Skillet Basil-Peach Chicken Breasts

Sweet peaches, basil and shallots are a great flavor combination in this light, savory-sweet chicken dish.

Once in a while I like to take a break from testing new recipes and make something from one of my many cookbooks. When I look through a cookbook, I usually like to try something I would never have thought of making which is what inspired me to try this dish from Virginia Willis' Cookbook, Lighten Up 'Yall; Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy and Wholesome. It's also peach season so now is the time to eat enjoy the sweetest, juiciest peaches.

The author shares a really great tip for easily peeling the peaches: Bring a small pot of water to a boil and have an ice bath ready in the sink. Using a pairing knife cut an "X" in the blossom end of the peach. Gently place the peach in the water for 15 to 30 seconds, then transfer to the ice bath with a slotted spoon. The "X" will open slightly and the skin can be removed by gently pulling with a pairing knife.

The recipe below is exactly as written in her book, I didn't make the full recipe so the photo only shows 2 breasts instead of three. I really enjoyed the flavors of this dish, it was light and flavorful and easy to make. My husband isn't a fan of fruit in his dinners so it wasn't his type of dish, but he did clean his plate. Hope you enjoy!

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Grilled Lemon Dijon Chicken Skewers

Here's an easy chicken dinner idea – cut up some boneless chicken breast, whip up this easy lemon Dijon marinade and leave this in the fridge overnight (or you can freeze them to use another day) then put them on a skewer and grill them for a quick weeknight dinner. The results are so juicy and flavorful, perfect with a big chopped salad (I served it with a Spriralized Cucumber Greek Salad) or make a side of orzo or grilled veggies.

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Tuna Lettuce Wrap with Avocado Yogurt Dressing

Here's a tasty way to transform ordinary canned tuna into a delicious lunch. These low-calorie, low-carb lettuce wraps are filled with hearts of palm, tomatoes, carrots and onion and topped with a light avocado dressing. I found two to fill me up, but the calories are low enough you could easily eat three. Using a good quality tuna in oil makes all the difference in flavor here.

I made the avocado yogurt dressing in my magic bullet, it makes a larger portion than is needed in this recipe but it can easily be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator and used a veggie or cracker dip, salad topper or drizzled over grilled fish.

If you're not familiar with hearts of palm, they come canned or in a glass container available at Trader Joes or in most supermarkets. They make a great addition to salads.

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Turkey Burgers with Zucchini

My trick to making the juiciest turkey burgers EVER is by adding grated zucchini! A huge bonus if you want your kids to eat more veggies – they'll never know!

I started experimenting with adding zucchini to my turkey burgers back in 2010 and never looked back. They come out so juicy, and the flavor is delicious. This recipe is from the archives, my sad photo needed a makeover so I made them for lunch outside on the grill and re-shot them.

Adding zucchini also lowers the calories per serving because you get five patties out of 1 pound of ground turkey them instead of four. Serve them with your favorite burger toppings, on a whole wheat bun or skip the bun and serve them on lettuce to keep the carbs low. These can be grilled or cooked indoors. If you want to make them on the grill, it's best to make the patties ahead (overnight is best) and keep them refrigerated so they hold their shape. You can also freeze them and thaw them right on the grill.

For best results: use a hand grater to grate the zucchini, onion and garlic super fine. Get the pan hot before you put the burgers on to get a nice sear, then lowered the flame to the lowest setting to let the burgers cook all the way through, turning a few times so the burgers don't burn. 


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Tequila Lime Shrimp

Easy shrimp seasoned with fragrant spices and spiked with tequila, takes weeknight sauteed shrimp from ordinary to amazing in less than 10 minutes!

I'm not much of a tequila drinker, but cooking with tequila... well let's just say I don't object to boozy shrimp. The alcohol actually cooks out so you won't get intoxicated eating this, but the flavor is spot on. I also add some red pepper flakes to give the shrimp a little spice. 

You can serve this over salad, brown rice, cilantro lime cauliflower "rice" or make some guacamole, heat up some corn tortillas and turn them into shrimp tacos (SO GOOD)! Any brand of tequila will work, I went with George Clooney's Casamigos Tequila just because... (wink wink). Enjoy the shrimp!!

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Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken

Sweet, savory and a little spicy, this simple Asian inspired chicken dish has a balance of flavor combinations – serve this over your favorite rice and dinner is ready!

Madison is off from school this week so I'm trying to spend less time working and more time doing family stuff. This is in my slow cooker today so I thought it would be perfect to share here from the archives.

I'm not a fan of sweet foods as a main dish, unless it's balanced with savory and spicy flavors. In this dish the honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sriracha compliment each other and balance out the sweetness.

I've tried a few versions floating around the web, but they were much too sweet for my taste. After a few attempts, I finally found the perfect balance of sweet-savory without adding too much sugar. Rice wine is naturally sweet, and adds a bit of acid which rounds out the flavors. I served this with more sriracha sauce on the side for extra heat and served it over brown rice.

I usually set some chicken aside for my toddler when I shred it, before adding it back to the sauce, since her palate is pickier than the rest of ours, and it works out fine. I never cook a separate meal for her, she eats what we eat, just modified at times if I cook something spicy.

For lunch the next day, I made some lettuce wraps with some leftover forbidden rice I had and thoroughly enjoyed eating them with my hands.

And since so many are asking, I have the 6 Quart Hamilton Beach Set 'n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker. I love it because you can adjust the time you want it to cook, and it automatically turns to warm when it's done. It also has a probe for meat that automatically shuts off when done. I hated my old crock pot, it burnt everything and my food had a weird taste. This crock pot is so great, I actually own two!

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Healthy Salmon Quinoa Burgers

Wild salmon, quinoa, and kale – these burgers are not only super healthy, loaded with good-for-you omegas and tons of protein (21-1/2 grams of protein) they also taste delicious and are easy to make. Serve them on a simple arugula salad with grapefruit, with a mustard-shallot vinaigrette.

I'm excited to share this awesome salmon recipe with you, because it takes me back a few weeks to my weekend in Santa Cruz with a great group of women, who all happened to be amazing food bloggers.

If you can imagine spending a weekend with a group of food bloggers means eating lots great food, well you're right. We worked, cooked, took long walks on the beach and ate REALLY well.

Jaden, of Steamy Kitchen who has a blog that focuses on Asian recipes had prepared a lunch for us from leftover salmon and quinoa we had from dinner the night before and it was so darn good I asked her if I could remake it on my blog to share with you. I don't recommend using cooked salmon because they fall apart without having to add a ton of eggs and breadcrumbs, so I used raw wild salmon instead.

 

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Coconut Macaroon Nests

Coconut macaroons shaped like a bird's nest, filled with mini chocolate Cadbury eggs. An tasty Easter treat!

These were inspired by this month's Martha Stewart Living magazine, but after trying the recipe in the magazine, I thought it would taste better adapting it from my favorite coconut macaroon recipe instead. But rather than baking them on a cookie tin, you use a mini muffin tin to create the little nests. Fun to make with the kids!

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Southwestern Black Bean, Quinoa and Mango Medley

This healthy salad is a great way to jump start your Spring! Quinoa, black beans, mango and vegetables with cilantro and lime juice – a delicious combination perfect for lunch or as a side dish. (perfect for Meatless Mondays!) Leftovers are great, the flavors only get better the next day.

This recipe is from the archives, since the weather is getting warmer I find myself craving more salads and lighter dishes like this. It's packed with vitamin C, vitamin A, fiber, folate, iron and lutein so it's not just tasty, it's good for you.

This recipe is from The Plant-Powered Diet by Sharon Palmer, RD who I met in California on my trip to the Dole Blogger Summit. A great book if you're are interested in adding more vegetables and plant-based foods to your diet.

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Baked Eggs in Spaghetti Squash Nests

You're going to LOVE these baked eggs, baked in a nest of spaghetti squash which has a flavor similar to hash browns. Perfect for breakfast or brunch, and because I love my eggs with sriracha, I top mine with a few dashes just for an extra kick, totally optional of course.

This recipe calls for cooked spaghetti squash which you can either roast in the oven cut side down in a baking dish at 375°F for 1 hour, or the quicker way is to pierce it all over with a fork, then microwave until the skin is soft, about 2 to 3 minutes per pound.  Remove the seeds and scrape the strands with a fork. Because I had the time, I did this on the oven.

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Bell Pepper and Potato Frittata

Egg frittatas are my answer to an easy, inexpensive meal solution whether I'm having it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For breakfast, I'll serve this with a side of berries or fruit. For dinner, I make a salad on the side and call it a meal!

You can literally throw anything into a frittata and call it a meal, but I thought it would be fun to make this one a St Patricks Day theme which of coarse MUST have yukon gold potatoes, and to create a shamrock design, I sliced my bell peppers into flower shapes – completely optional! This one's vegetarian, perfect if you need a meatless Monday dish idea, and it's naturally gluten-free.

I'm not sure if there's anything quite as beautiful as farm fresh eggs. A friend of mine is raising chickens in her yard and gave me some of her eggs and the colors were so beautiful I almost didn't want to crack them. The yolks are so orange, it's hard to believe I made this frittata with half egg whites.

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Spiralized Mediterranean Beet and Feta Skillet Bake

Beet noodles baked with tomatoes, red onion, olives and Feta. Serve this as an appetizer with some baked pita chips, as a side dish or even as a main dish, topped with grilled shrimp or chicken – this dish is a keeper!

I think most of you know I'm pretty obsessed with my spiralizer, (I LOVE my Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer) but my friend Ali is even more obsessed than me, if that's even possible. So obsessed, she devoted her entire blog to this gadget and just came out with a cookbook that you will need to get your hands on! The book is called Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Meals, and it's only 15.47 on Amazon! Tons of great spiralized ideas, everything from breakfast to dessert – the girl is a spiralizing genius!

I had a hard time deciding what to make first, but since I typically make spiralized zucchini and cucumber dishes with my spiralizer, so I chose a dish using beets instead. As a kid, I hated beets because I only tasted the pickled kind, that came in a jar. As an adult, I started enjoying them roasted in salads, and even discovered how delicious they are raw. Here, the beets are spiralized, tossed with vinegar, oil and herbs and roasted for 20 minutes. Once roasted, the beets are tender yet firm, exactly how I like my vegetables. If you're unsure about beets, I know this dish will convert you!

The only changes I made to her recipe was using less cheese, I cut the block in half horizontally and it was still more than plenty.

Oh and one more thing, I am giving 1 cookbook away this week! For a chance to win, leave a comment below and tell me what your favorite spiralized vegetable recipe is! Good luck! Ends February 24, 2015 US and CA.

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Two Tomato Bruschetta

I want to thank Better Homes and Gardens for giving me the opportunity this month to guest post on their blog, Delish Dish. This was the last recipe I shared with them, perfect for the Superbowl or any get together.

I recreated their original recipe, making a few adjustments. Their recipe made 8 but this easily made 10 pieces, and I used some of the olive oil the recipe called for to drizzle on top. Otherwise I followed it exact. Delish!


Two Tomato Bruschetta
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 5 • Size: 2 slices  • Old Points: 4 pts • Weight Watcher Points+: 4 pt
Calories: 162 • Fat: 9 g • Carb: 17 g • Fiber: 2 g • Protein: 5 g • Sugar: 2 g
Sodium: 338 mg  • Cholest: 9 mg
Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup shredded feta cheese
• 1/3 cup dried tomatoes (not oil-pack), chopped
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 10 slices (0.5 oz each) whole wheat baguette (each about 1/2 inch thick)
• 2 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

For the full directions on BHG, click here.

Pressure Cooker Smoked Turkey Black Bean Soup

It's snowing in New York – perfect soup day! And black bean soup is a hearty, filling, fiber-rich soup. The kind of soup that sticks to your bones on a cold day like today.

This is also inexpensive to make, I start with dried beans and I use my pressure cooker (my favorite pot to beans) because it cuts the cooking time in half and the flavors really get into the soup. The smoked turkey leg adds wonderful flavor to the soup. If you can't find smoked turkey legs, you can use smoked turkey sausage instead.

You can also do this in a large pot or dutch oven, but keep in mind it will take twice as long to cook and you'll have to add more liquid to the pot as it evaporates, where as in the pressure cooker you don't get much evaporation. This is also great to freeze for the month, it thaws and reheats perfectly so you can make your own healthy freezer meals. I freeze them in portions and use a sharpie to write the name, date, and calories or points.

And speaking of snowy cold weather, I've been cozying up with Andie Mitchell's new memoir, It Was Me All Along. I share this because I recently met her – and found her to be such an inspiring person, a really good soul. I know so many of you will really relate to her story, or at least get isnpired. In her memoir she writes about how she went from 268 lbs at age 20, and lost half her weight. But it's not just a story about her weight loss, it's about hope, finding peace, making changes, and finding her freedom. A perfect read for 2015.

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Shrimp Scampi Zoodles for Two

Shrimp with lemon, lemon zest and garlic over zucchini noodles – this dish is EASY low-carb, gluten-free, paleo-friendly, very satisfying and took less than 20 minutes to make, start to finish and it was DELICIOUS!

2014 was certainly the year for the zoodles (zucchini noodles)! Ever since buying my FAVORITE cooking gadget, the Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer I was hooked! I've been swapping pasta for zucchini noodles ever since. It's the easiest way to make zucchini noodles, cucumber noodles, sweet potato spirals, spiralized beets and more! Prior to owning one, I used my mandolin but it's so much quicker and easier (and safer) with this fun gadget – you NEED one!!

I took a break from zoodles for a few months because I may have over-did it this summer, but now that it's January I dusted off my Paderno and have been making them all week.

If you are new to zucchini noodles, a few tips: don't cook the zucchini longer than 2 minutes or it will become watery. I usually cook it 1-1/2 minutes so they stay firm yet warm. You can even eat it raw, like in this awesome Raw Spiralized Zucchini Salad with Avocado and Edamame.

Zucchini noodles are also great in Asian dishes, try this Kung Pao Chicken Zoodles, under 300 calories!

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EASY 5-Ingredient Nutella Almond Butter Cookies

These cookies are amazing!!! And so easy to make,  you don't even need a mixer! 

I recently discovered that Nutella has just about the same amount of fat as almond butter, which gave me the idea to add them to my nut butter cookies. I played around and found using half Nutella and half almond butter is the perfect combination which created the perfect texture and flavor. Enjoy!

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Leftover Turkey and Sweet Potato Frittata

Leftover turkey, sweet potatoes, spinach and Gruyere cheese – trust me, you'll want to save some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving because this breakfast frittata is SOO good!

When I had the idea of using leftover turkey and sweet potato in a fritatta, I had no idea just how good this would turn out! In fact, I would make turkey again, just to make this frittata. Frittatas are so versatile, you could of course use leftover chicken breast instead, or swap the Gruyere for another cheese, the spinach for kale, etc. This is naturally gluten-free, and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner with a salad on the side. Hope you enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

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Broccoli and Cheese Tots

Broccoli, cheddar, If you need a way to get your picky family members to eat their broccoli, give these yummy broccoli and cheese tots a try!

I've been making these veggie tots with zucchini and cauliflower for a while now, but this week I had some broccoli that needed to be cooked. These turned out awesome, perfect as a side dish or a snack and a great way to get your kids to eat their vegetables!

Broccoli and Cheese Tots
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 4 • Size: 7 tots • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 152 • Fat: 6 g • Carb: 14 g • Fiber: 4 g • Protein: 13 g • Sugar: 1 g
Sodium: 416 mg • Cholesterol: 47 mg

Ingredients:


    • 12 oz broccoli florets
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 large egg white
    • 1/2 cup finely chopped scallion
    • 2/3 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated
    • 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • cooking spray


Directions:

To cook the broccoli florets, blanch in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute, then rinse under cold water and drain well; dry on paper towel. Using a knife finely chop and set 2 cups aside.

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Spray a nonstick cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon heaping tablespoons of mixture in your hands and roll into small ovals. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 16-18 minutes, turning halfway through cooking until golden.

Makes about 28 tots.