Steak and Fennel Pasta

I just made a wonderful dish from Cooking Light magazine last night. Oddest combination as far as taste but a great combination for nutrition.

Simple. Just heat up a tablespoon of EVOO in a pan and add 2 fennel bulbs (thinly sliced) and cook for 5 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup of black olives (pitted) and one diced jalapeno. Cook another minutes and you're done.

Slice up any lean steak cut like fajita slices, season with salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes in another saute pan.

Add either brown rice or whole wheat pasta (cooked) to a bowl and top with the fennel combo and then some slices of steak.

It was really good and so good for you.

Fennel is super low in calories, low GI index and good fiber source. Olives are a great source of Omega 3s, jalapenos have a chemical compound that kick up your metabolism and they are also a good source of fiber and low GI Index.

Flank steak is an excellent source of iron and protein and whole wheat pasta will give you the filling whole grain nutrition you need.

Try this one today!

Chicken Sausage and Lentil Soup - Slow Cooker

Oh, this is so good, so easy and so healthy. Your talking veggies, lentils, cheese tortellini (optional) and low fat chicken sausage in a base of low sodium free range chicken stock, garlic and herbs. Yums.

Just have about 8 hours on the slow cooker for this recipe.

1 lb chicken sausage
2 cups of onions
2 cups carrots
9-12 oz mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
6 cups of low sodium free range chicken stock (or regular if you prefer)
8-10 oz. of cheese filled tortellini (or you can leave this out)
1 1/2 cups of lentils
1/4 to 1/2 sundried tomatoes (not oil-packed)

With 1 tbsp of olive oil, brown chicken sausage for about 10-12 minutes, set aside. Using same pan, heat mushrooms for about 3 minutes. Cut sausage in 1/2 inch chunks. Put lentils, onions, carrots, tomatoes up a stir. Add sausage and mushrooms and stir. Add garlic, then stock, then herbs and stir. High for 2 hours. Simmer or Low for 5 hours. High for 45 minutes and after 15 minutes add cheese tortellini.

This makes a lot. Be prepared to store some in refrigerator and freezer for future meals.

Cauliflower Poppers

A zero point Weight Watcher recipe:  These are wonderful!




POINTS® Value: 0

Servings: 8

Preparation Time: 10 min

Cooking Time: 10 min

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Works with Simply Filling

Great as a side dish or as a snack. An unbeatable combo of flavor, texture and spice.









Ingredients



1 spray(s) cooking spray

1 small head(s) cauliflower

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder, or more to taste

1/2 tsp table salt

1/2 tsp black pepper



Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.





Cut cauliflower florets into bite-sized pieces (there should be about 4 cups). Place cauliflower in a medium bowl and add cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper; toss well to coat.





Spread cauliflower on prepared baking sheet and bake until cauliflower is tender, but not mushy, stirring halfway through, about 10 minutes. Yields about 1/2 cup per serving.

Pork and Tomato Carnitas

This was my favorite recipe of this week. I made some wonderful recipes from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean book and Weight Watchers cookbooks and this one in the Hit The Spot Weight Watchers book was by far the tastiest, easiest and it's also very healthy.

All you need is:
2 teaspoons of EVOO
1 pound of extra lean pork tenderloin (cut into 2 inch strips)
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
8 corn tortillas or organic corn hard taco shells

In skillet, heat oil, pork and onion, cook 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, vinegar, chili, cumin and sea salt. Simmer for 10 minutes. (I added a cup of frozen corn and it was yummy). Add cilantro right before serving.

In another skillet, you can add a little oil and crisp up your corn tortillas or cook your corn tortillas how you like. I found organic corn taco shells that I like to use.

Scoop pork mixture into shells, add a fat free sour cream if you'd like and you're eating in 20 minutes.

So easy, so good and so healthy. Have fun! Let me know if you try this and if you like it. Be sure to get an extra lean cut of pork tenderloin.

Chicken Orzo Soup with Arugula and Basil

This recipe is easy, healthy, clean and yummy!!

Chicken Orzo Soup with Arugula and Basil
1 32 oz container organic low soduim chicken stock (4 cups)
1 tablespoon extra light olive oil (ELOO)
1 pound chicken tenders
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2/3 cup whole wheat orzo
2 cups arugula, chopped
1 cup basil, shredded
1 teaspoon lemon peel
grated parmigiano-reggiano for the table

1. Bring stock and 2 cups water to a low boil
2. Another soup pot heat ELOO and add chicken. Cook about 5 minutes until brown. Add thyme, bay leaf, onion, carrot, mushrooms, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. cook until veggies soft, about 7 minutes.
3. pour hot stock over veggies and chicken and bring to boil. Stir in orzo cook until al dente, about 8 min. remove from heat and add arugula and basil until wilting. stir in lemon peel and discard bay leaf.
4. Serve with cheese

Yummy!