Inside My Kitchen

This got 3 of 4 stars, is definately in the “do again” category. It was almost a little too sweet, probably because of the sweet yellow peppers we used in place of red, and because of the sour cream we used (the fat free kind that has the cow spots on it). A little salt added on the table fixed that for the most part. It tasted like spring, and was pretty - which is a bonus, because I like pretty food. Even a better bonus - from start to eat in 20 minutes or less. Again, this came from Betty’s Healthy New Choices.

Rotini and Vegetables with Blue Cheese Sauce
2 2/3 cups uncooked rotini pasta (8 oz)
3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced (4 cups)
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
1 cup skim milk
2 T all-purpose flour
1 t salt
1 t dried basil
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat sour cream
1 ounce finely crumbled blue cheese or gorgonzola

Cook pasta as directed on package, adding zucchini and bell pepper for the last 3 minutes of cooking.

While pasta and veggies are cooking, mix milk, flour, salt and basil in 1 quart saucepan. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in sour cream; heat through.

Drain pasta and veggies; stir in cheese. Pour sour cream sauce over pasta; toss.

6 servings; each with 275 calories, 6 g fat and 3 g fiber
5.5 Weight Watcher Points

I saw this on PBS’ Everyday Food. Unfortunately, they don’t have many recipes on their web site, which is actually pretty lousy. I took notes while pausing (thank you, Tivo), and tried it out Sunday, as an appetizer before our delicious Tri Tip dinner.

1 sheet puff pastry
2 cups gruyere (can substitue with emmenthaler, swiss, or fontina)
1 # asparagus
1 T extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Roll puff pastry into a 16″ X 10″ rectangle. Use dusted flour on top to roll out pastry, but brush extra off before cooking. Transfer pastry to a pan. Using a paring knife, cut a border around the dough, but don’t cut through. Using a fork, prick the middle part of the tart all over. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. It should look like this (but bigger, since I used just 1/2 a sheet of puff pastry):

Spread the 2 cups of shredded cheese on the middle part of the tart. Sit the asparagus on top of the cheese. Mine was small, so I put the tops all going the same way. If yours is larger, you’ll probably want to put half the asparagus “top up” and half of them “top down”, so that, if you cut the tart in half horiontally, everyone gets some of the tops. Drizzle 1 T olive oil over asparagus. I also sprinkled some kosher salt on top.

Return the tart to the 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes longer.

So good. So easy. We gave it 3.75/4 stars. Came from the book Betty Crocker’s Healthy New Choices, my most used cookbook as of late. Here’s the recipe, but with some of my own notes:

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms (4 oz)
2 medium stalks celery, sliced (1 cup)
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth (or 1 3/4 cup if you make your own)
3/4 cups fat-free half and half (or milk)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper sauce (I used some chili powder)
1 lb imitation crabmeat chunks
1 cup soft bread crumbs (about 1 1/2 slices of bread)

Heat oven to 400. Lightly spray 11X7X1 1/2 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Spray 3 quart saucepan with spray; cook celery and mushrooms about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until celery is tender. Stir in broth. Heat to boiling; reduce heat.

Beat half-and-half, flour and pepper sauce with whisk until smooth; stir into vegetable mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in crabmeat.

Spoon mixture into baking dish. Top with bread crumbs. Bake uncovered about 15 minutes or until heated through.

4 servings, each with 200 calories, 2 g fat, and 1 g fiber; 4 Weight Watcher points.

Got the recipe here. And I actually followed it to a “T”. Shocking, huh? It was really good. I’ve got it in the freezer right now, to see what it’s like really firm and frozen - I’m guessing it’ll be even better.

8 servings at 4.5 Weight Watcher points each (205 calories, 3 grams fat and .5 grams fiber)

Edit: it was awesome frozen. Just take out of the freezer 15 minutes before you plan to serve.

I got the recipe here, and altered it. Surprise! or not.

The revised recipe:

Each muffin is 3 Weight Watcher points.