Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Apparently Fra Diavolo is french for spicy! I had no idea that this was meant to be a spicy pasta! For those of you that don't like spicy, please don't worry, by eliminating the red pepper flakes you will eliminate the spicy! I am a huge fan of spicy so I was a big fan of this meal!! Spicy food also helps keep your metabolism up. This dish makes 4 servings at 470 calories and 8g of fat per serving.

Ingredients

3/4lb of shrimp

1/2tsp olive oil

2tsp red pepper flakes (back down on this for less spice)

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4tsp dried oregano or thyme

1can crushed tomatoes

1c dry white wine

8oz of spaghetti

2tbsp chopped parsley

For some extra spunk I added some mushrooms, something like broccoli could also be added to this

Directions

Start a pot of boiling water and cook the pasta. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet and then add the shrimp. Cook for around 2 minutes until pink. Empty the shrimp into another bowl WITHOUT dumping out most of the oil and set aside. 

Return the skillet to the stove top and add the pepper flakes, onion, garlic, parsley and oregano. Cook until the onions are soft. Then add the Tomatoes and wine and simmer for 10-15 minutes. 

Once the pasta is done drain and put in large bowl. Add the sauce and shrimp and mix in. 

This is pretty easy to make and doesn't take much skill. If you really want to make things easier, before you start cooking chop the onion and garlic and combine in a small bowl, then add the flakes and oregano. That way when you are done cooking the shrimp you can add the next step instantly. It also helps to move things along smoothly. 

Feast on!

This recipe was taken from Cook This Not That.

Flank Steak with Chimichurri

Best thing about this recipe? It sounds super fancy but its super simple to make, not to mention a serving packs 440 Calories!! Chimichurri comes from Argentina, its actually what they use as steak sauce. If this were to be considered a steak sauce like we think of steak sauces then it would be the healthiest steak sauce around, not to mention delicious! It could also be considered a fajita sauce.  

Ingredients

1/4c Red Wine Vinegar

3 tbsp Water

4 Cloves Garlic, Minced

1tsp red pepper flakes

1/4c Olive Oil

1c Finely chopped Parsley, note in most cases you can substitute dried parsley, this is not one of those times

1 1/2 lb Flank, Sirloin or Skirt Steak

2 Bunches Scallions 

Directions

For the Chimichurri sauce mix the vinegar, water, garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and the pepper flakes. Whisk in the oil, after everything is fully blended then whisk in the parsley. 

Heat the grill or stove top until hot. Season the steaks with salt and pepper. For medium to rare cook 3-4 minutes on each side, for medium to done cook 5-7 minutes each side (although for this recipe I would recommend cooking it medium to rare). If you're cooking the steaks on the stove top add in in the scallions (chopped) after the first time you flip them. If you're cooking on the grill add the scallions as they are (stems and all) for the last 2-3 minutes. 

Before the steaks are served make sure they sit a good 5-6 minutes. To serve the steak cut them in to very fine strips then drip the Chimichurri sauce over the strips. This makes a very nice presentation and its so easy to make, this would be great if your entertaining for a large group of people!! 

This recipe was taken from Cook This Not That

Honey Soy Salmon

This is a great tasting and SIMPLE recipe to make! It's so good for you too because it contains a high amount of Omega-3's.

Ingredients
1/4c packed cilantro leaves
2 Scallions
2 tsp Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Ginger
Salt and Pepper
4 6oz Salmon fillets
2 tsp Lime Juice
2 tsp Low-sodium Soy Sauce
2 tsp Honey

Finely chop the cilantro and scallion, since this is gong to be part of a stuffing you really want to make sure they are both finely chopped. Combine in a small mixing dish, then add in the oil and ginger and some salt and pepper. Stir all of the ingredients together.

This next step is done depending on how you bought your salmon. If you bought a huge filet like I did so that you can cut it down later then place the salmon skin side up and make 3 slits about 4-5in long down the back of the salmon, making sure that you only cut about half way through the salmon. If you bought individual, pre-cut fillets then, skin side up, cut about a 1-2in slit in each one. When the slits are cut, evenly divide and stuff with the herb mixture. Side note - I found it was much easier to use a spoon to push the herb mixture down in the salmon. Once this is done season the entire fish with salt and pepper.

In a (tiny) mixing dish combine (I recommend doing it in this order) the lime juice, soy sauce and honey. The reason I suggest to do it in this order is because no one wants to get a new teaspoon every time they have to add a new ingredient, so if you use the lime juice first, that will very easily pour out of the spoon, the soy sauce is harder to clear out, however, by doing the honey last you will be sure to capture any soy sauce left behind, not to mention the honey will obviously need a little help getting from the teaspoon to the dish. When all of the ingredients are poured stir this until its completely smooth and there are no clumps of honey left.

Now, there are 2 ways to cook this, on the grill or in the oven using the broiler. I used the broiler tonight, one because its way too cold to stand outside and grill, two because its much faster.

On the Grill - be sure to brush the grates with oil, place the salmon skin side up and cook until there are grill marks on the salmon (3-4 minutes). Turn the salmon over and generously brush on the sauce, continue to brush on the sauce every 2-3 minutes until cooked.

Broiler - Turn the broiler on a lower setting. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and cover with cooking spray. Place the salmon skin side down, and place in oven for 3-4 minutes. Take out of oven and generously brush on the sauce. Put back in oven for another 2 minutes, and once again cover with sauce. Repeat doing this until fully cooked.

And for some nice salmon and a healthy meal that's all it takes! To accompany our salmon I made some wild grain rice, it contained about 60 calories and .5g of fat. The salmon recipe contained 345 Calories, 15g of fat ( 4.1g mono fat and 5.8g poly fat and 1.8g of saturated fat), 39g of Protein, 10g of Carbs and 3g of Fiber. Mono and Poly types of fat are components of Omega-3, aka they are good for you.

Feast On!!!

This recipe was taken and altered from Food Network.

Fajitas with Yogurt Sauce and Avocado Relish

These are not your typical, or my typical fajitas. I promise to one day share my real Mexican talent and all my secrets, but those can not be healthy, so while I'm on my kick I figured that I would find some that are better for you. I found this recipe off of the food network website. And before you get started, let me warn you.....this one is a little tricky. If you stay with it step by step then you'll be just fine.

Ingredients:
First of all you're going to need a food processor, a blender or something along those lines.

1c Packed cilantro leaves
1/4c Lime Juice
1/4c Low Sodium Chicken Broth
3 scallions
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Jalapeno
1tsp Honey
Salt
1 1/2lbs Skinless Chicken Breast (cut into thin strips)
1 Red Onion cut thick
2 Orange and or Yellow bell peppers, seeds removed and sliced in strips.
1 Ripe Avocado, halved, seeded and peeled
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground coriander
1/4c fat free Greek Yogurt
6 Tortillas, I chose the whole wheat kind

As I stated earlier, its much more simple if you take it in steps, so I will present this one in steps.

1) Put the Cilantro (make sure you cut off the stems), Lime Juice, Chicken Broth, Scallions, Garlic, Jalapeno, Honey and Salt (to taste). Puree until smooth and then set aside.

2) Place the chicken in one bowl and the pepper and onions in another bowl. Set aside 2 tbsp of the puree. Then divide the remaining puree evenly between the chicken and peppers. Make sure that the chicken and peppers get fully coated with the puree....don't be scared to get down and dirty and mix it in with your hands, it just seems to work better. After the chicken and peppers are coated set aside for about 30 minutes at room temp.

3) WITHOUT rinsing the container out, add in the avocado, 1/2c of water and the 2tbsp puree back into the processor/blender. Puree once again until smooth and then season with salt.

4) Place the yogurt in a dish and set aside. In a small skillet heat up the oil, once the oil is hot add in the cumin and coriander. Cook for 30 seconds until a minute. Then pour the oil and seasonings over the yogurt and mix it in, then set this aside.

5) Once the chicken has marinated for 30 minutes, then cook it in a large skillet over medium heat, (you can start warming up your tortillas now, I like to warm mine up on the stove top) after about 8 minutes add in the peppers and cook together. Remove from heat after chicken is fully cooked.

6) To assemble the fajitas, place the chicken and pepers in a tortilla, then top with some of the avocado puree and then top with the spiced yogurt.

I was a little nervous about these at first, mostly because I had never had anything like it before, and I was ready to put in a frozen pizza if this failed. I made Brock try them first, and he took another one right away and said they were pretty good!! To my surprise they weren't too shabby. We chalked this one up as a win and decided to put it on the list to make again!!



Not to mention that one serving is 2 fajitas and one serving has 347 calories, 8g of fat, 31g of protein, 37g of carbs, and 5g of fiber!! So feel free to eat as many of these as you can!!



Feast on my friends!!

"Adult" Macaroni and Cheese

This might be one of the B-E-S-T things that I've ever made, seriously, I know that I can be dramatic, but this is not one of those times. This recipe ROCKS!!! Also, the only reason that I added the "Adult" is because it has some veggies, and meat. This is satisfying and something you can freely indulge in!!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter (I always use the reduced or low-fat butter)
1/2 Yellow onion minced (minced = finely chopped)
2 Tbsp flour
3c. Milk (I used non-fat milk)
2c Shredded Cheddar (again, I used the 2% cheese)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1lb elbow macaroni, or some sort of pasta shells
1/4c pickled jalapenos (you can find these canned and pickled already for you in the store)
2 oz Ham or Proscuitto ( I used reduced sodium ham, and to save money I bought it in a small 2 oz package, yes they do exist)
1/2c Panko Bread Crumbs
1/4c Parmesan

Extras:
I added broccoli, but if you really want to dress it up you can also add in some cherry tomatoes, some grilled chicken, and mushrooms.

Directions:
Preheat the oven at 375.

Cook your pasta as you normally would in a large pot. While the pasta is cooking, in a large pan, again you want large, add the butter and the onion, cook the onion until its translucent and then add in the flour. Once the flour is fully incorporated into the butter and onion slowly add in the milk. I highly recommend adding the milk in a little at a time, after every time stirring the milk with a fork to avoid the four clumping. Note your pasta should be close to done, once it is fully cooked then pour into a large, a very large bowl. After all of the milk is added let it simmer about 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Once the sauce is thicker then add in the cheese and stir until melted. Add the ham, jalapenos and anything else that you want to add into the bowl with the pasta along with the cheese mix. Make sure that all ingredients are completely mixed together then add into a greased pan. After the pasta is dumped into the pan sprinkle the bread crumbs and Parmesan on top.

Bake for 10 minutes and then broil for 2-3 minutes. The only thing left to do is enjoy or if you're like me throw on some hot sauce and then enjoy!!

This recipe makes 6 servings and has 480 cals and 9g fat compared to the Cheese Cake Factory mac and cheese that has 1462 cals and 45g of fat!! So once again my friends dive in and Feast On!!

This was taken from the book Cook This Not That

Guilt Free Quesadillas

Quesadillas like you've never had them before!!
No, really! Most people probably think that this is one of the healthier things on the menus at restaurants, however, say you were to get one at Chili's....you'd be eating 96g of fat and 1480 calories. Not even kidding. They are almost like the silent killer! Once you add in some sort of sauce and loads of cheese with some fried chicken, veggies and what not, you're doomed. So for the sake of your Mexican taste buds try this guilt free quesadilla that only packs 310 calories and 16g of fat this has(per quesedilla)!

Ingredients:
1/2 Tbsp of canola oil
4 oz of Chorizo ( this is basically a type of sausage, so if you can't find it, feel free to substitute with a low-fat sausage)
1 small red onion, chopped
4 oz of mushrooms
1 large poblano pepper, chopped (I had left over red pepper from last week so I kindly substituted that!)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I decided to use some low-fat Mexican spiced cheese)
4 Medium whole-wheat tortillas

In a medium sized skillet saute the Chorizo and canola oil, cook until browned. Be sure that while this is cooking break it up like you would hamburger, cook until browned. Remove from pan and set aside, leaving the oil in a pan. In the pan add the chopped onion, pepper and mushroom and saute until vegetables are translucent (see through) then season with salt and pepper. Stir in the Chorizo back in the skillet and mix up ingredients.
For the next part, to cook them on the tortillas (obviously) there are a few ways that you can do this.
Way 1 - Spray a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray, lay one of the tortillas in the skillet put some of the cheese down and half of the mixture on top, layer again with cheese and place other tortilla on top. Cook on low-med heat for 5 min each side.
Way 2 - Do same thing above except on a grill. This will also add a smokey flavor
Way 3 - Use the oven broiler and spray a cookie sheet with non stick cooking spray. Build the quesadilla and broil in oven for 2 min each side. This is what I did however, be extremely cautious to monitor these while cooking, broilers can sometimes be unforgiving and your entire quesadilla will burn before you know it!

To "dress" these up you can top with guacamole, salsa, lettuce and a low or non-fat sour cream.
Feast on!

This recipe was taken and altered from Cook This Not That!!

Sirloin with Red Wine Sauce

Who doesn't love a good hearty tasting peace of steak? Well a vegetarian or a vegan, but those guys probably stopped following after the first recipe I posted. Anyways, the first thing to kill a nice tasty healthy steak is a fatty, calorie packed sauce to pour over it.  Here's a sauce that can help make your tasty piece of meat even tastier!

Ingredients

1cup dry red wine

1 shallot minced

4 Tbsp butter (we use the can't believe its not butter, butter)

1tsp rosemary

6 oz steaks (sirloin, flank, skirt or filet)

Cooking steak is really a personal opinion. Brock and I usually like our steaks, and all of our meat for that matter, medium. So make sure you cook your steak to how you enjoy it the most.

Just to give a forewarning, this one was a little tricky. In a small saucepan combine the red wine, and shallot. The recipe says to simmer until the wine becomes a syrup-ie sauce and reduced to about 2 tbs. However, I recommend just straight up boiling it unless you want it to take sometime. Once its boiling, it will take a good 10-15 minutes. After the liquid has become syrup like combine with rosemary and butter. You are technically supposed to let the mixture refriderate so that its almost like putting a slice of butter on your steak, but I didn't realize that so I just poured the mixture in little cups to dip our steaks in. And honestly it was actually pretty tastey!!! 

This meal has 380 calories and 19g of fat per serving. One serving is equivelant to a quarter slice of the red wine-butter sauce and 1 6oz steak, its also packed with protein. So indulge my friends and Feast On!!

This recipe was taken from Cook This Not That