Recipe(tried): This Weeks Winners

Here they are...

**** This Weeks Winners ****

# 1 - Chili For A Cold Day

Since the weather has turned quite cold, I thought a bowl of
chili would warm us up. I also am trying to cut the fat so I made
one from So Fat, Low Fat, No Fat by Betty Rohde (my favorite series
of low fat/non fat cookbooks). She doesn't use a ton of seasoning
in her recipes (lots of chiles, herbs or spices) so I adapted it
by adding some chiles and I substituted salsa for tomato sauce in
the chili. I thought it needed something afterwards so I added some
hot sauce at the table. My DH thought it was too hot to eat (he is not
a chile-head at all) but he ate about 1/2 the bowl, complaining the
whole time. It was not hot until I added the hot sauce at the table
but I am a chile-head. Personally I could've added some chipotles or
something in the mix beforehand and it would've made me happier.

Here is the recipe:

* Exported from MasterCook *

RisaG's Quick Vegetable Chili

Recipe By : RisaG
Serving Size : 2 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Chiles Chilis & Stews
Vegetarian Days

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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1 cup onion -- chopped
1 cup celery -- chopped
1 cup green bell pepper -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- chopped
1 jalapeno or fresno pepper -- chopped w/seeds
1 14 oz can low-sodium stewed tomatoes -- with juice
1 14 oz jar tomato salsa -- or your favorite
1 pkg chili seasoning -- such as McCormick
2 15 oz cans kidney beans -- or your favorite

Cover the bottom of a large saucepan with 3-4 tbsp of water. Add the onion, celery, green peppers, and garlic. Saute until wilted 3-4 minutes. Strain out the liquid and return to pan. Add jalapeno or fresno peppers. Saute for another 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, juice and all, the salsa, chili seasoning, and beans. Simmer for about 1 hour, just as you would any chili. Serve with a dollop of fat-free sour cream (or if you feel like indulging, a dollop of full-fat sour cream or roasted garlic sour cream - Friendship makes one). I also like to chop up some pickled jalapenos and put some on top as a garnish.

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NOTES : This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe from So Fat, Low Fat, No Fat by Betty Rohde. She used canned tomato sauce and zucchini, which I omitted. I used salsa and no zucchini. I did not substitute anything for it. You can substitute some corn if you have it though.

I served it with white rice.
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# 2 - Soup

Soup can be so simple sometimes and always delicious. I finally started
cooking from my new cookbooks. This is one of them. This is from
Bobby Flay's From My Kitchen To Your Table. It is a wonderful soup.
It might seem strange to some but try it. You will agree that it is
delicious and a great way of using up old bread.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Oven-Roasted Tomato, Garlic & Bread Soup

Recipe By : From My Kitchen To Your Table by Bobby Flay, pges 126-127
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread Soups

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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Oven-Roasted Tomatoes:
4 plum tomatoes -- halved lengthwise
2 cloves garlic -- minced
2 tbsp pure olive oil
salt and pepper
For soup:
2 tbsp pure olive oil
1 med Spanish onion -- chopped
1/2 cup white wine
4 qt chicken stock -- or canned broth
2 cups canned plum tomatoes
6 roasted garlic cloves
Oven-Roasted Tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tbsp honey
salt and white pepper
8 slices French or Italian bread -- broken into chunks
1 cup Toasted Garlic Chips -- For Garnish
TOASTED GARLIC CHIPS:
1 cup pure olive oil
8 cloves garlic -- peeled & sliced thin

For oven-roasted tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 200 F.

Place the tomatoes cut-side-up on a baking sheet. Combine the garlic and olive oil and brush the tomatoes with it, then season to taste with the salt and pepper. Roast until dried and soft, about 8 hours (I put the oven to 250 F and roasted the tomatoes for 6 hours and it was enough in my oven).

For soup: Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke and saute the onion until golden. Add the wine, raise the heat to high, and reduce until almost dry. Add the stock, canned tomatoes, roasted garlic, and roasted tomatoes and reduce by one-quarter.

Puree the mixture in a food processor and pour into a large pot (or cook in a pot and puree with a hand-blender, like I did). Add the thyme, honey and salt and pepper to taste and set aside until just before serving time. Then add the bread, reheat over medium heat, and pour into a large serving bowl. Garnish with garlic chips, if desired.

For garlic chips: In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until it begins to shimmer. Add the garlic and cook until the slices begin to brown and curl. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. The chips may be kept at room temperature up to 1 day. Strain the garlic oil through a fine sieve and store in a squeeze bottle. The oil may be refrigerated up to 2 days. Use at room temperature.

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# 3 - Tamale Pie

This is always a comforting and yummy dinner. I've made it before. This time
I added some sauteed onions, green peppers and chiles to the basic mix and baked
it. Delicious.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Corn Tamale Pie

Recipe By : Adapted from So Fat, Low Fat, No Fat by Betty Rohde
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:20
Categories : Vegetarian Days Low Fat

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 16 ounce car fat free cottage cheese
1 can shoepeg corn -- or 16 oz. pkg frozen
3 green onions -- chopped
4 egg whites -- at room temperature
2 14 ounce can mexican-style stewed tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8" square glass baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk to blend. Mix in the cottage cheese, then the corn and green onions.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold the whites into the cornmeal mixture in two additions.

Transfer the batter to the prepared dish. Bake until the top is golden and feels firm in the center, about 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

While the tamale pie is baking, make a tomato sauce. Boil the stewed tomatoes uncovered in a heavy saucepan until reduced to sauce consistency, about 10 minutes.

Cut the tamale pie into squares and leave in baking dish. Spoon tomato sauce over and serve.

Variation: Cut 1/2 onion, 1/4 of a green bell pepper and 1 hot pepper into dice. Saute for a few minutes until soft and add when you add the corn & scallions to the batter. Then finish rest of recipe the way it asks.

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NOTES : I also added 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced and 1/2 teaspoon homemade mild chili powder for seasoning. I find the recipes in the So Fat...books lack a lot of seasoning and are bland. They leave out the salt because it makes us retain water and you don't want to retain water when dieting but it also makes the recipes bland.

I garnished with some fat free sour cream and some chopped jalapenos and some baby tomatoes. 0 grams of fat per serving.
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# 4 - Microwave Fish & Brussel Sprouts

Tonight I marinated some salmon steaks in a basic marinade and then cooked
them in the GF Grill. With it I roasted some brussel sprouts (been getting
into them lately) and some fingerling potatoes. It was very good.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Grilled Salmon Steaks (GF Grill)

Recipe By : RisaG
Serving Size : 2 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Fish & Seafood Grilling & Bbq

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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2 salmon steaks (about 1 lb total)
1 recipe Basic Fish Marinade -- see below
salt and pepper

Marinate salmon in Basic Fish Marinade for about 1/2 hour. Remove. Discard the marinade.

Preheat GF Grill. When hot, place salmon on and close top. Cook for 5 minutes. Unplug. Remove steaks and serve.

Risa's notes: Sometimes I turn the fish over after 2-1/2 minutes to get better grill marks. You don't have to do this. You can just grill it for 5 minutes on one side (since the machine cooks both sides at the same time). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * Exported from MasterCook *

Basic Fish Marinade

Recipe By : The Well-Filled Microwave by Wise/Hoffman
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Misc

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf -- finely crumbled

Mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl. Use right away or refrigerate for up to several hours.

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* Exported from MasterCook *

Roasted Brussel Sprouts & Potatoes

Recipe By : adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Side Dishes

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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1 1/2 lb brussel sprouts
3 tbsp good olive oil
kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 lb fingerling potatoes -- washed, cut in 1/3's

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Wash the potatoes, take out all eyes and cut in thirds. Wash the brussel sprouts and cut off the ends. Pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Turn them out on a baking sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes, until crisp outside and tender inside. Shake the pan from time to time, to brown the brussel sprouts and potatoes evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt and serve.

If potatoes are not fully cooked and sprouts are, remove sprouts and continue cooking potatoes until cooked through.

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