Creamy broccoli, cheese and chicken soup

I AM OUT OF BACON. This never happens. I don’t know how it happened. If I had bacon, I would have started by cutting up 3 strips and cooking them in the bottom of the soup pan for about 10 minutes, then adding the rest of the ingredients.

You will need:

• 3 strips of bacon IF YOU HAVE ANY
• Half of a large (sweet) onion
• 3.75 lbs of broccoli, chopped
• 3/4 lb yellow potato
• 4 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
• 1 cup of 2% or whole milk, or an additional cup of broth
• 1 3/4 cups low fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 – 1 1/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp onion powder
• Salt and pepper

Potatoes, onions, broth, missing bacon

Start by cutting up the bacon and cooking it in the soup pot for about 10 minutes. Roughly chop the potatoes and onion and add to the pot. Add the broth and turn the stove to medium high. Chop the broccoli into small enough pieces so they all fit and add to the pot, plus a couple pinches of salt on top. The broth should cover the potatoes, but not the broccoli – it will get steamed by the broth. Cover and continue cooking on medium high for 10 minutes, turn down to low and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the broccoli is soft.

Meanwhile, cook the chicken (I just boil it) and chop finely. You can do bite sized pieces but I like small pieces. Set aside.

Finely chopped chicken

Remove soup pot from heat. Blend using an immersion blender or a food processor. If you’re using an immersion blender, you kind of have to work from the top and push down. It blends eventually. Add the cup of milk and blend. Add nutmeg, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add the chicken and cook uncovered on low for 10 more minutes. At this point, it would probably be ready to eat, but David was not home yet so I let it cook on very low, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.

Makes 5 good sized servings, at only about 425 calories each.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I will start by saying this cannot be compared to actual pizza. However, if you crave pizza like I do, this is a really good weekday substitute and you are eating tons of veggies!

You will need:

• 2 heads of cauliflower
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 tsp salt
• Lots of shredded mozzarella cheese (TJ’s light mozzarella has the lowest calories)
• Pizza sauce 
• Toppings – I did one turkey pepperoni and red onions, and one veggie with red peppers, red onions, and black olives

Processed cauliflower with cheese and eggs

Cut the cauliflower into big chunks (one head at a time) and blend in the food processor. It will come out looking sort of like dry grits. Microwave for 7 or 8 minutes, until softened. At this point, a lot of the things I read say to put the mush into a dishtowel and wring the water out. That sounded annoying, so I did not do it. 

Beat the 2 eggs and pour into the cauliflower pulp, along with 2 cups of mozzarella and salt, mix well. Spray a sheet of parchment paper with oil, and place on a baking sheet. Working in chunks, either with your hands or a rubber spatula, spread the cauliflower out to about a 10-inch circle that is about 1/4 inch thick. Don’t make it any thicker or it will be too mushy.

Precooked

Cooked - edges are browned

 When I do this the next time, I will cook it on higher heat to begin with. What I did was cook the crusts for 10 minutes on 350, flipped them (this was not easy) and cooked them for a total of about 20 more minutes on 400. If I was going to do it again, I would cook them on 400 for 20 minutes, and try putting them on a cookie rack (still on the parchment paper) for the second 10 minutes to see if it cooked the other side a little more. I stopped baking them when the edges got dark – I probably could have left them in even longer to see if they toughened up more, but I was hungry.

Spread sauce on the cooked crust; I like a lot of sauce but too much will make it mushy. Add cheese and toppings. As far as I can tell, there is no such thing as too much cheese. If using veggies, cut them up pretty small, otherwise it will be too heavy.

Bake until cheese is melted – about 10 minutes on 350. Eat one million pieces!

Chicken and Potato Chowder

All good soups start with bacon! You’ll need:

• 3 strips (I used center cut) bacon
• 1/2 medium sized white onion
• 1 1/2 - 2 TBS butter
• 1/4 cup plus 1 TBS flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup whole or 2% milk
• 3-4 cups chopped yukon gold potatoes
• 1 lb chicken (I use boneless skinless thighs), chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Bay leaf
• Nutmeg

Cut the bacon into small (slightly bigger than bacon bit size) pieces with kitchen scissors into a soup pot. Cook on medium for a few minutes until it starts sizzling. Meanwhile, dice the onion and add to the bacon. Cook for a few more minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the butter (unless you’re using full fat bacon, in which case you probably won’t need the butter) and stir until melted. Add the flour and whisk until combined. It kind of looks like a congealed mess at this point but that’s ok. Continue to cook while whisking for a couple more minutes, but don’t let it burn.

This is how much nutmeg to use.

Add the chicken broth and whisk until smooth; add the milk and whisk to combine. Add diced potatoes, chicken, salt and pepper, nutmeg and a bay leaf. I forgot to measure how much nutmeg I put in, so I took a photo before I stirred it. Go easy on the salt until you taste it later, especially if you used full sodium stock.

Simmer for 1 – 1 1/2 hours on low, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Don’t sit reading your kindle and drinking wine and forget about it! Once the chicken is cooked, taste it to see if you need more salt and pepper. Add the frozen corn and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool for about 10 minutes before you serve.

This did not make as much soup as I was hoping (I like leftovers), next time I would probably double it. It made 2 big servings which we ate for dinner, plus one smaller leftover serving.

Since there are no veggies in this, I made a mixed green salad with shaved asiago, grape tomatoes, and lemon honey dressing. I forgot to measure exactly how much of everything I used in the dressing, but it was good. Approximately, it was the juice of one lemon, a heaping teaspoon of honey (thank you Bridget and Aaron) and probably 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil. Shake well!

Based on rough calculations dividing it into 3 servings, this is about 530 calories per bowl. You could skip the bacon (which would be crazy), use a lower-fat milk (I did whole), and/or use boneless skinless chicken breast, all of which would lower the calorie count a bit. Still, at 530 calories it is very filling, and still far less than a chowder you would get at a restaurant. Serve with red wine!

Light Creamy Chicken, Broccoli, and Corn Soup

All of a sudden it got freezing, so I wanted soup. I hate the cold, but I do love soup. This is a creamy broth but without the heavy cream, making it a much healthier, lower calorie and fat alternative.

You will need:

• 3 TBS butter
• 3 TBS flour
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp tarragon
• 4 cups (low sodium) chicken broth
• 3/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
• 1 1/2 c gold potatoes, chopped
• 1-2 heads of broccoli, chopped
• 1 1/2 c frozen sweet corn
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
• Salt to taste

Melt the butter in a soup pot; I used a 5 quart. Start the chicken to boil in a separate saucepan. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and whisk until all lumps are broken up. Continue to simmer, whisking constantly, for about 3 minutes. Usually I recommend being lazy and not actually whisking the whole time, but it’s important that you do, otherwise it will burn and stick.

Butter and flour while simmering -
looks very thin.

Slowly add 2 cups of the chicken broth, plus the milk, and whisk. Add the shallots, bay leaf, and potatoes; turn to medium low and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes – until the potatoes are cooked and the broth has thickened. Remove from stove, take out the bay leaf, and use an immersion blender (possibly the best kitchen tool ever) or a food processor to blend.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove from saucepan, save the broth to add to your dog’s food, and coarsely chop or pull apart the meat. Add to the blended broth.

Put the soup back on the stove on medium low, add the last 2 cups of broth, salt to taste, and mix thoroughly. Add the broccoli and corn – the measurements above are about what I used; they are not exact and I basically just cram as much in as I can for the amount of broth that I have.

Add 2 tsp of nutmeg, 1 tsp of tarragon, stir and taste. You might need a little more salt also.

Cook uncovered for another 15-20 minutes on medium low stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is soft but not falling apart. The raw broccoli thins the broth a bit, sautéing it first would probably fix this, I just didn’t feel like taking the extra step. Serve and enjoy!

This makes about 4 servings; each serving is just over 400 calories. Not bad for a cream soup and filling enough for dinner!

Easy at-work lunch: chicken avocado wrap

I have hated wraps since I was in college, when they first got popular. I don’t know why, maybe the smell of the on-campus delis that served them — I could not stand that smell. I also hate that they are marketed as healthy, because usually the tortillas have one million calories and aren’t any better for you than regular bread. The tortillas I use are 80 calories each, and they hold plenty of stuff:

I used:

• Perdue pre-cooked chicken bites, southwestern flavor — about 1/3 of the package
• 1/2 red pepper, sliced and roasted
• 1/4 avocado, sliced
• 2 TBS hummus
• 1/4 cucumber, sliced vertically into thin strips
• About 1/8 block of Trader Joe’s low fat feta cheese

I roasted the red peppers and sliced the cucumbers the night before, and heated the red peppers up with the chicken in the toaster oven before putting it together. A microwave would work, or you could just have the whole thing cold. I spread the hummus on the tortilla first, then piled everything else on top. I was also going to add arugula but ran out of room; as it was I ate it more like a giant taco than a wrap. It came out to about 415 calories total; if you left the hummus out or just used less, it would be less than 400. Or you could leave out the avocado, but that would be crazy. All of my coworkers were jealous!

Lemon orzo salad with chicken, feta, and snap peas on arugula

I planned on using whole wheat orzo but couldn’t find it; I’m not sure if it exists but I will keep looking! I did this dish at room temperature; you could do it cold but cold chicken freaks me out a little.


You’ll need:

• 2-3 lemons
• 1 lb orzo
• 5 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 1.5 lbs)
• 1.5 pints of cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 lb of snap peas, cut in half
• 1 block low-fat feta (Trader Joe’s is my fav)
• 1 cup loosely packed basil
• 10 oz arugula 
• Kosher salt and olive oil

Cook the orzo according to package directions, drizzle with olive oil and the juice from half of a lemon and stir. Also, if you don’t have one of these citrus squeezers, get one because it’s awesome. Boil the chicken thighs and cut up roughly with a chef’s knife, add to the orzo, drizzle with lemon, stir, and set aside to cool.

Crumble the feta and set aside. Roughly chop the basil (or if you’re lazy like me, put it in the mini chopper and pulse it a couple of times), quarter the tomatoes and cut the snap peas in half.

Once the orzo and chicken has cooled, add the veggies, basil, feta and the juice from the second lemon, gradually stirring. Serve on a bed of arugula.

This makes a huge amount; it’s great leftover. If you divide it into about 8 servings and serve over a couple cups of arugula it works out to about 440 calories per serving. It would be less if you used chicken breasts instead of thighs, but I think white meat chicken is gross.

This has nothing to do with food, but I was fixing some tile in the shower of my little townhouse that I rent out and needed shims to level the hardy board before I retiled the window sill in the shower. I had nothing with me that would work, found this awesome thing in a cabinet in the laundry room and used it for a shim:

Beef enchiladas with easy homemade sauce

I made roasted broccoli for the side; it
isn’t exactly a Mexican side but it’s easy
and I needed a veggie.

These are really simple beef and cheese enchiladas; you could add beans, onions, peppers, chilis, etc — I was just going for simple.

I made my own sauce for the first time; you can use the sauce in the can but it’s super easy to make and there is not a bunch of preservatives and fillers this way. This is also thicker than the canned sauce, which I like.

For the sauce:

• 15 oz can of tomato sauce
• 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes 
• 2 TBS chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chipotle chili pepper (if you don’t already have this, you can leave it out, but it adds a really good smokey flavor)

Whisk all ingredients and cook on very low heat for about 15 minutes, whisking every so often so it doesn’t stick. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the enchiladas:

• 6 soft taco tortillas
• 1 lb 96% lean ground beef, browned
• 1 cup low fat shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
• 2 cups low fat mexican blend shredded cheese
• Fat free Greek yogurt for topping

This is what the beef looked like
after I ground it in the mini chopper

About how much filling to use

I browned the beef and then pulsed it in my mini chopper in two batches to get it much finer than I can ever get it by breaking it up in the pan. Blend the meat in a mixing bowl with the mozzarella, cottage cheese, and one cup of the sauce.

Spray a 9x13 pan with olive oil. Divide the meat mixture into 6 equal parts, lay on half of the tortilla, carefully roll, and place seam-side down in the pan.

Leave a little bit of space between them when you place them in the pan. Cover with as much of the sauce as you want; I use a lot but save some for topping later. Top with the 2 cups of Mexican cheese, cover and bake on 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes if you want to brown the cheese on top. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before eating.

I use La Banderita soft taco low carb tortillas, which only have 81 calories each. A lot of the brands have a ton of calories (even the whole wheat) so I always buy these. I also bought tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes that had the least number of ingredients (no added sugar) as possible. I was able to get each enchilada down to 390 calories total, probably a little less because I don’t use all of the sauce. Amazingly, I only ate one plus the broccoli, so my dinner was still under 500 calories.

Cheesy Polenta Chorizo Casserole

I love one dish meals! Not that it only takes one dish to make them, but you don’t have to time three or four different items to be done at the same time. This dish is spicy, but you could use a mild sausage and skip the jalapeño and red pepper flakes if you want a milder version.

You will need:

Yummy polenta crust on the bottom!

• 1 1/2 c dry polenta (I use Bob’s Mill)
• 2 summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 1 red pepper, cut into small pieces but not diced
• 2 jalapeño peppers, finely chopped
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 15oz jar of tomato sauce
• 6 links Logan’s Mexican Chorizo sausage, casings removed 
• 2 c low fat shredded mozzarella cheese
• Olive oil

Cook the polenta according to package directions and let cool a bit. Spoon about half into the bottom of an oiled 13x9 pan and pack down. It’s sticky and actually works best to use your hands to smash it down once it’s cool enough. Bake on 400 for 10 minutes, remove from oven and set aside.

Sautée veggies with a swirl of olive oil in a large skillet until soft but still a little crunchy on the inside. Add tomato sauce and red pepper flakes and simmer on low for 10 minutes.

Once the casings are removed from the sausage, cook on the grill for about 10 minutes on each side, remove and roughly chop with a large knife. Alternatively, you could just brown them in a skillet, but I like the charred grill flavor. (I also like to think that grilling it lets some of the fat drip out, but it’s probably not enough to actually make a difference.) Add to the sauce mixture and simmer for another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, so that the flavors have time to mix.

Spoon half of the tomato sauce mixture onto the cooked layer of polenta. Drop half of the remaining polenta by bits over the sauce layer, and cover with about 3/4 cup of the mozzarella. It works best again to use your hands for the polenta. Spoon the rest of the sauce mix on top, followed by the rest of the polenta. Cover with the remaining mozzarella cheese and bake on 400 for 20 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

If you use the Logan’s sausage (very low cal for sausage) and a low calorie tomato sauce (RAO’s Homemade tomato basil) this ends up being a very low calorie but filling and delicious meal, coming in at only about 450 calories per serving if you cut into 6 servings. And they are really big servings!

Just out of the oven, I forgot to take photos of it half put
together, but the yellow bits on top are polenta

Marinated Flank Steak, Asparagus, and Mini Potatoes

This is a well-rounded, easy weeknight dinner. I only let the steak marinate for about an hour before I cooked it. If you can marinate the steak before you leave for work, even better. I used flank steak because it’s lean and it holds marinade well.

Don’t you want to eat this right now?

For the marinade:

• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1 shallot
• 3/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 c red wine vinegar
• 1/3 c loosely packed fresh basil
• Pinch of salt

Roughly cut the shallot into a few pieces, and put all ingredients mini chopper or food processor and grind until well blended. If you don’t have a mini chopper, you should get one because they are awesome. But if you don’t have one right now, you could finely chop all of the ingredients and whisk them together in a small bowl.

Spoon leftover marinade onto the steak

Lay the flank steak flat on a cutting board and pound it with a meat tenderizer on both sides. You don’t want to pulverize it, just break up the fibers a little bit. Put it in a baking pan or a plastic bag, pour the marinade so that it fully covers the steak, and let it set at room temperature for about an hour. Grill on high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side. I like my steak bloody so I was closer to 3. Let it sit for 5 minutes before carving it against the grain.

All I did to the asparagus and potatoes was drizzle some olive oil and kosher salt on each and shake them around so they were covered. I did the asparagus on the grill for about 8 minutes on medium-high heat, placed right on the grates and turned them a couple of times. I cooked the potatoes in the oven on 350 for about 45 minutes, then broiled them for a couple of minutes at the end to make them crispy. They were like little round french fries! I even dipped them in ketchup. Yum!

There is varying information on the interwebs about the calories in flank steak, I was finding anywhere from 150 to 200 calories per 1/4 pound. The entire container of marinade is only 110 calories so spread over a 1.75 pound steak, it only adds a few! 1/4 pound of the potatoes is 120 calories and a serving of the asparagus is 40-50 (which I think must be offset by chewing it, right?), plus a little olive oil makes this whole meal way less than 500 calories!

White Lasagna Dinner with Chicken and Veggies

I love cream sauce, and this lasagna uses a much more healthy cream sauce than you’d find in a restaurant; it’s made with a lot less butter and more chicken broth. I also use two layers of eggplant instead of two layers of what would normally be lasagna noodles. Between the eggplant, spinach, and broccoli, you get a full serving of veggies. Bonus!

White sauce:

• 1  1/2 TBS butter 
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1/3-1/2 c flour 
• 1 c skim milk 
• 2 1/2 c chicken broth 
• 1/4 c grated Asiago 

Melt butter and add crushed garlic, cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add 1/3 c flour and whisk; it won’t all dissolve. Slowly add milk and whisk all lumps out. It will become the consistency of very thick gravy. Add broth and whisk; bring to a simmer and cook whisking constantly until thickened - about 10 minutes. It should be about the consistency of béchamel. If it looks too thin, add a little more flour, or cornstarch will work also. Remove from stove, add Asiago and whisk well. Set aside.

After adding flour to the butter and garlic

Lasagna:

• 6 no-boil lasagna noodles 
• 1 large eggplant, sliced into about 1/4 inch slices, grilled or roasted
• 2 medium broccoli bunches cut into small pieces, sautéed 
• 1 9oz bag spinach, sautéed and drained well
• 3/4 lb shredded chicken 
• 2 c fat free cottage cheese 
• 2 eggs 
• 4 c shredded low fat mozzarella 
• Grated Asiago or Parmesan for the top

I use leftover rotisserie chicken and shred it, which cuts out the extra step of cooking the chicken first. Add some of the sauce to the chicken — just enough so that it’s wet, and set aside. In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs and add the cottage cheese, mix well and set aside.

Pour a little of the white sauce on the bottom of a greased lasagna pan. You just want a thin layer, don’t use a ton. Put three lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan.

Spread the broccoli over the noodles. Spread a third of the cottage cheese mix by spoonfuls as evenly as you can over the broccoli, about a cup of the mozzarella, and a little less than a cup of the white sauce.

First layer of noodles, broccoli, cheeses,
and half of the first eggplant layer

Use half of the grilled eggplant to create another layer. Distribute the chicken mix evenly over the eggplant, followed by half of the remaining cottage cheese mix, a layer of mozzarella and white sauce.

Cover with three remaining lasagna noodles. Distribute the spinach evenly over the noodles, followed by the rest of the cottage cheese mix, a layer of mozzarella and more of the sauce. Distribute the last of the eggplant on top, pour the rest of the sauce evenly, and cover with a layer of mozzarella. I grated some Asiago on the top too for an added flavor.

Cook covered with foil for 30 minutes on 350, then uncovered for another 10. Let rest for 10 after you take it out of the oven.

Cut into 8 servings (one of which is plenty, even for me) this comes out to 425-450 calories per serving.  It makes great leftovers reheated for lunch!

You should probably let your dog lick
every single bowl you’ve used

Super Easy Grilled Eggplant Parmesan

This is a really easy, healthy meal. I also did a side of sautéed spinach with a little olive oil and garlic. Love sautéed spinach.

One large eggplant made enough for two people, plus a few leftover slices.

Cut the eggplant into a little less than half-inch slices. Cook on the grill on medium high, turning as they brown on each side and show grill marks; somewhere between 6 and 8 minutes on each side depending on how hot your grill is. You want them fairly crispy so the marinara sauce doesn’t make them mushy.

Put the eggplant slices on a cookie sheet, drop one to two tablespoons of marinara sauce on top depending on how big the slice is, and top with part skim/low fat shredded mozzarella.

Slide back onto the grill (you might want to spray the grates with olive oil; a couple of mine stuck a little bit) on medium for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. They look like mini pizzas! Mmmmmmm pizza.

An entire eggplant only has something like 130 calories, and I probably used about 1 1/4 cups of mozzarella, plus the tomato sauce... so you could eat half of these slices (which I definitely did - when I said there were leftovers those were David’s leftovers) and it’s only about 310 calories.

Healthy Feta Veggie Frittata – Eggs aren’t just for breakfast!

A finished slice! (Or two)

First, if you don’t use Trader Joe’s low fat feta, get on board. There are only 320 calories in the whole block so you can load it on! I love this frittata because it only requires dirtying one pan and a cutting board, and you get protein from the eggs and a lot of your veggie servings for the day.

You will need:

• 1 block of TJ’s low fat feta
• 12 eggs - 6 whole and 6 whites
• 1 bag of 9 or 10 oz baby spinach
• Quart of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half or quarters
• One medium head of broccoli, cut into small bite-sized pieces
• One summer squash, sliced into rounds and cut into quarters
• 2/3 cup fat free or 1% low fat cottage cheese
• Olive oil, salt, and pepper
• Oven at 350

I like to do the frittata in a cast iron pan, because it goes right from the stove to the oven and makes a crisp crust.

Whisk together the 6 whole eggs and 6 whites with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside. Crumble the block of feta and set aside.

Tomatoes, squash and broccoli

Heat the cast iron on medium heat. Swirl a little bit of olive oil in the pan and add spinach. Cook, turning constantly until wilted, remove into a colander, and use a paper towel to press out excess water. You might want to wait until it cools a little or risk burning your hands. Unless you’re a mom, in which case you almost certainly have a superhuman ability to handle hot things.

Add tomatoes to the cast iron. Add broccoli and squash and stir well. Add another drizzle of olive oil if the veggies are sticking to the pan. Cook until the tomatoes and squash have lost most of their water and the broccoli is soft on the outside but still a little crunchy when you bite into it.

Evenly distribute the spinach over the tomatoes and broccoli, followed by the feta. Pour the egg mixture slowly into the cast iron. Not because it matters for the recipe, but because it’ll splash out if you pour it too quickly. You’ll also want to pour it in a kind of circular motion all over the pan, so the egg gets evenly in between the veggies. Add the cottage cheese in teaspoon full dollops. Leave it cooking on the stove, without stirring, on medium-low for 5-7 minutes, until the egg starts to get firm around the edges of the pan. Transfer to the oven for 15-20 minutes; until you can shake the pan and it wobbles but the eggs are not still gooey.

I cut the frittata into 6 slices, and each slice has about 220 calories. Obviously, I ate 2 slices.

Left: just before it goes in the oven. Right: after it comes out! Yum melty cheese.

Whole Wheat Grilled Pizza

Pizza is my favorite food. By far. Ever. I wouldn't go so far as to call these actually healthy, but they are certainly better for you than fast food pizza.

My favorite dough is Trader Joe’s whole wheat, however I went to Harris Teeter this morning so used their whole wheat instead. Harris Teeter's pizza sauce is good, and low calorie. I got low fat shredded mozzarella, pearl buffalo mozzarella, and Boar’s Head pepperoni. You can use whatever toppings you want, but be careful not to load it too heavy with raw vegetable toppings because they'll lose water and your pizza will dissolve.

Bring the dough to room temperature, otherwise it’ll be too hard to roll out. The other advantage of wheat crust (besides that it is better for you and lower calorie) is that it’s easier to work with and roll out than white. Divide the dough in half, and roll out each dough ball to about 1/4 inch. It’ll be vaguely circular, but I gave up trying to make a pretty circle.

Preheat the grill on high and clean the grates well once hot. Spray with olive oil.

Carefully place the dough on the grill grates; if it’s too sticky and isn't at all elastic any more, throw it in the fridge for a few minutes to cool it down. When it’s the right temperature, you should be able to quickly place it on the grill without burning your hands.

Leave crusts on high for 3-5 minutes; watch carefully and when the bottoms are nicely browned and have grill marks, slide them off onto a cutting board, cooked side up.

Top the cooked side with tomato sauce (not too much, otherwise the dough will soak and you won't be able to get it off), cheese, and whatever toppings you picked.

Turn the grill down to medium high, and carefully slide the pizza, which should be uncooked side down, back onto the grill. I use a big pizza paddle and a spatula for easier maneuvering. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until bottom is browned and the cheese is melted.


Carefully slide back onto the cutting board, cut, and serve!

I might attempt my own dough at some point, or even try using some cauliflower instead of flour to lower the calorie count of the crust.

Enjoy!

Dinner last night: healthy Mexican Chorizo casserole (and my first post!)

I have a recent obsession with eggplant, both because it is delicious and because it can be used as a substitute for pasta. I also have an obsession with Chorizo, but that is much more longstanding than my eggplant obsession.

This is unfortunately the only photo I took of any parts of this meal, as I just decided to start this blog today and wanted to hurry up and write my first post. The final dish is a sort of hybrid lasagna/casserole but good for you and without noodles. If Logan's sausage is gluten-free (I have emailed them to ask), then the recipe would be gluten free. *Update from Logan's - all of their products are gluten free, with the exception of the Irish Banger. Woo hoo!

I made this in an 8x11 pan and made 6 servings out of it; all three people eating each had a half a piece of seconds.

Divided into 6 servings, this is only about 290 calories per serving - so eat up!

Here's what you need:

• 1 large eggplant
• 4 links of Logan's Mexican Chorizo sausage (this is my favorite brand, and it has less calories than chicken sausage)
• 1 cup of low fat cottage cheese
• 1 egg white
• 1 1/2 cups of low fat Mexican blend shredded cheese
• 1 cup of RAO's Homemade tomato basil sauce (or make your own, but this stuff is delicious and doesn't have preservatives or added sugar. It's all ingredients you can read.)
• 1 1/2 cans of black beans, drained

Preheat the grill on high. Slice the eggplant up into 1/4-inch thick slices and set aside. Cut the sausage links in half lengthwise and remove the casing. Turn the grill down to medium-high and place the eggplant slices and the sausage, butterfly side down, on the grill. The sausage takes about 10 minutes on each side, and the eggplant varies depending on the size of the slices. Start checking them for grill marks after about 6-7 minutes, and flip them when they're crispy. I like to cook them until the edges start curling a little and both sides are crisp. (See photo!)

Chop the sausage up and put in a small mixing bowl along with the 1 1/2 cans of drained black beans. Mix in about 3/4 cup of the tomato sauce - so everything is very well-coated, but not "saucy." My plan was to add some cumin and cayenne, but the Mexican Chorizo and the tomato sauce is so well seasoned that I didn't end up adding anything. Set this mixture aside.

Blend the cottage cheese and egg white in a small mixing bowl and set aside.

Grease a 8x11 glass baking pan and drizzle 1/4 cup tomato sauce on the bottom and spread it around so that the bottom is mostly covered (but not dripping with sauce.) Place a layer of eggplant on top, and then 1/2 of the sausage bean mix. Use a spoon to dollop half of the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the surface, and cover with half of the shredded cheese. Repeat the eggplant-sausage-cottage cheese-shredded cheese layers.

Make a foil tent and cover (so that the cheese doesn't stick to the foil and come off when you remove it) - bake on 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is browned. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

This is my first post (and attempt at writing how I made something), please leave feedback if you make this or if anything is unclear in my directions!