PICTURE THIS: Mimosa Fixins-Cheers to Wills and Kate

"I only drink champagne when I'm happy, and when I'm sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone.
When I have company, I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty." Lilly Bollinger

Recipe for Baked Fish with Salsa

This recipe for baked fish is about as easy as it gets.  It’s what I do when I know it’s time for us to have fish but I have no inspiration for a recipe, it’s late and I just want to get dinner on the table in the shortest time possible.  The good news is that it is tasty!

Ingredients for 2 servings:

10 ounces firm white fish

2 tsp olive oil

1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

Salt and Pepper

Fresh or store bought tomato salsa

Optional: fresh herbs for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put fish in oven proof container.  Combine lemon juice and olive oil and pour over the fish.  Generously salt and pepper.

Bake for 10 minutes or until just flaking.  Remove and top with salsa and fresh herbs.

How easy is that?  What's your "get food on the table in 15 minutes" meal?



Printable Recipe

More Egg White Breakfast Ideas

A while back I shared a recipe for a quick egg white breakfast made in the microwave.  I love these things!  Quick, easy, versatile, healthy, filling...all good things.  I've snapped a couple of photos of other variations so I thought I should be a good blogger and share.


Here's the original made with turkey pepperoni and cheese...

I call both of these "salsa egg whites" but make them two different ways.  Here's the first...

A cup of egg whites, 2 TBSP fresh salsa, 1 TBSP low fat grated cheese; microwave 1 1/2-2 minutes; top with taco sauce.

For the second version...

A cup of egg whites and 1 sandwich slice low fat cheddar torn in to small pieces microwaved 1 1/2-2 minutes.  Top with 2 TBSP fresh salsa and freshly ground black pepper.

Don't forget to use a bowl/dish large enough to allow for the puffing that occurs during cooking (I use a glass prep bowl) and do keep an eye on it but don't panic when you see it puff up.  Spray the bowl with cooking spray before adding the ingredients.

You'll be surprised how filling these are and how well they "stick" with you through the morning.

Aloha and welcome to all the new readers of the blog-glad to have you and would love to hear from you!

What are you eating for breakfast these days?



Recipe for Double Chocolate Mocha Mint Cookies

These cookies remind me of the mint Girl Scout cookies but instead of thin and crunchy they are thick and soft.  Sort of like a brownie cookie-depending on how long you cook them, they’ll either be fudgy (my preference) or cakey (my husband’s preference).  I tried to make them on the healthier side by using white whole wheat flour and a minimum amount of brown sugar blend.  

Makes 26 cookies, each approximately 93 calories, 6.5 grams fat, 8 grams carbs, 1.5 grams fiber, 2 grams protein; 3 WW Points +

Recipe for Prosciutto Wrapped Pesto Tortellini with Asparagus

Ah, Italy.  The wine, the beautiful people, the amazing scenery and of course, the food.   This little appetizer was inspired by thoughts of Italy and of spring.  The fresh, local asparagus is heavenly tucked inside prosciutto with a nice surprise of soft pillows of cheese tortellini bathed in pesto…am I making you hungry?

PICTURE THIS: Happy Easter!

Homemade Wheat Bread Crostinis



I’ve admitted before that I could exist on appetizers.  I just love bites of “this and that” much more than a big serving of just “this”.   Here’s an example.  I could have happily just eaten the homemade wheat crostinis, cheese, and grapes and skipped the meal (which was pretty good: my “not just for special occasion roasted chicken”, a huge crunchy green salad and fresh broccoli).  I managed to resist and share the appetizers with our guests!

Recipe for Panko Crusted Pan Fried Mahi-Mahi

Trying to provide you a fish recipe every week has been good for me-reminding me to be sure we eat fish at least once a week!  This recipe is so simple, yet the tenderness of the fish, the crispiness of the panko crust and the tang of the lemon create a real quality dish.  Try it, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Makes 2 servings, each approximately 322 calories, 12 grams fat, 16 grams carbs, 0 fiber, 36 grams protein;  8 WW Points+

Recipe for Pimiento Mac-N-Cheese

I wanted to do something with pimiento cheese as part of the Master’s party we threw last week (if you aren’t Master’s followers, pimiento cheese sandwiches are a major food draw at the golf course).  I knew the other ladies were bringing pretty healthy stuff so I figured I could splurge a bit and do a mac-n-cheese.  Plus a lot of the guys generally don’t get too much in the way of carbs at home (don’t feel too sorry for them, they eat plenty well!).   Well, the March edition of bon appétit (which, par for the course, arrived here on Maui in early April, just in time for the party) featured a yummy looking mac-n-cheese on their cover, made with pimiento cheese, so I was “good to go”.

Slow Cooker Shredded Barbeque Chicken for a Crowd

The slow cooker is a treat to have when preparing food for a large crowd.  My slow cooker is quite the beast so it came in handy last week when we hosted a crowd to watch the final round of the Master's.  In honor of the Master's I served some Southern inspired dishes.  Here's one.
 

PICTURE THIS: Local Hawaiian Tomatoes (from the Big Island of Hawaii)

"A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins." - Laurie Colwin

Recipe for Honey Wheat and Oatmeal Hamburger Buns

If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know I like to make our bread in my bread machine or by hand using mostly whole wheat flour.  I wondered if the bread machine recipe would work to make buns so I used the basic recipe but used the dough hook in my mixer, did the rises, and then used the oven with a pan of water in the bottom to generate steam as described in my post on no knead bread.

19th Hole. And all good things in moderation.

There's nothing better than getting together with a group of friends to share laughs, food and beverages. 

Recipe for Raspberry-Jalapeno Almond Butter Cups

Are you looking for a home-made treat for Easter?  Give these easy almond butter cups a try.  I’ve seen quite a few recipes for home-made candies based on popular commercial brands but they all seem to have stuff in them that I don’t really want to use like tons of powdered sugar or cornstarch or other stuff that I didn’t even know what it was.  I guess that’s what makes those candies taste so good, and probably not so good for us! 

So I thought I just give it a try with the basics: chocolate and nut butter, and added in a couple of things for fun: raspberry-jalapeno sauce and kosher salt. 

Method for Grilled Asparagus

It’s great to support local farmers and how easy is it when they provide us with produce like this beautiful asparagus?  This was grown here on Maui and was so fresh tasting.  I hope you are starting to see some great spring veggies showing up in your markets.

PICTURE THIS: Spring Bouquet of Freshness

Anuhea Farm Asparagus, Makawao, Maui





Recipe for Greek Salad Bison Burgers



Beautiful Grill Work Courtesy of Mr. ELEB!



Earlier this week, I shared the story of how the Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken recipe came about.  Today's recipe resulted from my plan to make bison burgers and Greek salad for dinner.  However, I overheard a couple of acquaintances discussing lamb burgers made with olives and feta, how good they were etc, etc.  Mr. ELEB really likes Greek Salad and so do I.  What’s not to like?  Fresh veggies, good fat, tangy flavors…    I started thinking; why not just put the whole Greek salad in/on the burger?  So, that’s just what I did!

Recipe for Cumin Cauliflower Casserole with Cheesy Tostitos Topping

Wow, that title is quite the mouthful!  Just trying to be descriptive. 

Last week we got to try the new Tostitos Fire Roasted Chipotle Tortilla Chips as a base for my Ahi Edamame Nachos.   They got an A for taste on their own with some dip and were a great complement to the nachos.

This week we opened the Roasted Garlic Black Bean Tortilla Chips. 

They are nice and thin like the Chipotle ones and held up well to being dipped in some hummus. 

I’ll have to say, the flavor was a bit underwhelming for me.  I’m not sure that if I hadn’t known what the flavor was whether I’d have been able to identify it.  They aren’t bad but I don’t get much garlic and no black bean flavor.  Disappointing.  Ah, well. 

I wanted to give them a try in a recipe so I whipped up this cauliflower dish.

Recipe for Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Do you ever wonder how people's recipes come about?  Well for this one I'll satisfy your curiosity.  I bought a bottle of buffalo chicken hot sauce ages ago intending to make some buffalo chicken for pizza.  And recently I read on Cara’s Cravings how to modify a large slow cooker to make smaller quantities.  Mine is a massive beast which always means plenty of leftovers for the freezer.  Cara has the same issue I have: sometimes you just want to make smaller quantities.   So she came up with this ingenious method of using a smaller ceramic container with a lid INSIDE the larger slow cooker for those times.   (She also has a great sounding Buffalo Chicken recipe but I just went simple-chicken, onion, and sauce).  I never made the pizza (we ate all the chicken!) but I think this would be good on a pizza but I'm sure you'll see that on Eat Little, Eat Big one day.

Recipe for "Not Your Mother's Tuna Salad"

Here’s your fish recipe for the week from Eat Little, Eat Big.  We’re lucky to get access to fresh, good quality ahi tuna here.  It’s tempting to eat it every week! 

It’s crucial to only sear the tuna-you don’t want to cook it all the way through.  Buy the best quality tuna that fits in your budget.  And, a little goes a long way-3-4 ounces per person is plenty.

PICTURE THIS: ANY GUESSES??

If you guessed breadfruit-you'd be right!
Trivia: breadfruit is a starchy fruit that, when cooked, is supposed to smell like freshly baked bread.  It grows on trees and is a popular starch in the Pacific islands.

Recipe for Chai Concentrate

Yesterday I promised you another Indian ingredient recipe.  The surprise is that it isn’t for a meal.  It's for chai (Indian tea) concentrate.  I saw the original recipe from thecatnipcat and thought it would be great to have this in the fridge for iced chai lattes or, on that rare cool evening here, a hot latte.

I halved the original recipe and tweaked the ingredients to my preferences.  I think this is a versatile enough recipe to increase or decrease ingredients depending on what you like (I like cinnamon, so I used more; not that crazy about cloves so used less).

Recipe for Garam Masala Grilled Chicken



Here is another recipe following my interest in cooking more with Indian spices.  This is a super easy, quick marinade that tenderizes and flavors the chicken in a wonderful way.  A quick turn on the grill and you have a delicious Indian flavored main course. 

Recipe for Ahi Edamame Nachos

One of our go to snacks is chips (usually a “healthy” variety-whole grain, multi-grain, baked, lower fat etc) and a dip of some sort.  Maybe hummus, maybe edamame purée, or perhaps a wickedly rich jalapeno and artichoke spread when we’re feeling like a treat.  So I was pleased when the folks at Tostitos asked me to try their new Artisan Recipes Flavored Tortilla Chips.  I haven’t seen them yet on Maui.  We always get new stuff later than you do on the mainland :-{

The two flavors I received from Tostitos were Fire-Roasted Chipotle and Roasted Garlic and Black Bean.  Today, I’m trying out the Chipotle flavor.

Recipe for Turkey and Bean Nacho Casserole

Recipes from Cooking Light rarely disappoint me.  This one, meh.   I adapted it by using ground turkey breast rather than vegetarian crumbles as in the original recipe and made a few other minor tweaks.   It was tasty enough but I would just make it like traditional nachos if I make it again.  All the building of the casserole wasn’t worth it and it didn’t keep well for leftovers (soggy chips).  If I had just made it like nachos, I could have saved the leftover meat mixture and served it on fresh chips the next day.  Lesson learned!

PICTURE THIS: Memories from a trip to Japan, 2009

Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo

Recipe for Fish Cakes



As I promised yesterday, here is another fish recipe.  When I bought the fish for yesterday’s dinner, as sometimes happens, the piece of fish that was cut by the fishmonger ended up being a bit more than I wanted.  I just decided to take it all instead of making him cut another piece as I figured I could use the extra for lunch.  Now I don’t know about you, but for me there aren’t many leftover fish dishes that I’ve enjoyed eating.  So rather than poaching all the fish yesterday and having the extra today, I cut about 4 ounces off and stuck it back in the coldest part of the fridge and saved it for today’s lunch.

When I pulled it out, I was thinking along the lines of a fish salad (like tuna fish, chicken salad etc) but I felt a little creative (not one of my strong suits for sure) and decided to try to pull off a fish cake.  I wanted it flavorful, light, and interesting.  That’s pretty much what I got.  I’m very happy with this recipe and will make it again.  It could be a dinner entrée as well as made in small sizes for appetizers.    I ate them for lunch along with a green salad and was quite happy and full until dinner.

Recipe for Poached White Fish

Still on our quest to eat fish several times a week and to eat what is sustainable, I made this flavorful dish.  I am drawn these days to Indian spices and am trying to use them in new ways in my cooking.  I’ll admit that Indian cooking is intimidating to me.  So many ingredients (many of which I can’t find here on Maui!) and so many steps.  I know the results are worth the effort, but I find myself venturing slowly into this arena.

Recipe for Easy Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Aloha everyone,
Here's another recipe (if you can call it that) where I used some of the product that the nice folks at Newman's Own sent me as part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher's program.  This time I used the Family Recipe Italian Salad Dressing as a marinade for pork tenderloin. 

Recipe for Blueberry and Goat's Cheese French Toast

You’ve probably had French Toast spread or stuffed with cream cheese.  Mmm Mmm good, right?  I wanted to give it a try using goat’s cheese instead.  The thought was it would be a bit tangy to cut some of the richness.  I also had some frozen blueberries that were defrosted and needed to be used and figured their tartness would fit in with the tanginess of the cheese. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

PICTURE THIS: Hibiscus

Sending you, Dear Readers, some tropical color to brighten your day!

Recipe for Quick Breakfast Quiche

Continuing on the theme of “prepping ahead”, here is a great veggie and ham quiche that I made over the weekend.  I was able to have 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches from it.    It is very versatile-just use what you have on hand.

Happy St. Patty's Day by the way!

Recipe for BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

As I mentioned last week, I’m devoting some time to “prep ahead” so meal times are easier (and they tend to be healthier too).  Here’s an example.

I made a roasted chicken using Mark Bittman’s quick method.  We enjoyed the chicken that evening with some roasted potatoes and green beans.  The next evening, I used some of the thigh and breast meat to whip together a quick quesadilla (recipe below). 

I was also able to make a couple of lunches by combining the chicken with some extra veggies that I’d made when I made my Caesar Veggie Wraps. 

Plus Mr. ELEB made himself a couple of “man sandwiches”  (meat, bread, and maybe cheese-no photo necessary!).

Here’s how I made the quesadilla.

Two servings, each 483 calories, 16 grams fat, 45 grams carbs, 2.5 grams fiber, 35 grams protein;  12 WW Points+

Ingredients:

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion, plus more for garnish

1 TBSP olive oil, divided

½ cup ketchup (I used a no sugar added variety)

2 ½ TBSP Penzy’s 3000 BBQ Seasoning

2 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish

1 ½ cup shredded cooked chicken

2 whole wheat tortillas

4 TBSP shredded Mexican blend cheese

Olive oil spray (or cooking spray)

Low fat sour cream for garnish

 

Saute onion in ½ TBSP olive oil until soft.  Add ketchup ,  BBQ Seasoning, 2 TBSP cilantro and chicken.  (You can use your favorite BBQ sauce if you would prefer).

Cook on gentle simmer for 5 minutes.  Place 1 ½ TBSP cheese on ½ of tortilla, top with chicken mixture and an additional ½ TBSP cheese. 

Fold over.

Warm ½ TBSP olive oil over med-high heat.  Place folded tortillas in pan.  Cook for 2 minutes or until nicely browned.  Spray top with olive oil spray and flip.  Cook an additional 2 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Cut into thirds.  Top with dollop of sour cream, diced red onion and chopped cilantro.

So…one chicken, dinner for two twice, and four lunches-not bad.  What prep ahead stuff are you doing that helps you through the week?



Printable Recipe

Recipe for Pepperoni Portabella Pizza

Here’s a tasty and satisfying idea for a quick lunch that comes in under 250 calories.  

Recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Whole Wheat Bread

I can't even begin to tell you how good this is (was!).  Whole wheat, cinnamon, walnuts, raisins, a touch of brown sugar all baked up and yummy together.  Then sliced and served with a small smear of butter.  Oh my.

I remain facinated with the simplicity of the "five minutes a day, no knead bread" method, by authors Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoë François.  It takes more than five minutes, but I get the concept they are trying to get across:  bread making isn't that difficult.  I love that there are only 5 ingredients in their basic recipe-flour, water, salt, yeast, and vital wheat gluten (necessary when using whole wheat flour).

Picture This: My Clean Eating Magazine Feature and Tsunami Update

My Mom called me recently and exclaimed "You didn't tell me you were going to be in a magazine!".  Well, I thought I'd told her it was a possibility (I never count my chickens until they're hatched).  Anyway, I am fortunate that my recipe for Easy Make Ahead Breakfast Quiche was accepted for publication in Clean Eating Magazine, March 2011, page 24.

One of the pitfalls of living on Maui is that our magazines come by boat and so usually they arrive about 3 or more weeks later than when you get yours.  The folks at Clean Eating did me a favor and sent me a copy of March's magazine by Fedex so I can share this with you now!

So, indulge me while I do my little woo-hoo dance!

**We are anxiously awaiting to see how big or not the tsunami will be here on Maui.  It's 3am now and the sirens are sounding hourly.  Low lying areas are evacuated, some roads closed.  We are high enough at our house to be safe, but it is a bit scary just waiting.  Thoughts out to our friends in Japan.

Recipe for Turkey Sausage, Rice and Beans Soup



As part of my attempt to do more prep work on the weekends to make eating healthy more likely during the week, I had soaked and cooked some cannellini and black beans.  I used them along with some left over brown rice and veggies, Italian turkey sausage and fresh herbs to whip together a quick, healthy and filling soup.  This made enough for the two of us for 2 meals plus plenty for the freezer.

Recipe for Indonesian Curry



We were experiencing one of those rare Maui days when it was cool and rainy.  Sitting in the fridge was a pound of ground bison (buffalo) on tap for that night’s dinner.  What to cook, what to cook? Hmmmm.  I was in the mood for something to warm me up.  Not chili, though. 

Even though I’m not a huge spicy food fan, I do like flavorful heat.  Not the burn your mouth and tongue for no reason heat, but layers of spices and flavors along with some heat.  A curry?   Yes that would be just perfect. 

A few minutes using Google’s new recipe search feature gave me several good inspirations for this Indonesian dish.  Served alongside simple steamed asparagus, perfect rice cooker basmati rice, a cooling touch of low fat sour cream and a slice of lime, this was (if I do say so myself) a top restaurant quality meal.

If you don’t like heat, leave out the pepper and reduce the amount of garlic chili sauce.  This carried a goodly dose of heat, about at the top of my tolerance level!  If you love heat, leave all the pepper seeds in or up the amount of peppers and/or garlic chili sauce.

Makes 4 servings; each approximately 411 calories, 9.3 grams fat, 42 grams carbs, .5 grams fiber, 34 grams protein;  10 WW Points+ for ¼ of meat mixture and ¾ cup basmati rice

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground bison

1 TBSP garlic chili sauce

¼ cup, shallots chopped

2 TBSP sliced peeled ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

3 whole cloves

1 Serrano chili, half of seeds removed, chopped

8 ounces light coconut milk, divided

Zest of 1 lime

Juice of ½ lime

Lime slices for serving

1/3 cup sweet flaked coconut

4 TBSP low fat sour cream

3 cups cooked basmati rice

Method:

Cook bison over medium high heat, drain and reserve.

While bison cooks, combine 2 TBSP coconut milk, chili sauce, shallots, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, turmeric, salt, cloves, and chili in food processor and pulse until well combined (curry sauce).

Combine coconut and 2 TBSP coconut milk and reserve.

Heat curry sauce over medium heat until gently bubbling and add lime zest, lime juice, remainder of coconut milk and bison.  Simmer for 10 minutes and then stir in coconut mixture.

Serve over rice with a TBSP of low fat sour cream and slice of lime.

The heat was perfectly balanced with the sweet coconut and the touch of sour cream.  How about you?  Can you take the heat?  What spicy food are you eating/cooking?


Printable Recipe


Recipe Inspiration