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Arugula Pesto Chicken Salad

So, I love watching the Food Network – and I’m guilty of having my favorites. I would love to have the elegance and grace of Nigella Lawson, the down-home feel of Rachael Ray and the kitchen and food knowledge of Giada De Laurentis. I think it’s great that these ladies are so willing to share a large amount of their hard-earned work spent on recipes with us for free on foodnetwork.com. I was watching the Food Network just a couple of weeks ago, and saw Giada making what looked like a fantastic recipe for Arugula Pesto Chicken Salad. I looked up the recipe on the Food Network website, and was surprised at how easy it was to make and how tasty it was. I love chicken salad – but it has to be really good – and this was, really really good! By changing a couple of things around, I was able to make the recipe a little healthier and just as flavorful. I replaced the store-bought roasted chicken with pan sautéed chicken breasts at home. I also changed out the mayo for light mayo. This recipe is something that you will have to try, as I said after I tried it – it’s one of the best things I have eaten in a long time! My version comes to 435.5 calories, 24.2 grams of fat and 3.2 grams of fiber – the original version comes to 511.2 calories, 31.6 grams of fat and 2.6 grams of fiber. The best part of this chicken salad is that you get to reap the benefits of olive oil — all those unsaturated fats which are great for your health. Enjoy this meal with a simple salad or yogurt – it makes for a great lunch!

Arugula Pesto Chicken Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 slices 100% Whole Wheat Bread
1/4 cup of light mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 recipe of Arugula Pesto, recipe to follow
4 Chicken Breasts seasoned with salt and pepper and pan sautéed, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
4 slices beefsteak tomatoes
1 cup arugula
Directions
Place bread in a toaster and toast to likeness. Remove bread and set aside. In a large bowl combine light mayo, lemon zest and pesto arugula and stir in diced chicken. Place the arugula and tomato slices on two slices of the whole wheat bread, top with the remaining two slices and cut in half. Enjoy this satisfying and tasty lunch!

Arugula Pesto
Ingredients
2 cups packed arugula
1 clove garlic, peeled and halved
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a food processor.

Quick Braised Balsamic Chicken

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com a couple of days ago, while I was looking for a new idea for dinner. This recipe sounded like the perfect fix, and it was. I served it with an Israeli couscous blend from Trader Joes, and some sautéed zucchini, and it was perfect. The sauce has so much flavor, and it does a great job of keeping the breasts moist while they cook. Simple, and tasty was the winning combination for this recipe, and I will definitely be repeating it. I only made a couple of swaps, which were really more for preference, I only used 1/2 the amount of olive oil, just because I didn’t feel like the amount that they indicated in the recipe was really necessary, I also replaced the dried herbs with fresh herbs from my herb garden. I know you will love the easiness of this recipe – but check it out nutritionally – it’s awesome! Each serving of this flavorful chicken comes to only 181.8 calories, 3.7 grams of fat and 1.4 grams of fiber. Enjoy this tasty chicken recipe with rice, couscous or pasta and your favorite vegetable and you won’t be disappointed!

Braised Balsamic Chicken
Serves 6

Ingredients
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 4 ounces a piece
Salt, pepper and granulated garlic to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 (14.5) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, roughly chopped

Directions
Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and granulated garlic to taste. Heat olive oil in a 12 inch saute pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and chicken breasts to the pan, cook the chicken breasts about 3-5 minutes per side so that they are nicely browned. After the chicken breasts are browned on both sides, add the can of diced tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar over the chicken. Season with basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme. Turn the heat to low, and simmer the chicken for 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened up and the chicken is cooked all the way through. Enjoy with your family for a quick nutritious meal!

Migas

This morning, my lovely sister wasn’t feeling like waffles for breakfast – even though it is waffle wednesday, so instead I decided to make a recipe that I have been eyeing for quite some time. It’s a recipe that I found in one of my many America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks for Migas. These tasty scrambled eggs are the perfect combination of cheesy eggs mixed with huevos rancheros. The saltiness of the baked chips go so great with the slightly spicy pepper jack cheese – I know that it might seem weird, but it is really awesome. So tasty and so easy, and a great morning breakfast. The recipe in the cookbook already had a lot of stuff that I thought were good adjustments to traditional miga recipes, but I made a couple more recipes. I used 1 whole egg, and 1/2 cup of Eggbeaters (or 4 egg whites), I used light butter in place of the regular butter, and that was it – the rest the cookbook did for me, and I enjoyed tasting the results afterward. The original miga recipe came out to 306.5 calories, 19.1 grams of fat and 2.5 grams of fiber – my alternative recipe came out to 240.5 calories, 11.1 grams of fat and 2.5 grams of fiber. Give these tasty eggs a shot, and you won’t believe how much you love them!

Migas
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup Eggbeaters or 4 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 cup baked tortilla chips, broken into 1/2-inch pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1 tablespoon light or whipped butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded and minced
1 ounce Cabot Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

Directions
Whisk together the egg, Egg beaters, tortilla chips, salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the pan. Add the onion, red bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs and cook while gently pushing, lifting and folding them from one side of the pan to the other, until they are nicely clumped, about 2-3 minutes. Quickly fold in the cheese and remove the eggs from the pan. Enjoy with a piece of toast or a yogurt for a great breakfast!

Mocha Cake for my Mom’s birthday

My beautiful Mama and me

So my mom’s birthday was this past Sunday, and after a crazy and hectic day, I decided that every birthday deserves a cake and decided that this was the one. My mom’s favorite dessert is tiramisu, and this I thought would have a similar flavor but without as much of the fat. I found the recipe for this cake in my “The Food You Crave” cookbook, and it looked like something that my mom would like. I made a couple of substitutions and loved the results – a moist cake that has a perfect texture, with a slightly sweet and tangy frosting. Anyways this cake called, Mocha Cake with Mocha Cream Cheese Frosting is something that you are going to have to try, it’s great also if you want to make a smaller version and just cut the ingredients in half. The original recipe for this cake came to 191 calories and 10.5 grams of fat. My version of this cake with the same size pieces came to 151 calories and 5.7 grams of fat. This is a cake that I know you will want to make – because the calories seem too good to be true! Enjoy this cake with someone special in your life or just because!

Mocha Cake with Mocha Cream Cheese Frosting
Serves 16 large pieces or 32 small pieces (Nutrition for small pieces: Calories: 75.6; Fat: 2.8)

Ingredients for Cake
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons light butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups plain or sugar-free vanilla nonfat yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated Splenda
1/4 cup ultrafine sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water
2 ounces of good-quality dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids) – I used Scharffen Berger

Ingredients for the Frosting
1 8-ounce package of light cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 teaspoon of hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl. In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter, eggs, egg whites and whisk to incorporate. Fold in the yogurt, vanilla, Splenda, sugar and dissolved coffee powder. Melt the chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl in the microwave for 90 seconds on high. Fold the melted chocolate into the batter. Gradually add the dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated – do not overbeat. Por the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake has risen nicely and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean 20 – 25 minutes. Let the cake cool completely on a rack. While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. Combine all the frosting ingredients in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until soft and creamy. Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cake in the pan and cut into squares. Enjoy this quick and satisfying cake anytime and with anyone!

Zucchini Bread – America’s Test Kitchen Style

I LOVE making bread, I find it to be one of the most relaxing activities in the world. I was rooting around our fridge and I was lucky enough to stumble upon a few zucchini – which I thought would be perfect for zucchini bread. I decided to whip this quick bread together for breakfast tomorrow morning, and while it is baking, I decided I would share the recipe with you. This simple tasty bread is a great way to get in a little extra fiber and the cinnamon and allspice flavors go wonderfully with the slight bitterness of the zucchini. I found this recipe in my “America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook” which offers a great recipe – but I decided to change just a couple of things and modify the sugar to help out my dad. I started by using half Splenda and half ultra fine Baker’s sugar instead of all granulated sugar. I then replaced the regular butter with whipped butter and finally swapped the whole eggs for Egg beaters. The original recipe came to 200 calories, 6 grams of fat and 2 grams of fiber, my recipe came to 153 calories, 3.8 grams of fat and 2 grams of fiber. By the way this wonderful bread smells, I know that it will be great in the morning. Try mine, and you will reap the benefits of having a great breakfast.

Zucchini Bread
Makes 1 loaf, serves 12

Ingredients
1 pound zucchini – about 2 small
1/2 cup Splenda + 2 tablespoons Splenda
1/2 cup ultra-fine sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
5 tablespoons whipped butter, softened
1/2 cup Egg Beaters

Directions

Shred the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Toss the zucchini with the 2 tablespoons of Splenda, then transfer to a fine-mesh strainer and let drain for 30 minutes. After draining, place the shredded zucchini in paper towels and squeeze the excess moisture out of the zucchini. Preheat the oven to 375 and spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray, set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice and the rest of the Splenda. In a seperate bowl gently combine the drained zucchini, sour cream and lemon juice. Beat the sugar and light butter together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until creamy and uniform, 3 – 6 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Beat in the Egg Beaters, 1/4 cup at a time, until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture followed by 1/2 of the zucchini mixture. Repeat with 1/2 of the remaining flour mixture and the rest of the zucchini mixture. Beat in the last amount of flour until just combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached 50-60 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool for 1 hour prior to serving.

Whole Grain Waffles with Flax Seed

The creator of “Waffle Wednesday” and I at her birthday party last year

So sorry I haven’t had a chance to post for a while. I have been super busy with work and finishing up my semester at school, only 1 more week left, then it will all be over….until it starts up a month later. Anyways, today I am lucky enough to take a break from all that craziness for a little bit and write you about “Waffle Wednesday.” “Waffle Wednesday” is a made up holiday in our house, created by my sister Amanda. She has decreed that every Wednesday from now on as long as we are able will be “Waffle Wednesday” and I will make and create waffles for her to consume. My sister identifies herself as a motivational eater, because she loves to eat anything that I give her. This morning for “Waffle Wednesday”, I decided to make a waffle recipe that I found on allrecipes.com called Whole Grain Waffles. I made a few adjustments based on what I like and what I had and came out ahead as far as fat and calories are concerned. I first switched the eggs to Egg beaters, then used melted light butter in place of the oil, for the wheat germ and all-purpose flour in the original recipe, I switched them both to whole wheat flour – because I didn’t have any wheat germ and I wanted the waffles to be completly whole grain. I used Splenda in place of the sugar, and in just a couple of minutes I had perfect whole grain waffles. Each of my waffles came to only 168 calories, 5.9 grams of fat and 4.8 grams of fiber. The original recipe came in at 288 calories, 15.8 grams of fat and 5 grams of fiber. To add a little extra “oomph” to my waffles, I also added 1 tablespoon of orange zest, replaced 1/2 a cup of water with orange juice and added 1/4 cup of slivered almonds – this brought my recipe to 195.8 calories, 7.6 grams of fat and 5.3 grams of fiber. This recipe is great, because it allows for an abundance of creative waffle recipes to be born from it – don’t let your imagination die – make your own version of these fantastic waffles and try your very own “Waffle Wednesday”. By the way my sister gave these waffles 8 out of 10 stars – she liked the crunchy outside and the flavor.

Whole Grain Waffles with Flax Seed
Serves 8 – The leftovers freeze really well, if they don’t all get eaten

Ingredients

1/2 cup Egg beaters or 4 large egg whites
1 3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk or 1 3/4 cup of water if you are using powdered buttermilk
1/4 cup melted and slightly cooled light butter
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax seed meal
7 tablespoon buttermilk powder (if using)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon Splenda brown sugar or granulated Splenda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a medium bowl mix together Egg beaters, buttermilk or water, melted butter, applesauce and vanilla extract. In a large bowl mix together whole wheat flour, flax seed, buttermilk powder (if using), baking powder, Splenda and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well, mix together with a fork until the batter comes together, don’t overmix – lumps are OK! Preheat the waffle iron and spray with non-stick cooking spray, pour batter into waffle iron and cook until light brown and crisp. Enjoy warm with light butter and your favorite maple syrup. It’s a great day to enjoy a waffle

Your New Favorite Oatmeal

This oatmeal is so easy and so tasty, and one of my new favorite ways to begin the day. This oatmeal is so rich and decadent, it tastes like you might be spending a ton of calories on it, but really you aren’t and instead you are going with a very healthy alternative. I got this recipe for oatmeal out of my America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook and couldn’t be happier with it. I switched only one thing, just because I didn’t think that it was really necessary, which was using butter to toast the oats. The original version of the oatmeal comes to 190 calories, 3 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber, my version comes in at 162 calories, 0.5 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber. This basic recipe lends itself to so many different toppings like: walnuts, pecans, almonds, cranberries, strawberries, apples, raisins, orange zest, flax seed, honey, figs, brown sugar, bananas, cinnamon and the list could go on and on. All you have to do is make the oatmeal, top it however you like – just remember the calories for those toppings still count! For diabetics the great part about this oatmeal is there is no sugar added to it, so dress it however you like, but at least you have a blank canvas to start with instead of those oatmeals that contain a ton of sugar from the start.

Your New Favorite Oatmeal
Serves 4

Ingredients
3 cups water
1 cup 1% lowfat milk
1 cup steel-cut oats ( I like Bob’s Red Mill – but that is just a personal preference)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Bring the water and the milk to a simmmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Meanwhile, heat a 12 inch skillet over medium heat and add the oats and toast stirring constantly until golden and fragrant about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Stir in the toasted oats into the simmering liquid and reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the mixture is very thick about 20 minutes. Stir in the salt and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until almost all of the liquid has been absored and the oatmeal is creamy about 10 more minutes. Let the oatmeal stand about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy topped with all of your favorite things, and relax first thing in the morning – you have already made a great choice!

America’s Test Kitchen – New York Style Crumb Cake

This crumb cake is amazing, and so much fun to make. The topping is crispy and delicious and the cake is slightly dry, in that wonderful coffee cake way. This cake is perfect to go with a cup of coffee or tea and is the perfect fix to any coffee cake/cinnamon craving. To make this recipe a little healthier I made a couple of modifications, I used Splenda brown sugar in the crumb topping and regular Splenda in the cake. For the butter, I replaced it with Challenge whipped butter, you could use light butter in the cake like Brummel and Brown instead to lesson the fat grams for each tablespoon by 2 grams of fat. For the cake I used white whole wheat pastry flour in place of the cake flour to add a little more fiber. For the eggs I used the original Egg beaters to replace the whole egg and egg yolk that was in the original recipe. Lastly I used powdered buttermilk in place of the liquid kind, it reduces the amount of calories slightly and has great flavor. The original version of this delicious cake came to 443 calories and 19 grams of fat with 0 grams of fiber, and honestly I don’t think that the cake is worth that — sorry! My version came to 181.4 calories, 6.2 grams of fat and 1.2 grams of fiber for each piece, a little high but much better for the occasional treat. Enjoy this cake the next time you have a craving for cinnamon and give yourself a pat on the back for saving so many calories!

New York Style Crumb Cake
Serves 16

Ingredients for Crumb Topping
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons Splenda brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted Challenge whipped butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups cake flour

Ingredients for Cake
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Splenda
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon powdered buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted Challenge whipped butter or Brummel and Brown light butter, softened
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Egg beaters, original
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup room temperature water if using powdered buttermilk, if using liquid buttermilk – 1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk omiting the water

Directions for the Topping
Whisk the granulated sugar, Splenda brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and melted butter together in a medium bowl to combine. Stir in the flour until the mixture resembles a thick cohesive dough. Let the crumb topping mixture rest at room temperature until needed.

Directions for the Cake
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, line an 8 inch square baking pan with a foil sling and spray with non-stick cooking spray, set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, Splenda, baking soda, salt and powdered buttermilk, if using. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat the butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time about 30 seconds. Continue to beat the mixture until it resembles moist crumbs 1 to 3 minutes. Beat in the Eggbeaters and vanilla until combined about 30 seconds. Beat in the water or buttermilk until combined about 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the batter until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Giver the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and gently tap the pan on the countertop to settle the batter. Break apart the crumb topping mixture into large pea-sized pieces and sprinkle it in a even layer over the batter, beginning at the edges and working towards the center. Bake the cake until the crumbs are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 25–30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let the cake cool slightly in the pan, about 30 minutes before slicing. Enjoy with a cup of coffee and some of your favorite people!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I made these special sweet potatoes as part of my mama’s Mother’s Day present and they were incredible. They are reminicient of sweet potatoe fries and really bring out all the wonderful flavors of the sweet potatoes without the need of anything special because they are tasty enough just as they are. They take a little bit to make, but they are really worth it! Also sweet potatoes have a ton of benefits like being a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber and potassium. I got this recipe from my America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook. I modified it a little by taking down the amount of oil from 2 tablespoons to only 1 tablespoon and took the serving size down a little bit, because the amount of sweet potatoes for one person was a lot. The original recipe came to 219 calories, 7.2 grams of fat and 3.75 grams of fiber. My version of this recipe came to 96.5 calories, 1.8 grams of fat and 2.2 grams of fiber. Enjoy these sweet potatoes anytime you like, you will love them

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Serves 6, 1/2 sweet potato each

Ingredients
3 large sweet potatoes, about 6 – 61/2 inches long, scrubbed and ends trimmed and sliced 3/4 inch thick
1 tablespoon canola oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions
Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with vegetable oil spray. Toss the potatoes with the oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a bowl. Arrange the potatoes in a single lay on the prepared baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, place the potaotes on the rack, and heat the oven to 425 degrees and cook the potoatoes for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to roast until the bottoms of the potatoes are golden, 15-20 minutes. Flip the slices and continue to roast until golden on the second side, 18-22 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste and serve. Enjoy with a sandwich or a fancy steak dinner they go with everything!