Sweet Potato Gnocchi

I love traditional gnocchi, but it's a no-no on the South Beach Diet.  White potatoes are high on the glycemic index.  But sweet potatoes, they're a go-go.  Mashed sweet potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries, and now sweet potato gnocchi.  I came across this recipe on one of my favorite Blogs:  Kath Eats Real Food.  I was immediately intrigued, so today I tested it out.  O. M. G. !!!!!  These little morsels are the BOMB!  (Am I dating myself by using the phrase "the bomb"?)

There are a few steps so it does take a little time to make, but the end result is so worth it.  My toddler gobbled a handful of them as soon as they were just marginally cool enough for her to chew, and the hubby stated that this should be put into the weekly rotation.  As in every week.  And for breakfast.  Drizzled with a bit of maple syrup.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Lifted directly from this recipe with very few modifications.

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes, well baked or microwaved, cooled
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1.5 - 2 cups whole wheat flour (plus more for rolling)
• olive oil

Directions:

• Scoop the flesh out of the sweet potatoes and place into a large mixing bowl.  Discard skin.
• Add salt, cinnamon and egg and stir until well incorporated.
• Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time and mix thoroughly in between.  Continue adding flour and mixing until the dough has lost about 80% of its stickiness.  (Better to have it a little too sticky than to add too much flour because that can toughen the gnocchi.)
• The original recipe says to turn the dough ball out onto a floured surface and knead it up into a tighter ball.  However, because I don't have a functional countertop (that's a story for another day), I was limited by the size of my cutting board.  So instead of working with the entire ball of dough all at once, I floured my cutting board and scooped out heaping spoonfuls of the dough and rolled them out.  It took a bit longer to do it this way because I had about 8-10 smaller rolls, but it worked for me.
• Roll the dough out into thin tubes.  Make sure to sprinkle enough flour over the dough to keep it from sticking to your working surface and hands.
• Cut tube into 1/2 inch pieces.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Cook the dough pieces in about 4 batches so as not to overcrowd the pot.  Boil for about 5 minutes until the gnocchi float to the top.
• Remove gnocchi with a strainer and place in an ice water bath for a couple of minutes to stop the cooking.  Drain them once they're cooled.
• Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat along with a tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté 1/4 of the batch of gnocchi for a few minutes until a nice brown crust forms.  (Sprinkle w/ a little bit of basil or rosemary or thyme or whatever you like.)
• Serve immediately.  

If you want to freeze some for later, you'll need to do it after boiling and draining them but before sautéing them.  Place them in a single layer on a sheet pan and freeze until solid, about an hour.  Then take the frozen bites and put them into a plastic freezer bag.  When you're ready to eat them, place the bag in the fridge to thaw for a few hours (I usually do it the night before) and then sauté as usual.

These little gems are sweet, crusty, chewy, 100% South Beach Diet legal, and 100% delicious.  Enjoy!

Pasta with Spaghetti Squash Marinara

This is a great way to add extra veggies into your diet.  I normally make this with ground turkey instead of the garbanzo beans, but today I decided to go vegetarian.  You could also add diced zucchini or frozen chopped spinach to increase the veggie intake as well as the plate color appeal.  :-)

Pasta with Spaghetti Squash Marinara
I made this one up myself based on what I had in the pantry.

Ingredients:

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• whole wheat bowtie pasta
• 1 jar no sugar added marinara sauce (I use Trader Joe's)
• 1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained
• salt & pepper (optional)
• fresh mozzarella balls, diced
• freshly grated parmesan

Directions:

• Prepare whole wheat bowtie pasta according to package instructions, to al dente.
• Using a sharp chef's knife, pierce the skin of the spaghetti squash in numerous locations.  Place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 8 - 10 minutes, turning it over halfway through.  Let sit until cool enough to handle.  Cut in half, lengthwise, and remove seeds along with the dark fibrous strands and discard.  Using a fork, scoop out the spaghetti-like strands and put them into a large sauce pan. 
• Add marinara sauce, garbanzo beans and season with salt & pepper as needed.  Toss to mix everything together.
• Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, tossing occasionally.
• Remove from heat and fold in the mozzarella.
• Ladle over pasta.  Top with freshly grated parmesan.

Portabellas with Marinara

Portabellas with Marinara
Adapted from this recipe.
















Ingredients:

• PAM
• Large portabella mushrooms, cleaned and de-stemmed
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• any no sugar added jarred marinara sauce (I use Trader Joe's)
• fresh mozzarella balls (one 1 oz ball per mushroom), sliced

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Spray a baking sheet (or a toaster oven pan if you're doing just one!) with PAM.
• Place the mushrooms gill side up (like a shallow cup) on the sprayed pan.  Sprinkle with a little seasoned salt.  Fill with a couple spoonfuls of marinara.
• Bake in oven for 15 minutes.
• Add the mozzarella slices on top and return to oven .  Put on broil for a couple of minutes until the cheese melts.
• Serve immediately.

Impromptu Green Bean and Whatever Salad

My evening class got canceled today, YAY! Well, YAY for me, sorry for my teacher who is at home sick. :-( It's an absolutely beautiful day out, the sun is shining and it's about 72 degrees. Perfect park weather for a quick afternoon Moms' Group outing with the little tot.

I didn't feel like eating my boxed leftover lunch today, so I rummaged through the fridge and pantry to see what I had on hand. Some leftover green beans, a ripe avocado, and a box of baby heirloom tomatoes. I was debating between the pouch of tuna fish and the can of sardines. Tuna fish won out today, but I think next time I'll do the sardines. Gotta get in those weekly Omega-3s. :-)

Impromptu Green Bean and Whatever Salad
Based on whatever was in my fridge and pantry.

Ingredients:

• a handful of steamed green beans, cut into bite-size pieces
• a handful of baby heirloom tomatoes, halved or quartered
• half an avocado, diced
• some crumbled goat cheese for the tang
• a pouch of tuna fish
• Newman's Own Light Italian dressing

Directions:

• Toss everything in a bowl and eat.

YUM!

Kale Chips

You're probably thinking "Kale?  Eewww!"... but before you diss it, you've got to try it.  Seriously.  It's good!  Even my 21-month-old loves it, and here's the proof:

Kale chips are nothing like what you know kale to traditionally taste like (in stews or as a bitter mushy side dish), or what you would imagine kale to taste like if you've never had it before.  Granted, they don't taste like potato chips because, well, they're not made from potatoes.  They're made from kale, silly.  But they're light and crispy, and in this case, taste like parmesan and seasoned salt.  Not a bad combo.  And it's a quick and easy way to get in that extra serving of veggies, the especially-good-for-you leafy green type of veggie.

We devour an entire batch in one sitting, every time without fail, and that 21-month-old I mentioned above, well, she eats her fair share.

Kale Chips
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• A giant bunch or two of green kale
• olive oil spray
• salt (your favorite seasoned brand, or, I use pink Himalayan)
• grated parmesan

Directions:

• Thoroughly wash the kale (they grow in the dirt so tend to be, well, dirty.  HA!).  Remove the thick stems and cut the kale leaves into bite-size pieces.  Dry them in a lettuce spinner or by spreading them onto a few paper towels on your kitchen counter.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Spray a baking sheet or two lightly with olive oil.
• Spread the kale out on the baking sheet(s) in a single layer.  Spray the tops lightly with olive oil.
• Sprinkle lightly with salt.
• Grate some parmesan over the whole thing, as much or as little as you like.
• Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until the kale is crispy (it may be lightly browned but should still be mostly dark green; if you get to mostly brown, or all brown, it's burned and will be very bitter). My oven has hot spots, so I like to rotate the pans halfway through the cooking time.

Be careful and watch it towards the end, there's only about a 2-minute window between crispy and burned.  After you do this the first time, you'll get a feel for how long it takes in your particular oven and won't have to hover so much towards the end.

Parmesan Crusted Red Snapper

This recipe is so simple that it's an old old staple at our house.  It can be made with red snapper, tillapia, cod, sole or basically any tender white fish.  My original recipe doesn't call for any bread crumbs, but I was a little short on parmesan today, so I combined 1 part parmesan with 1 part bread crumbs to make enough coating.  Still very good, but I prefer the un-diluted parmesan crust because it gives a stronger flavor.

Parmesan Crusted Red Snapper
I don't remember where I got this idea from, I've been making it forever.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium red snapper fillets, skinned and de-boned
• Dijon mustard
• 1 cup-ish grated parmesan (or, in today's case, 1/2 cup parmesan and 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs)
• a few dashes of Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• PAM

Directions

• In a shallow bowl, combine parmesan (and optional bread crumbs) with some TS Seasoned Salt.  Set aside.
• Using your hands, coat both sides of each fillet with mustard.
• Dredge fillets in the parmesan mixture.  Make sure to thoroughly coat both sides of the fish.
• Spray a frying pan with PAM and cook fillets a few minutes on each side until crust is nicely browned and fish is cooked through.  It shouldn't take very long (3-5 minutes on each side) since these types of fish are very light and tender.

Eat more fish!  :-)

3/5/12 ETA:  Today instead of cooking it in a pan, I baked it in the oven for 15 minutes on 350 degrees F.  The cheese melted into the mustard and turned into yummy gooeyness.

Baked Butternut Squash with Chicken and Parmesan

I love butternut squash.  So does the hubby.  And the toddler.  But I always end up doing the same thing over and over: cubing, seasoning and roasting it in the oven.  While delicious, I wanted to try something new.  I came across this recipe (linked below) while searching on the Web, and was intrigued by the addition of the cream.  It sounded so luxurious.  And then I thought, "hey, why not make a meal of it?"... and so this recipe was born.  I swapped out the cream for evaporated skim milk, tinkered with the seasonings a little, and I added some chicken and red kidney beans.  Serve with a side of garlic green beans (optional) and you're good to go.

Butternut Squash with Chicken and Parmesan
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• two large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• PAM
• 1 can (12 oz) evaporated skim milk
• 1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans
• a few dashes of ground nutmeg
• a pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan, divided

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Season the chicken well.  In a large skillet, brown the chicken with some PAM.
• Once the chicken is browned (doesn't need to be fully cooked), add the evaporated skim milk, butternut squash, kidney beans and 1 cup of the grated parmesan (and more salt if you'd like).  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
• Pour everything into a 9"x13" baking dish.  Bake for 40 - 50 minutes until squash is tender.
• Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan and leave in the oven for a few minutes until melted.

Parmesan Quinoa Cakes with Eggplant and Sausage Ragout

This was only my second time making quinoa, and let me tell you, it was so much better than my first time!  The first time I ever made it was when I was in training in Chicago for my last job with IRI.  My roommate and a few of the other girls in the group were health nuts and the bunch of us went to Whole Foods and came back to the hotel with all sorts of stuff I'd never eaten before.  I had bought a cup of quinoa because I'd heard it was a supergrain, and since I was in good company, I figured that was the time to try it.  Hrmm, maybe not.  They'd bought already-cooked quinoa before, but they'd never cooked it from scratch so couldn't give me any tips.  I didn't thoroughly wash it so it was bitter and gritty.  I also didn't add enough water so it was very grainy.  Not a good experience.  So it's taken me a good 7 years to try it again.

This time, I figured I'd try the quinoa cake-style with added egg and parmesan to ease myself back.  Anything is good with egg and parmesan, right?  The original recipe calls for it to be pan fried, but I baked mine to make it a little healthier.  It turned out pretty darned good.

Just make sure you wash the quinoa very well before you cook it.  I rinsed it through 3 or 4 changes of water to get as much of the grittiness out as possible.  It was perfect.

I sprinkled the mozzarella on top of the ragout, but I think next time it would be better to mix it into the ragout right at the end so it can melt slightly and get all ooey and gooey.  I reflected that in the directions below.

Parmesan Quinoa Cakes with Eggplant and Sausage Ragout
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• For the Parmesan Quinoa Cakes
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups water
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan
• couple pinches of thyme
• PAM

• For the Eggplant and Sausage Ragout
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 package sliced button mushrooms
• 1 large purple eggplant, diced, salted and drained
•  Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• Tastefully Simple Onion Onion
• a few dashes of dried thyme and dried basil
• water
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 4 links pre-cooked chicken or turkey sausage, cut into small slices
• 4 oz fresh mozzarella, diced

Directions:

• For the Parmesan Quinoa Cakes
• Thoroughly wash quinoa and let sit in a fine mesh sieve to drain.
• Bring water and pinch of salt to a boil.  Add the washed and drained quinoa.  Bring back to a boil, then cover and simmer 20-30 minutes until quinoa has absorbed all the water.  Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes for any excess water to absorb into the quinoa.
• Transfer quinoa to a bowl and let cool 10-15 minutes.  Stir in eggs, parmesan and thyme.  (Make sure the quinoa is sufficiently cooled, otherwise the egg may begin to scramble when you add them.)
• Divide quinoa into 4 equal parts, and using your hands, form each part into individual tightly-packed patties.  Place patties onto a baking sheet sprayed with PAM.
• Chill patties for 15-30 minutes.  (This is important to let the egg set, otherwise the patty may fall apart on you.)
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Spray the tops of patties with PAM and bake for 20 minutes, flipping them halfway through.
• Turn on the broiler and broil for the last minute or two to get a nice brown crust on top.
• Serve immediately.

• For the Eggplant and Sausage Ragout
• Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil for a few minutes until slightly browned.
• Add in the eggplant, seasonings, thyme and a few tablespoons of water.  Sauté until everything begins to soften.  Add a little bit of water as needed to prevent the mixture from drying out.
• Add the tomatoes and sausage and continue to cook until the ragout is nice and soft.
• Sprinkle with mozzarella and toss immediately before serving.

As with most (or all?) of my recipes, this one is very flexible, and you can add anything you'd like.  The original recipe calls for roasted peppers, which I didn't add because I didn't have any on hand.  But I added the mushrooms and the sausage.  And it would be yummy with artichoke hearts as well, I think.

Lime Garlic Marinated London Broil

I normally cook steaks on the grill.  But since it's been raining a lot lately (Egads!  In Southern California?!), the grill is currently waterlogged and so I had to resort to the broiler.  This was my first attempt at broiling a piece of steak, I kept it in a few minutes too long so it turned out med-well instead of my preferred medium or med-rare.  I had it in there for 10 mins per side, next time I'll probably go for 7 or 8 mins per side (I reflected that in my directions below).

This recipe is pretty subtle.  If you want more kick to your steak, go heavy on the seasoned salt.

Lime Garlic Marinated London Broil
I made this one up myself based on what I had in the pantry.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 - 2 lb London broil steak, all visible fat removed
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large lime, juiced
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt

Directions:

• Place all ingredients into a zippered plastic bag.  Mush it all around to make sure the steak is well coated.  Refrigerate 12-24 hours, occasionally turning the bag to make sure both sides get marinated.
• When ready to cook, preheat broiler.  Remove steak from bag and broil until desired doneness (7-8 minutes per side for medium).
• Remove from broiler and let sit for 15 minutes before thinly slicing against the grain.

Tomato Braised Pork Chops with Couscous

I have nothing witty to say today, sorry.  Todd came home late from work, and I need to go study for an OB/GYN test in the morning.  :-)

Tomato Braised Pork Chops with Couscous
I made this one up myself based on what I had in the pantry.

Ingredients:

• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 4 medium pork chops, all visible fat removed
• extra virgin olive oil 
• 1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz.) great northern beans, drained (I would have used garbanzo beans but didn't have any on hand)
• 1 can (15 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• a few pinches dried rosemary
• a few pinches dried thyme
• 1 cup whole wheat couscous, uncooked

Directions:

• Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with the Seasoned Salt.
• In a large skillet on high heat, drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil and sear the pork chops on both sides.  Turn the heat down to medium-low.
• Add the diced tomatoes, beans, artichokes, rosemary and thyme.  Season with some more salt if needed.
• Cover the skillet and let braise for 45 minutes to an hour.
• Remove the pork chops onto a cutting board and dice into bite-size pieces.
• Meanwhile, add 1 cup whole wheat couscous to the skillet and mix to incorporate it into the tomato mixture.
• Return the diced pork to the skillet, cover and turn off the heat.  Let sit for about 10 minutes until the couscous is nice and fluffy and has absorbed most of the sauce.

If you want, you could keep the pork chops whole and serve them atop the bed of couscous.  I like to dice them up because it's easier to box up for lunch the next day.