Eating Dinner With My Family

Well tonight's dish was no wow. However, I feel honor bound to round up 1/2 a star on pure healthiness.  So it gets 3 stars.  I used a wild salmon and I think that I should have broiled it, but I hate to diverge from a recipe the first time I make it.  I picked this dish for it's lightness as we are all heavier and bloated from all the food we ate on vacation.  The flavors were ok, but like I said, not a wow.  The thing we liked the best was the Lemon Chia Seed dressing for our salad!  It was really amazing, and it went well with the fish.  In fact, I think a plain piece of broiled Salmon with this dressing would be better than the following recipe.  Of course the dressing has oil in it where the fish recipe doesn't.  If you are looking for a decent low cal recipe, than this will fit the bill, but if you are looking for really tasty food, go with a different salmon recipe, eat less of it, and fill up on salad. Salmon With Sriracha Sauce...

For our meatless Monday, I thought we would try these Spaghetti Squash Cakes. I had plenty of egg whites in the freezer and a spaghetti squash from Front Porch Pickings.  (Whenever a recipe calls for an egg yolk, I freeze the whites individually). We thought these were alright; nothing a good dose of fat and salt couldn't cure, actually, was our estimation. ;)  All joking aside, for the amount of calories you get, these were great, I think they would be an amazing substitute for English muffins in eggs Benedict. Now, I know, that is seriously upping the calories and fat, but the squash cakes would be seriously lowering the calories of the Benedict;).  We didn't dislike them, but there was no wow factor on the taste buds.  If I were going on just taste, I would give them a 2.5-3 but as they are so low calorie, they get a 3. Spaghetti Squash Cake   2 egg whites ¼ cup whole wheat flour (30g) 2-3 cloves of garlic About 1 ½ cups of cooked spaghetti squas...

It isn't a 'pretty' sauce;) This recipe we first made years ago.  Like ten years ago!  It was originally from Eating Well or Cooking Light or one of the healthy food magazines.  We liked it quite a lot back then and it was one of the only ways we enjoyed salmon.  Needless to say, it was when we weren't as interested in food and didn't have a diverse range of foods we enjoyed.  I think the last time we made this was almost 7 years ago.  Why it seemed to fall out of vogue with us then is a mystery.  I decided to drag it out and try it again. (Now that we have learned more about food)  Sadly, it is not a wow recipe.  It was good, but not great.  That being said, if you want an easy, and fairly fast recipe for salmon this one will fit that bill nicely. Also, since we weren't fans of salmon then, if you aren't a fan now, it may work for you.  Kids do look askance at its vivid green color.   I knew 20 minutes were going to be too...

I wanted to do something lighter tonight.  I found his dish from Giada De Laurentiis on the food network website .  I didn't have high hopes because it was lighter but I do like Giada's recipes so I thought I would give it a go.  It was very tasty.  The yogurt gives the illusion of  cream. (yes it is full fat yogurt but there isn't much) So a light dish that tricks you in to thinking that it is not. And while it wasn't an OMG dish, it was very good for light dish.  My husband and I both thought a little more mustard would have been nice; the boy ate a double portion;). Broiled Tilapia With Mustard-Chive Sauce Fish Vegetable oil cooking spray 4    (5 to 6-ounce) tilapia fillets Extra-virgin olive oil,for drizzling Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Sauce 1/4 c  plain,full-fat Greek yogurt 2 t  agave nectar or honey 1 t  Dijon mustard 1/4 c  lemon juice (from 1 large lemon) 2 T  chopped fresh chiv...

Originally this recipe came from a Martha Stewart magazine. The first time I made it was over a decade ago.  My lovely dinner guest raved about them.  I did diverge a bit from the recipe.  I added extra ginger, chili paste and garlic because I like extra spicy and it was well received by everyone.  Even those who haven't tried them before. With the exception of the peanut butter, it is actually a pretty healthy meal too.  I decided to finally make this now again since we recently found out that the blood test came back as a false positive for a peanut allergy for my daughter.  Yay peanuts are back in the house:)! It is a good dish to make when company is coming because most can be pre made.  Everything but the chicken was ready ahead of time. (and since the chicken need not be hot, I guess even the chicken could be cooked ahead a of time)  My chicken didn't cook fast enough so I marked the outside at 4 minutes a side then put t...

Well tonight's dinner, while tasty, was a bit of a misstep in two ways.  First of all, the tomatoes are raw, (didn't notice that) and my husband doesn't like to eat tomatoes raw.  Secondly, it is really a summer dish and tonight was one of the coldest of the year. It wasn't a cold dish, but not really hot one either.  Still, it was thoroughly enjoyed by all but my husband, who ate leftover chicken and dumplings and was a very happy camper.  I will make this again, but I will, next time, throw in a pinch of red pepper flakes in with the oil and garlic.  No salt was needed, I left it out along with the pepper.  Oops, but  I think I would like the red pepper better:)  I also wanted to use up the Stilton from the other night, and viola, a quick search of the web and we have bread sticks with our pasta. Spaghetti With Tomatoes, Black Olives, Garlic, And Feta Cheese 4 Servings 1 1/2 lb tomatoes (about 3),seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1/2 c...

I did not make this exactly like the recipe says.  I made it for 2 so there was only one small piece of fish, one pound of tomatoes and only 2 peppers. Also I broiled the salmon instead of grilling it. I would have been happy to delete it, but the boy loved it.  My husband was at work so I didn't get second opinion of it.  I thought it was too spicy (and I am the one in the house who usually likes the most heat). Well I would have deleted it but the boy loved it so we are keeping it. Grilled Salmon With Melted Tomatoes 10 Servings 6 T  extra-virgin olive oil,plus more for rubbing 10    jalapeños,thinly sliced crosswise and seeded 4 lb ripe beefsteak tomatoes cored and coarsely chopped Salt One 4 1/2-pound salmon fillet in one piece,with skin Freshly ground pepper [Note: Our Pairing Suggestion   Full-bodied rosé ] 1. In a large, deep skillet, heat the 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the jalapeos in an even layer and cook over...

I absolutely love arugula and arugula pesto, so I figured this will be great for me.  The husband is not a fan of tomatoes, so I made this on a night he wouldn't be dining with us.  My big surprise, the boy LOVED it.  He had two helpings and was done before myself or the girl.  (this is the boy who thinks nothing of taking 2 HOURS to finish a meal!)  It was very good!  Only thing I would have liked to changed were the cherry tomatoes.  The skins were too thick and made for some unpleasant textures in your mouth.  I would like to try it with oven roasted tomatoes instead or all chopped tomatoes in red, yellow and orange. The pesto was very nice and will be great on many things.  I think I drizzled a little too much oil on the couscous to prevent clumping.  It was a tad oily and I think that diluted the flavors a bit.  Still really excellent, but something to watch when preparing it.  It is completely vegetarian; in fact without ...

I happen to love this recipe.  My husband and son have never raved about it before.  They are not the biggest fan of  the veggies, but they love the fish. (And they said it was perfectly cooked. (Blush)) I didn't change it much, but I did make a few alterations.  I added a bit more veggies. I also only used 5 oz fish fillets and only three of them.  I added the garlic  a little later than called for too. I went light on the salt because I didn't know how salty it would be once the broth reduced.  I figured we could add at the table.  My husband and I skipped it even though a sprinkle would have been nice.  The boy however wanted salt.  We usually sprinkle a pinch of kosher salt if needed.  That salt was out of his reach; the shaker was not however.  He WAY over salted his.  My husband kept saying, " I hope you learned your less son."  I don't think he did! Cod With Artichokes And Chickpeas Yield: 4 Servings 2 T...

Well tonight my family had this.  It is a favorite of the boys. I, however, went out with some of the girls to the Ormond Wine Co.  We had lots of great cheeses, flatbreads and wine.  We were loud and laughed too much but don't really care.  It was just too much fun!  I did prep everything for the dish in advance.  That way my husband only had to cook the rice and salmon when they were ready to eat.  It is a nice dish because it is easy, light and great for summer because it isn't really hot.  It is fairly low fat and it is fairly low calorie.  My husband did NOT take a picture so I get to give him lots of grief which is in its self its own reward;)  Salmon With Thai Rice Salad  4 Servings   1 1/2 c  long-grain rice       3 T  lime juice (from about 2 limes)       3 T  Asian fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam)       2 T...