Roasted Red Potatoes

There was this one time, I needed to make a side dish for dinner with friends and I wanted something fairly easy and healthy.  So I looked up on Weight Watcher's website for an idea, and came across a recipe for Roasted Fingerling Potatoes.  I opted to substitute the fingerlings for red.  Why?  Because they're easier to find and less expensive.  Either way, they were good!

Roasted Fingerling Red Potatoes
Yields about 1/2 cup per serving, serves 4; PointsPlus 2

Ingredients

• 12 oz. uncooked potatoes, fingerling red, well-scrubbed, sliced in half lenghtwise quarters
•  1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup canned chicken broth, divided
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, (plus extra for garnish)
• 1/8 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a small roasting pan, combine potatoes, garlic, and 1/4 cup broth, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
3. Roast for 15 minutes (broth will evaporate); add remaining broth, flip potatoes and roast for 15 minutes more.

Roasted Red Potato Bites

For my recent Christmas party I wanted to find easy, tastey, healthy(ish) recipes.  And I believe I did pretty good with that.  Except when you don't practice "eat in moderation", and you "sample" and "taste test" during the cooking process.

First up we have a Weight Watchers recipe...  Off to a good start don't you think?

 Roasted Red Potato Bites
PointsPlus value:  2

Ingredients
12 small uncooked red potatoes, each cut in half (about 1 lb)
1 oz. smoked gouda cheese, shredded (about 1/4 c)
3 slices crisp cooked bacon, finely crumbled (about 2 tbs)
1/4 c fat-free sour cream
2 tbs fresh chives, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Spray a nonstick 10x15" jelly-roll pan with nonstick spray.
2. With a spoon or melon baller (worked like a charm!), make a 1/2" deep well in the top of each potato.
3. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Lightly spray the potatoes with nonstick spray.  Bake until tender and golden, about 40 minutes.  Remove the potates from the oven.  Leave the oven on.
4. Top each potato half with 1/2 tsp of the cheese and 1/4 tsp of the bacon.  Bake until the cheese begins to melt, about 5 minutes.  Top each potato half with 1/2 tsp of the sour cream and sprinkle with the chives. 
5. Yields 2 pieces per serving.

Comments

• Bite size potatoes were a little difficult to find, but I found them at a nicer grocery store.
• To help the potatoes stand flat on the baking tray, cut a small slice from the bottom of each potato half.  (I didn't have to do that)
• If you don't have a melon baller, scoop out the potato flesh with a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon.
• I used green onions since I needed to buy them for another recipe, just chop them up a little smaller.

Maple Glazed Sweet Potato and Sausage

This is so yummy!  It's the perfect fall/winter dish.  And it's healthy!  A friend made it at a dinner once.  I was the only one that liked it.  So he gave me the recipe, the original recipe.  I've made it once before, but that was awhile ago, so I decided it was time to make it again.  And my family loved it.

I've decided that my friends that didn't like it, well, their taste buds are dead.

Maple Glazed Sweet Potato and Sausage
Prep Time:  17 minutes
Cook Time:  12 minutes
Serves 14 (small servings...)
Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 to 3/4" cubes
3 tbs butter
1 lb. smoked sausage, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 medium onion, halved crosswise and cut into thin wedges
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbs packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne

Instructions:

1. Bring 1" water and 1/2 tsp salt to boil in dutch oven or large saucepan.  Add potatoes; return to boiling.  Cover and cook over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender.  Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add sausage, onion and apple.  Cook and stir 5 minutes.  Stir in maple syrup, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg and cayenne, mixing well.
3. Stir in sweet potatoes, stirring to coat.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until lightly glazed.

Per serving:  163 cal; 3g fat; 7mg cholestrol; 146mg sodium; 32g carbohydrate; 2g protein; 4g fiber
WW: 3 pts.

Notes:
-Looking back through the ingredients, I realized that I used 2 apples instead of 1.
-Substituted regular maple syrup with light/low sugar syrup.
-Subbed normal smoked sausage with Jennie-O turkey smoked sausage.  I quartered the sausages pieces.
-Have everything chopped before you start.  I got the potatoes going first, then started the rest.  The potatoes were more than fork-tender.
-Recipe says serves 14, but it's more like 7-8.

Taco Soup

Low cal, low fat, and full 'o flavor!  Trust me, this will turn into your trusty, easy fall/winter vegetable soup.

1 can Staggs 99% fat free turkey ranchero chili
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cans low sodium chicken broth
2 tbs taco seasoning
2 zucchinis, sliced
2 yellow squash, sliced
1 cup baby carrots
1 can diced green chilies
1 onion, chopped

Mix and simmer for about 30 minutes.

2 cups = 1 WW point

Lunch

Tai Pei - from the frozen section of SafeWay. 2 1/2 servings for 4 points total. It's a deal! Pretty good! I'd get it again!

Classic Macaroni Salad

What's a BBQ without a pasta or macaroni salad of some sort? A lame one, I know! But to try to "lighten" things up a little I went with a different recipe for a macaroni salad. It was pretty good, maybe a little dry, but good.
Ingredient:
8 oz uncooked macaroni, elbow variety
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste (for cooking pasta)
1/2 c reduced-calorie mayonnaise
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 c celery, chopped
1/3 c red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp parsley, fresh, chopped
1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste

Instructions:

1. Cook macaroni in salted water according to package directions; drain and transfer to a large bowl.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together mayo, vinegar, mustard, and garlic powder; stir mixture into cooked macaroni. Fold in celery, onion and parsley; season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or chilled. Yields about 2/3 cup per serving.

Servings: 8
WW points per serving: 3
Prep time: 12 min
Cooking time: 10 min

Weight Watcher's recipe

Tamale Casserole

Last Friday's dinner...

Tamale Casserole
(please note, I doubled the recipe in the pictures but am providing the regular recipe)

The Cast of Ingredients:
Oh the smell of the sauteing veggies...And then the simmering stuff with the veggies...
Then the dish of goodness...
Ingredients:
4 tsp canola oil
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 red onions, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 pound ground skinless turkey breast
1 cup no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 cup frozen corn kernels
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 tsp hot Mexican chili powder
2/3 cup stone ground yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese

Instructions:

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Saute the bell pepper, onions, jalapeno and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the turkey and cook, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, until browned, 5-8 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, corn, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the chili powder; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, stirring once or twice, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Transfer to an 8" square baking dish.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup water and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil. In a medium bowl, whisk the cornmeal into 1 cup water. Slowly pour the cornmeal into the boiling water in a thin steady stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes back to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and begins to form large bubbles, about 5 minutes. Spread over the turkey so that it is completely covered. Bake 25 minutes, then sprinkle with the cheese and bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4
Nutritional Info: 293 calories, 8g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 43g cholesterol, 531mg sodium, 35g total carbohydrates, 4g dietary fiber, 22g protein, 122mg calcium. Points per serving: 6

Notes from the Peanut Gallery:
-I would recommend draining the skillet of some of the excess liquid after browning the turkey. The casserole was a little runny.
-I think I made the cornmeal part wrong. I ended up with blobs of cornmeal, which was fine, just not how it should have turned out. But rereading the recipe I realized that I used only about 1 cup of water total when there should have been 2. Oops.
-For more spice, leave some of the seeds from the jalapeno and use the full 1 tsp of hot Mexican chili powder.

Observations during dinner:
-Dad cleaned his plate. Good job Dad!
-Chris added salsa and sour cream to his. I waited until he added the sour cream and ate some to tell him it was fat free sour cream.
-Coleman and Paige said it needed more seasoning, aka spice.
-Kaitlin. Can't remember what she thought. I think she complained of the extra liquid.
-Mom... can't remember what she thought either.

Recipe from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, 1998. Page 137.