Unfried Chicken & Idaho Oven Fries

My parents got a hold of my May/June issue of Weight Watchers magazine and saw these recipes. They were really excited about trying them. I was really proud of them because they usually stick to fad dieting and they don't typically care for altering recipes to make them healthy. The stepdad acted like he didn't care for it but I think he really did. The chicken could have used a little more seasoning, but it still tasted good. Nice and crunchy, and still juicy. Both my mom, my husband, and I liked it.

Unfried Chicken

1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 large egg whites
1 1/3 cup corn flake crumbs (It took almost a whole box of flakes to make 1 1/3 cups of crumbs!)
4 chicken drumsticks, skinned (about 1 lb)
4 chicken thighs, skinned (about 1 lb)
1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
1/4 cup fat free buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large shallow baking pan with foil. Place a wire rack on the pan and spray with cooking spray.

Put the flour on a plate. Lightly beat the egg whites in a shallow dish. Put the crumbs on a separate plate. Mix the chicken, salt, and pepper in a bowl; stir in the buttermilk. Dip the chicken, 1 piece at a time, in the the flour, then the eggs, then the crumbs.

Put the chicken on the rack and lightly spray with cooking spray. Bake until golden brown and cook through, about 45 minutes. Do not turn.

1 serving = 1 leg or thigh @ 7 points.

331 calories, 9 g fat, 29 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 33 g protein

Idaho Oven Fries

4 Idaho potatoes, scrubbed
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup ketchup

Place a rack in the lowest position in the oven. Preheat to 450 degrees F.

Cut each potato lengthwise into 8 wedges. Toss the potatoes with the oil on a heavy rimmed baking sheet and arrange each one, flat side down, in a single layer.

Bake without turning until the bottoms are deep golden and crisp, about 20 minutes; flip the potatoes onto the other flat side. Bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, serve with ketchup.

1 serving = 8 fries + 2 Tbsp ketchup @ 3 points

166 cals, 4 g fat, 32 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein

Corn & Potato Chowder

Soup is very filling. I can eat one bowl of soup and feel super stuffed. I think that it is the effect of the hot liquid. And this soup is loaded with veggies and dairy.

The husband liked his a lot, even though I didn't get around to adding some chicken to his like I planned. He also ate one bowl and was full.

The recipe is from Cooking Light (via myrecipes.com):

Corn and Potato Chowder

Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups prechopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped green onions, divided (about 1 bunch)
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay)
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 pound baking potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add bell pepper and 3/4 cup green onions, and sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned.

Increase heat to high; add corn, water, seafood seasoning, thyme, red pepper, and potatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat, and stir in half-and-half, chopped parsley, and salt. Place about 1 1/2 cups soup in each of 4 bowls; sprinkle each with 2 tablespoons cheese and 1 tablespoon green onions.

Yield: 4 servings @ 7 WW Points each

CALORIES 343 (27% from fat); FAT 10.2g (sat 6.4g,mono 3.1g,poly 0.5g); IRON 2.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 41mg; CALCIUM 219mg; CARBOHYDRATE 53.3g; SODIUM 654mg; PROTEIN 11.5g; FIBER 7g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2006

Creamy Spinach Mushroom Skillet Enchiladas

Attention. Please stop what you're doing and make this NOW. It's that delicious. It was fast and pretty easy and just plain scrumptious. If you love Tex-Mex flavors, the green sauce is perfect. If not, the green sauce is still perfect. Well I guess it depends on the kind you buy. The kind I got was local, but I'm sure you can find an awesome green sauce for when you make it. Because you are going to make it. Right?

My only substitution was Laughing Cow garlic and herb cheese wedges instead of the cream cheese. Pretty much the same thing. I just didn't want a whole brick of cream cheese laying around when I can eat the Laughing Cow on other things. I suppose I could with cream cheese, but I wouldn't. It would just go to waste.

Really though, please make this! It's vegetarian and only 5 Weight Watchers Points per serving, including the sour cream. It's very adaptable. I'm already dreaming up new veggie/salsa combinations for when I make it next. And if you're not veggie, well...add some cooked shredded chicken to the filling. Or some shrimp. Or...

Recipe is from Cooking Light (via myrecipes.com):

Creamy Spinach Mushroom Skillet Enchiladas

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach (about 6 cups)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons light cream cheese with onions and chives
1 (16-ounce) bottle green salsa, divided
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
Cilantro sprigs (optional)


Preheat broiler.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and mushrooms; sauté 5 minutes. Add spinach and salt; cook for 1 minute or until spinach wilts, stirring frequently. Drain; return mushroom mixture to pan. Add cream cheese; cook 2 minutes or until cream cheese melts, stirring frequently. Place the mushroom mixture in a bowl; set aside.

Heat 1 cup salsa in a saucepan over low heat. Dredge both sides of each tortilla in warm salsa using tongs, and stack the tortillas on a plate. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon mushroom mixture into center of each tortilla; fold in half, and arrange in skillet, overlapping slightly. Top with remaining salsa, and sprinkle with cheese. Wrap handle of skillet with foil, and broil enchiladas for 4 minutes or until the cheese melts. Top with sour cream, and garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.


Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 enchiladas and 1 tablespoon sour cream) @ 5 WW Points each

CALORIES 273 (29% from fat); FAT 8.7g (sat 3.6g,mono 2.9g,poly 1g); IRON 2.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 330mg; CARBOHYDRATE 39.4g; SODIUM 806mg; PROTEIN 10.1g; FIBER 6.7g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2001

Yellow Squash Gratin

This is tasty. I really like it. It's not difficult to make at all. It might need a little something, although I'm not sure what. I did only use 1 cup of onions though, so maybe that could be it? Who knows. Make sure you get some of the topping in each bite...amazing. I used 1/2 cup of store bought bread crumbs because I have a package I am trying to use up. I made mine into 6 servings so I could have a bigger piece since it is serving as my entree.

The husband is working late so I don't have a review from him. The husband liked it! He scraped off the topping though. *gasp*

Yellow Squash Gratin

Cooking spray
2 cups chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
12 cups yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 3 pounds)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups cooked long-grain rice
3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Gruyère or Swiss cheese
3 large eggs, lightly beaten1 (1-ounce) slice white bread
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add squash; sauté 7 minutes or just until tender. Remove from heat; stir in parsley, salt, thyme, and pepper. Add rice, Gruyère, and eggs to squash mixture, stirring until well combined. Spoon the squash mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until fine crumbs measure 1/2 cup. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and butter, tossing to combine. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over squash mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until topping is lightly browned and filling is set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8 servings

CALORIES 247 (29% from fat); FAT 8g (sat 4.1g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.6g); IRON 2.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 98mg; CALCIUM 220mg; CARBOHYDRATE 32.4g; SODIUM 599mg; PROTEIN 11.2g; FIBER 4.9g

Cooking Light, APRIL 2004

Eggplant Rollatini with Tomato-Basil Sauce

Okay, this was really super good, although it was a pain in the tail to make. The recipe is labeled "moderate" for difficulty and I had some moderate difficulty with it!

First I sliced the eggplant too thin. I think it was too thin because two of the pieces ended up burning. So I lost a serving...but that's okay because I'm only feeding two of us and I didn't want any leftovers.

If you are new to cooking or are cooking while doing something else (phone, TV, computer, whatever) make sure to have everything set out and prepared before you start. This includes chopping all the veggies and getting all the pans prepped. There's going to be a lot going on at one time.

Another thing that went wrong for me is that our can opener (manual) decided to stop working. I don't even know how that is possible, but it happened. It's kind of a bummer because it is a KitchenAid can opener and I always thought they would last forever, but this is going in the trash. Because of that I couldn't open the crushed tomatoes. Luckily I had a small can of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato soup that both had those little pull tabs on them. I think it turned out just fine.

The husband seemed skeptical at first when I told him what we were having. I served his with a grilled chicken breast. He loved it! He scarfed it all down proclaiming "Hey, this is really good!".

Let's see, other substitutions I made: I used fat free ricotta instead of part skim. This dropped the Points to 3 per serving! And I forgot to buy fresh basil (doh!) so I just used dried. The recipe serves 4 with 2 rollatini things each, but since I was eating this as an entree, I ate three at a total of 5 Points (including my sub of fat free ricotta). Okay, on with the recipe.

Recipe from Weight Watchers:

Eggplant Rollatini

Serves 4 @ 4 Points each

Ingredients:
2 medium raw eggplant, tops & bottoms removed, sliced lengthwise into 8 planks
1 tsp olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp fresh torn basil
1/4 cup minced onion
1 small zucchini, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
3 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Lay eggplant in a single layer on prepared baking sheet and lightly coat tops with cooking spray. Bake, flipping once, until golden brown, about 10 minutes per side. Remove from oven and set aside.

To make sauce, place oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sliced garlic; sauté until it begins to brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes; stir to combine and reduce heat to low. Add torn basil, stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes. Cover, remove from heat and set aside.

To make filling, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and zucchini; sauté until onion starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in chopped garlic and cook 1 minute more; spoon onion mixture into a small bowl to cool. In another small bowl, combine ricotta, parsley, chopped basil, and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan; stir to combine. Add cooled onion mixture; stir to combine. Add egg, salt and pepper; stir to combine.

To make rollatini, reduce oven to 400ºF. Spoon 3 tablespoons of sauce in bottom of an 8- X 8-inch glass or nonstick metal baking dish and swirl to coat bottom with sauce. On a clean cutting board, place 1 slice of eggplant. Place 2 tablespoons of filling at the narrow end of eggplant and roll up; place in prepared baking dish, seam side-down. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices; arrange in a single layer in dish. Spoon remaining 1/2 cup of sauce and remaining tablespoon of Parmesan over eggplant. Bake until sauce bubbles, about 10 to 15 minutes. Yields 2 pieces of rollatini per serving.

Au Gratin Potatoes

I liked this a lot and so did the husband. It is supposed to be a side dish, but I ate it as an entree with a side of spinach. The husband ate a smaller portion as a side (along with some spinach) to his meatloaf. I used less cheese (only 3/4 cup) since he isn't a fan of it and he said it was fine. I also tasted the sauce before baking and it really needed something else (it was pretty bland) so I added some nutmeg. That made it delicious! Also, the recipe says to use a 2 qt. casserole dish. I used a 2.5 liter dish, which is about 2.6 quarts and it was almost full. Go with a bigger dish.

Recipe from Weight Watchers:

Au Gratin Potatoes

Serves 8 @ 3 Points
Serves 4 @ 7 Points

Ingredients:
2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 Tbsp butter
2 cups skim milk
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 2 qt casserole dish with cooking spray.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onions and cook until brown. Sprinkle in flour and then slowly add milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add potatoes, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat. Bring to a boil. Stir in 3/4 c. cheese. Pour into casserole dish.

Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Put lid on dish and bake until potatoes are fork tender, 10-20 minutes more. Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining 1/4 c. cheese on top and place under broiler for 5 minutes.

Let set for 5 minutes, slice into servings, serve.

Pasta Primavera

Quite simple and tasty. I like this dish because of the heaping portions! And there are so many veggies in it, you can knock out 2 veggie servings. You can use any pasta, I just happened to come across some cute, colorful corkscrew pasta that is made with veggies. I also topped mine with some grated parmigiano reggiano. It's a vegetarian dish; the husband ate it with a piece of Italian turkey sausage and cleaned his plate.

The recipe is from Weight Watchers:

Pasta Primavera

Serves 4 @ 6 points; 2 1/4 cup serving size

Ingredients:

8 oz. uncooked whole wheat pasta

1/8 tsp salt

4 tsp olive oil, divided

8 oz asparagus, cut into chunks

4 oz sugar snap peas

1 small yellow summer squash, sliced into half moons

1 can quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup fresh basil (I used a couple dashes of dried basil)

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt the water with 1/8 tsp salt. Add pasta and cook according to directions. Save 1/3 cup pasta water.

Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat; add asparagus, squash and sugar snap peas. Cook, stirring often, until almost crisp tender - about 4 minutes. Stir in artichoke hearts and olives, cook over low heat, stirring, 1 minute.

Add pasta, 1/3 cup pasta water, and basil to the vegetable mixture. Toss to coat. Serve immediately.