Easy Italian Pasta Salad
We had a family BBQ over the weekend and with our crazy schedule, I had to make a menu that takes minimal effort. The night before I threw this together and it worked out really well. Instead of trying to come up with a homemade salad dressing, I figured it’s easier to buy the salad dressing and just “jazz” it up a little with fresh basil & garlic.
If there are some ingredients that do not appeal to you, feel free to substitute. Here are some ideas:
- grated parmesan instead of mozzerella
- Minced onion instead of garlic
- Chopped celery
- chopped tomatoes
Have fun with it because that’s what it’s all about…
Easy Italian Pasta Salad
Serves 16
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Refrigerator: 2 hours
Ingredients:
8 ounces pasta
8 ounces Italian ham
1 can artichoke hearts – rinsed and drained
8 ounces roasted red peppers – drained and rinsed
¼ cup pitted calamata olives
1 cup low fat Italian salad dressing
2 cloves garlic – minced
½ cup low fat grated mozzarella cheese
¼ cup fresh basil – chopped
Directions:
- Bring a large pot of water up to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to package directions then drain and rinse under cold water until the pasta is cool to the touch.
- While the pasta is cooking, chop the ham, artichoke hearts, red peppers and olives and spoon into a large mixing bowl.
- Add pasta, salad dressing, garlic and cheese. Toss all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Right before serving, chop fresh basil and toss.
Easy Strawberry Angel Food Cake
Hello,
I know it has been too long since I have posted a new fun recipe to try. The summer season has left me no time to enjoy experimenting with tasty low fat recipes. I am hopefully getting back into the groove and have an easy – 5 minute – recipe that you can put together for a BBQ you may be going to.
The other day I was going to a friend’s house and had no time to make anything so I bought:
1 Angel food cake
1 quart fresh strawberries
1 container of strawberry gel glaze
1. Rinse and slice the strawberries
2. Remove the cake from it’s container and pour strawberry glaze on top.
3. Decorate with sliced strawberries and refrigerate.
You are done – instant dessert that is sweet, delicious and fat free.
Enjoy!
Southwest Corn Salad
Here’s a great summer BBQ side to try this holiday weekend. It’s easy, quick & delicious.
Happy 4th!!
Southwest Corn Salad
Serves 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 – 10 minutes
Refrigerate: 1 to 2 hours or overnight
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 130 Fat: 4 grams
Ingredients:
6 slices turkey or center cut (low fat) bacon
3 cups corn kernels
1 can (15.5 ounces) black beans – rinsed and drained
½ cup minced red onion
½ cup red or green bell peppers
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chili peppers
¼ cup fresh cilantro – finely chopped
¼ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
Few drops of Tabasco (optional)
Directions:
- Heat a skillet on medium high heat, coat with cooking spray and fry bacon for 5 – 7 minutes until browned. Remove from heat and cool on paper towels.
- Crumble cooled bacon.
- In a small pot, boil ¼ cup water and add corn. Cook until tender for about 5 minutes. Rinse, drain and cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine corn, black beans, onions, bell peppers, chili peppers, cilantro and bacon.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice and Tabasco. Pour on top of corn mixture and toss well.
- Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
Ice Box Cakes
I recently came across an ice box cake recipe and was very curious to try it as a delicious and light dessert. I have heard of ice box cakes before but really had no idea how incredibly easy they are. The recipe below is for toasted coconut but you can replace the coconut with ½ cup toasted almonds and substitute almond extract for the coconut extract and have a brand new recipe.
I love the idea of ice box cakes because they are so versatile and you can change flavors as you like. Also, there is no baking and they can be made the day before which makes them easy for company.
Toasted Coconut-Graham Cracker Ice Box Cake
Serves 12
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 7 – 10 minutes
Refrigerator Time: 2 hours and overnight
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 110 Fat: 2 grams
Toasted Coconut-Graham Cracker Ice Box Cake
Ingredients:
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup egg substitute
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 ½ cup skim milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon coconut extract
12 graham crackers
3 cup fat free whipped topping
Directions:
- Heat oven on broil. Place shredded coconut in a baking pan and place under broiler. Stand at oven and toast coconut until lightly browned (takes about 2 – 5 minutes). Remove coconut from oven and set aside to cool.
- In a medium saucepan, combine egg substitute, sugar, cornstarch and milk. Cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to steam. Once warmed, increase the heat slightly to medium low, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes thick and bubbly (about 5 minutes). While constantly stirring, cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in toasted coconut, vanilla and coconut extracts.
- Spoon custard into a bowl and cover with plastic (pressing directly onto surface of custard to prevent skin from forming). Refrigerate until cool (about 2 hours).
- Line the bottom of an 8-inch baking dish with 6 of the graham crackers (break into pieces to fill space).
- Fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping to the custard and then spoon half of the custard mixture on top of the graham crackers. Repeat with remaining 6 graham crackers and then the rest of the custard mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Just before serving, spread the remaining whipped topping on top of the cake and serve cold.
Asian Style Cocktail Meatballs
The Lonely Meatball
Some of my favorite moments in life include having friends over enjoying something that I have cooked. Saturday was one of those moments. I made these meatballs as a result of just having all the ingredients in the house. Everyone really enjoyed them and I promised that the recipe would be in the blog within the next few days. When the gathering was over and we were cleaning up, I said to Dean, “Oh, look at that very lonely meatball.” Dean took a quick snap of the one meatball left. The picture isn’t very pretty but it definitely shows the happiness I felt that they were almost gone (because we all know that no-one wants to take the last one).
I hope you try these for your friends and they enjoy them as much as we did.
Enjoy…
Asian Style Cocktail Meatballs
Preheat oven 375o
Serves 8
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 200 Fat: 2 grams
Asian Style Cocktail Meatballs
Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 ½ cups ketchup
¾ cup apricot or apple jelly
1 tablespoon Asian chili/garlic sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Meatballs:
½ pound ground turkey breast
½ pound ground sirloin
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Asian chili/garlic sauce
½ cup egg substitute
¾ cup plain bread crumbs
Directions:
- In a medium sauce pot, combine all sauce ingredients and heat on low until the jelly is melted and the sauce is warmed.
- Make the meatballs: In a large mixing bowl, combine ground meats, ginger, soy sauce, chili/garlic sauce, egg substitute and bread crumbs. Mix all the ingredients well with your hands.
- Coat a large baking pan with cooking spray. Roll meatballs into small balls and add to the baking pan.
- Bake 20 – 25 minutes until meatballs are cooked and browned.
- Add meatballs to a serving platter and pour sauce on top. Gently stir so that all the meatballs are coated with sauce and serve.
Mixed Grill
This is such a great summer recipe and the best part is that you can get creative with it. If you don’t like eating pork, simply substitute it with beef instead. If you also don’t like some of the vegetable suggestions in the recipe, you can substitute others, some other suggestions might be escarole, eggplant,endive leaves or cauliflower .
The important thing is to have fun with it.
Enjoy…
Mixed Grill
Serves 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Grill Time: 20 – 25 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 250 Fat: 7 grams
Mixed Grill
Ingredients:
Seasoning:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon pepper
Vegetables:
10 ounce package button mushrooms – cut in half
2 zucchini – cut into 1” pieces
2 red bell peppers – cut into large pieces
2 medium onions – quartered
2 large potatoes – cut or sliced
Meat:
1 pound boneless pork loin
1 pound boneless/skinless chicken breasts
Directions:
- Heat an outdoor or indoor grill to 400o.
- Combine all spices in a small bowl.
- Season meats with half of the seasoning and set aside until ready to grill.
- Combine the zucchini and mushrooms in a bowl, coat with cooking spray and fold in half of the remaining seasoning.
- Combine peppers and onions in another bowl, coat with cooking spray and fold in the remaining seasoning.
- If you are using an outdoor grill, coat a vegetable basket with cooking spray and add the zucchini and mushrooms to the basket. Use an additional vegetable basket for the onions and peppers. If you only have 1 vegetable basket, you can grill the vegetables in batches.
- If the potatoes are large enough, add them directly on the grill (coating them with cooking spray first), if not, use a vegetable basket to grill them as well.
- Grill the vegetables and potatoes for 10 – 15 minutes until browned and softened.
- If you have a large grill, add the pork loin while the vegetables and potatoes are grilling. Grill the pork for about 7 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 165o. Remove from the grill, cover and rest the pork until ready to carve.
10. Grill the chicken breasts for 5 – 7 minutes on each side.
11. Transfer the grilled vegetables to a large serving platter. Carve the pork loin and transfer to the serving platter. Remove the cooked chicken breasts from the grill and transfer to the serving platter.
12. Serve hot.
Beer & Cheese Dip
I was so busy getting it all together for a BBQ that I did not have a chance to take a picture of this but it was a nice compliment to the other menu items we were serving that day.
Enjoy!!
Beer & Cheese Dip
Serves 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Refrigeration Time: at least 2 hours
Estimated Values per Serving (dip only):
Calories: 72 Fat: 4 grams
Ingredients:
4 ounces low fat cream cheese – room temperature
4 ounces fat free cream cheese – room temperature
¼ cup fat free sour cream
1/3 cup stout beer
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup low fat grated cheddar cheese
1 envelope ranch salad dressing
Carrot sticks, celery sticks and pretzels
Directions:
- Beat together cream cheeses, sour cream, beer, Worcestershire sauce and salad dressing at medium speed.
- Fold in cheddar cheese.
- Refrigerate and serve with carrots, celery and pretzels.
Mexican Style Ice Cream Sandwiches
A friend of mine was telling me how she really enjoyed these sweet tortilla crisps at her sister’s BBQ. The originals are coated in butter then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and baked. I was thinking about how I could make these without the butter while also enhancing it a little and here is what I came up with. I had my friend try these to make sure they passed the “delicious” test and she said they made the grade. If you prefer, you can omit the ice cream and simply cut the tortillas, coat with cooking spray, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake too.
Enjoy…
Mexican Style Ice Cream Sandwiches
Preheat oven 425o
Serves 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 200 Fat: 5 grams
Mexican Style Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ingredients:
10 medium flour soft tortillas
Cooking spray
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 ½ cups low fat ice cream
Directions:
- Cut 2 circles in each tortilla (about the size of a large biscuit).
- Combine sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
- Coat one side of each tortilla with cooking spray and sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on top.
- Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
- Place the uncoated (non-sugared) side of each tortilla on the baking sheet and cook for 10 – 15 minutes until crisp.
- Remove tortilla crisps and cool on a wire rack.
- Scoop about ¼ cup ice cream onto one of the tortilla crisps then add another tortilla crisp so that the ice cream is “sandwiched” between two crisps. Continue until you have 10 total ice cream sandwiches.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour before serving.
Eggplant Bruschetta
I served these on Sunday over the holiday weekend and they were such a hit, Dean went out and bought all the ingredients Monday morning so I could cook up another order for some family friends. They are a little heavier on calories and fat than most recipes I cover but after having 2 (which is a serving size), you are full for a while. You can even have these as a meal with a salad on the side and feel very satisfied.
Enjoy…
Eggplant Bruschetta
Preheat oven 425o
Serves 12
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 360 Fat: 10 grams
Eggplant Bruschetta
Ingredients:
1 – 1 ½ loaves Italian bread – cut into 24 slices
Salt
1 eggplant – cut into 24 thin slices
3 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup egg substitute
24 ounces (1 ½ pounds) low fat mozzarella cheese – thinly sliced
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes seasoned with garlic, basil and oregano
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Sweat eggplant slices by lightly coating with salt and placing paper towels on top to absorb the excess water. Rinse salt off of the eggplant slices.
- While eggplant is sweating, coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray and add sliced Italian bread. Toast for about 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned.
- Heat a large skillet on medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Dip eggplant slices in egg substitute then coat with bread crumbs. Add to the skillet and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes on each side to brown the bread crumbs.
- Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray and add browned eggplant slices. Roast for 15 minutes until eggplant is cooked through.
- Top the toasted Italian bread with a slice of mozzarella, an eggplant slice, a little diced tomatoes and some grated parmesan.
- Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and serve.
Pulled Pork with Amercian Style Coleslaw
Every year this weekend kicks off the holiday BBQ season. To get ready, I am experimenting with some classic menus that won’t make you feel guilty. Tonight we had pulled pork and coleslaw sandwiches.
One of the reasons I love serving this to company is because it is better if made a day or two before the BBQ. The coleslaw should be made at least 24 hour in advance and kept cold until ready to serve. The longer it sits in the refrigerator, the better it gets. The pulled pork can definitely be made the day before and heated up and served in a crock pot. So if you are looking for hassle free cooking the day of your party, this is a great menu.
The family loved it (even if it was 60 degrees and cloudy) and was asking for seconds.
Enjoy!
American Style Coleslaw
Pulled Pork with Amercian Style Coleslaw
Serves 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Refrigerate overnight
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 55 Fat: 2 grams
Ingredients:
½ cup low fat mayonnaise
¼ cup skim milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon celery seed
¼ teaspoon salt
1 scallion – chopped
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrot
Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, milk, sugar, vinegar, pepper, onion powder, celery seed, and salt.
- Add shredded cabbage, carrot and scallion and toss.
- Refrigerate overnight or for several days and serve cold.
Pulled Pork
Serves 8
Pre heat oven 250o
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 4 – 5 hours
Cook time: 30 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 200 Fat: 5 grams
Pork Loin Rub Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless pork loin
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground oregano
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions:
- Trim any excess fat from pork and set aside.
- To make the rub, combine all the ingredients. Rub over the surface of the pork loin to coat.
- Place pork in baking pan and cover with aluminum foil. Cook pork for about 4 – 5 hours.
- Cool pork until you are able to handle it then shred the meat.
BBQ Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup strong coffee
1 jar (12 ounces) chili sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons molasses
½ teaspoon liquid smoke
¼ cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 – 3 dashes pepper sauce (optional)
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients in large saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium low heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add sauce to shredded pork and mix well. Serve hot.
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