herbes de Provences **

Directions
1- Add all ingredients in a large bowl and toss.
2 - Dump the ingredients in the center of a large sheet of aluminum foil (or 2 smaller sheets).
3 - Close up the foil in a way that nothing will drip or fall out when the foil pack is flipped on the grill.
4 - Grill on BBQ until carrots are soft (approx 15-20 mins, but time will depend on the size of the carrot pieces.)

* Garden carrots (the carrots that still have the greens attached) are sweeter then regular carrots) and the sweetness blends really well with the Herbes de Provences.

** If you don't have Herbes de Provences (French herb mix) you can make your own.
Enjoy!

Nutritional Data
1 serving
2 WW points
cal 129.4
fat 3.3 g
carbs 24.5 g
fiber 6.8 g
sugars 9.1 g
protein 2.6 g

African Couscous Salad

I love couscous, especially cold couscous salad. This couscous salad has a nice sweet North-African taste to it, and a little tang from the red wine vinegar. I think that cider vinegar would also taste fantastic! This is best if completely chilled before serving, giving the flavors time to meld ;)
My 3 critics enjoyed it, as did I.... definitely will be making it again. It is quite filling, therefore, I think it would be the perfect packed lunch. It makes a great side dish too!


Ingredients
1 cup whole-wheat couscous (makes 3 cups cooked and fluffed with fork)
1 1/4 cup hot fat-free chicken broth
290 g jar of chickpeas (210 g just chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 cup diced celery
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1/4 cup raisins, not packed!
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped (approx. 25g)
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

*To make it vegetarian, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.


Directions
- Boil the chicken broth in a small saucepan. Once broth is boiling, remove from heat.
- Add couscous, stir to fully coat couscous and cover.
- While couscous is sitting, prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the remaining ingredients (see note below on optional olive oil).
- Fluff couscous with a fork and let cool. (if you add the hot couscous, it will absord too much of the liquid in the mix... including the water in the vegetables... so it is best to wait till it has cooled).
- Once couscous has cooled to room temperature, add to the salad mix.
- Mix and refrigerate.

Nutritional Data
3 WW points
187.5 cal
1.1 g fat
41 g carbs
4.2 g fiber
3.3 g sugar
6.3 g protein

Add 1 tbsp Olive Oil to the recipe (when you add the vineagar) and the values change too
4 WW points
207.4 cal
3.3 g fat
41 g carbs
4.2 g fiber
3.3 g sugar
6.2 g protein

Napa on the Side

Looking for a quick, nutritious side dish. Try this out, its yummy! It goes great with roast pork, or topped on to rice for a quick vegetarian meal. This one is not a winner with the little critics, they wouldn't even taste it, but the big critic and I both enjoyed it.

Napa is a chinese cabbage, not to be confused with bok choy. They are used interchangeably in lots of meals, but look completely different. (Bok Choy on the Left, Napa on the right)
I used Napa in my recipe, but it would be equally good with Bok Choy. Both cabbages are delicious sauteed, braised, roasted or stir-fried! Both are delicious on their own, but are also very popular mixed into stir-frys. Another great use for them is as a replacement for regular cabbage in coleslaw.


Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger root (or 1/4 tsp ground ginger mixed into beef broth)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 head of Napa cabbage (2 lbs) *
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup green onion (scallions), chopped

Directions
- Heat oil a large deep frying pan.
- Add garlic and ginger and mix around for 1 minute.
- Add Napa and stir frequently for another 2 minutes
- Add beef broth, and keep stirring until most of the broth has evaporated and the Nappa has reached the softness or crunchiness you desire.
- Add green onions 1 minute or 2 before your Napa is ready, they will retain their color and more of their flavor this way. You can add them before, but they will not be as flavorful ;)

That's it! Enjoy!

Nutritional Data
1 serving
2 WW points
67.4 cal
3.9 g fat
6.4 g carbs
0.2 g fiber
0.2 g sugars
3.6 g protein

Greek Bulgur Salad

Bulgur is a grain I discovered a couple of years ago. It resembles short grain rice, but has a chewier texture. It is fantastic warm or cold. I like to use it in place of rice for hot meals, or cold to make delicious salads. It is packed with fiber and very nutritious. I made this for myself, and I enjoyed it. I used canned shrimp since that was all I had, but I think it would be better the next time with frozen shrimp or with no shrimp at all, but as a side dish for a nice grilled shrimp dinner! Mmm, now I am salivating for fresh BBQ's shrimp...

I will test this out on the little critics when they get home from school... I have a fishy feeling they will be picking out several things and just eating the bulgur... they LOVE bulgur!
Ingredients
1/2 lb uncooked bulgur
2 cups low fatchicken broth
20 gr sun-dried tomato, diced (4 halves, not oil-packed!)
1/2 lemon, juiced
can of cocktail shrimp, drained and rinsed (100gr without liquid)
1/2 cup diced cucumber
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/c cup crumbled low-fat feta *
4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Greek seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

*the low fat feta I used was 12% fat (nutrional data is based on that value).

Directions
- In a medium saucepan, add bulgur to chicken broth and bring to a boil
- Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add sun-dried tomatoes and boil for another 5 minutes, covered, or until all liquid has been absorbed. The bulgur should have a chewy texture like that of rice when still al dente. (No matter how long you cook it, it will never reach the softness of rice!)
- Remove from heat, squeeze juice of half a lemon into bulgur, mix and let cool.
-In a large salad bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients and toss.
- Once bulgur has completely cooled, mix it into the salad mix and refrigerate at least 30 minutes until nice and cool.

Nutritional Data
You might think the portion is small, but bulgur is incredibly filling ;)
1 1/2 cup main dish serving (makes 4 servings)
6 WW points
339 cal
5.7 g fat
39 g cholesterol
52 g carbs
11 g fiber
24 g protein

1 cup side dish servings without shrimp (makes 6 servings)
4 WW points
208 cal
3.5 g fat
7.5 g fiber
0.8 g cholesterol
34.5 g carbs
12.7 g protein

Roast it! Rosemary-Thyme Pork Tenderloin with Root Vegetables

I loast pork roasts, especially lean tenderloin! I'm salivating again thinking about it. I had some fresh herbs and decide I should do something with them before they dried out or died on me... My herb plants never seem to survive... I must be doing something wrong!
I bought a 2.5 lb pork tenderloin and cut it half for the recipe, so my cooking time was way different then it should have been with a 1 piece 1 lb tenderloin. This lenghtened cooking time was not welcomed by my youngest little critic who came shouting "I'm hungreeeeeee mooooooooommmmm!!!!"
So I had to take the roast out, slice it up and panfry it to finish it. Still tasted great, but not as juicy as it would have tasted if it would have been finished in the oven.

Rosemary-Thyme Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients
(serves 4)

1 lb pork tenderloin
1 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, 2 sliced and 1 minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Directions
Preheat oven to 200 C
With a morter and pestle, mash up the thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.
Stab meat with knife to make pockets about 1/2 inch deep and wide.
Place roast in a small roasting pan.
Stuff the pockets with small amounts of herb mix, keeping about half for later.
Slide a garlic slice in each pocket.
Cover the rest of the roast with remaining herb mix and minced garlic.
Put in oven with the roast vegetables recipe (see below) if you chose to have that side dish.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of roast is 165 F.
Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes and slice into 4 servings (either 4 thick slices or 8 thinner slices).

** I covered my roast with aluminum foil half way through to save the herbs from burning. My oven is out of whack, so yours might survive without the foil

Nutritional Data
5 WW points
199 cal
6.9 g fat
1 g carbs
0.2 g fiber
31.5 g protein


Roasted Root Vegetables

Ingredients
(4 side servings)

1/2 a sweet potato (about 1/2 lb), cut into big cubes
1 medium carrot (150 gr), cut into 1.5 inch peices
1 small parsnip (100gr), cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small white beet 100 gr, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
- Preheat oven to 200C
- Mix all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and toss to evenly coat all veggies.
- Spread veggies in a medium roasting pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Take out and mix and return to oven for another 20 minutes (or until fork tender).

** Make sure the parsnips and beets are much smaller then the carrots and sweet potatoes since they take longer to cook. Sweet potato cooks the fastest out of the bunch, so make that your largest peices.

Nutritional Data
2 WW points
131 cal
7.1 g fat
16.6 g carbs
3.7 g fiber
1.7 g protein