Old Favorite: Havarti Dill Smoked Salmon Risotto

This was one of our favorite recipes back when I first started Weight Watchers, and in the spirit of my post on my personal blog about wanting to get back into that mindset, I thought I'd post it here even though I don't have photos. And I think I'll make it again soon. After all, it is delicious.

Havarti Dill Smoked Salmon Risotto: Makes 2 servings; 7 WW points per serving

Ingredients

• 5 1/4 oz milan-style risotto mix, with seasoning packet [Instead of risotto mix, I just use about a cup of risotto rice and cook it in low-sodium chicken broth instead of water, and add spices--lemon pepper, basil, oregano, a couple chili flakes, a bit of onion powder--and a splash of lemon juice to make it flavorful]
• 2 cups water [or chicken broth--see above]
  
• 2 tbsp dill, fresh, chopped
• 2 oz smoked salmon, diced
• 1 oz havarti cheese, about a 1/4 cup, grated
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
• 1 tsp dill, or 2 small sprigs, for garnish

Instructions

• In a saucepan combine rice and seasoning mix [or, in my case, all the stuff I mentioned in my parenthetical aside above] with water [or, like I said, chicken broth]. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Stir in dill, salmon, pepper, and Havarti. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.
• Serve in shallow bowls, garnished with dill sprigs.

The verdict: Well, I suppose this is obvious since it's an old favorite and all, but OMG yum. And plus, it's so easy to make! Seriously, you just dump a bunch of stuff in a pot, wait, and eat. And it is delicious, and the risotto is almost creamy, so it feels like it's much worse for you than it actually is. Bonus!

New Recipe: Chicken Tetrazzini

I love chicken and Torsten isn't the biggest fan, so I'm always looking for ways to prepare it so that it will be moist and tender, preferably in a sauce that Torsten will enjoy. Chicken tetrazzini, with its thicker sauce than a lot of the broth-based sauces I like to make, seemed like it would fit the bill.

Chicken Tetrazzini: Makes 6 servings; 5 WW points per serving Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp reduced-calorie margarine [I used light butter instead.]
  
• 1/2 cup scallions, chopped (about 5 scallions)
• 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup fat-free chicken broth
• 1/2 cup fat-free skim milk
• 1/2 pound chicken breast, cooked, skinless, cubed [I used more than 1/2 a pound, and I cooked it with the vegetables instead of doing it separately.]
  
• 1/4 cup canned pimento, drained and sliced (about a 2 oz jar) [I didn't have pimentos, so I used red pepper flakes to add kick instead.]
  
• 2 Tbsp sherry cooking wine
• 3 1/2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 8 oz uncooked spaghetti, broken into thirds and cooked [I did not break up the spaghetti because I like it better in the long noodles.]
  

Instructions

1. Melt margarine in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
   
2. Add scallions and mushrooms; cook until tender, stirring, about 5 minutes. [I also cooked the chicken at this point.]
   
3. Combine flour, garlic powder, pepper, broth and milk in a small bowl; mix until well blended.
   
4. Add flour mixture to saucepan; cook until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes. [It didn't take the full ten minutes for this to thicken for me.]
   
5. Add chicken [mine was already in because I cooked it with the vegetables], pimentos and sherry; cook until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes.
   
6. Stir in cheese and add cooked spaghetti; toss gently. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

The verdict: This was delicious! Torsten loved it and so did I. The thicker sauce was a nice change of pace, and the vegetables gave it a nice flavor. I added a few extra spices and it definitely made a difference; without them, this dish might have run the risk of being bland. However, as it was, it was great, and really easy to make. I will definitely be making it again.

New Recipe: Baked Beef Ziti

Torsten and I eat spaghetti a lot, and this recipe looked like a great way to add a twist to one of our regular meals. It called for quite a lot of pasta and not very much meat, though, so I wound up modifying the amounts a fair bit to achieve a bit more of a balance.

Baked Beef Ziti: Makes 8 servings; 5 WW points per serving

Ingredients:

• 12 oz uncooked ziti [I used 7 ounces of whole wheat rigatoni.]
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 pound raw lean ground beef [I used one pound of ground beef at 7% fat.]
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary [I didn't have rosemary, so I used dried basil instead.]
• 1/2 tsp table salt [I didn't put in salt but I did add onion powder and garlic powder, as well as a few red pepper flakes for some bite.]
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded [I stuck to this amount for WW reasons, but if you aren't particularly calorie-conscious, I'd recommend using more, just to add to the cheesy goodness.]

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat; add garlic and sauté 2 minutes.
4. Add beef and cook until browned, breaking up meat with a spoon as it cooks, about 3 to 5 minutes; drain off any fat and set pan back over medium heat.
5. Add oregano, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper; stir to coat beef. Cook until herbs become fragrant, about 2 minutes.
6. Add tomatoes and bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Spoon a small amount of beef-tomato mixture into bottom of a 4-quart casserole dish (just enough to cover surface) [I didn't have a four-quart casserole dish, so I used a flatter baking dish, which made the layers feel a bit sparse, but it was still delicious]; top with half of cooked ziti.
8. Next, layer with half of remaining beef-tomato sauce and half of mozzarella cheese. Layer with remaining ziti and then top with remaining beef-tomato sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
9. Bake until cheese is golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

The verdict: This was great, and also very simple to make. This version was definitely heavy on the beef, which I like personally, so I liked the proportions of beef and pasta; I think it worked a lot better than the initial amounts the recipe called for would have, and with the whole wheat pasta and very lean beef, the points work out to be about the same both ways. We will definitely be making this one again.

New Recipe: Chicken Parmigiana

I had defrosted some chicken breasts to make Thai coconut chicken, one of our favorite dishes, on Friday night, but as I was sorting through my pile of recipes I came across a new one I hadn't tried yet, chicken parmigiana. It looked yummy and I had all the ingredients plus plenty of time, so I figured I'd try that one instead. It turned out to be a great idea. I even remembered to take photos. I've added them to my cooking set over on Flickr.

Chicken Parmigiana: Makes 4 servings; 5 WW points per serving

Ingredients

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly pounded (four 4-oz pieces) [I used thin-sliced chicken breasts instead of pounding them myself.]
  
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs [I didn't measure--I just dumped a bunch in a bowl so that I'd have enough to coat the chicken.]
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning [Instead of using pre-mixed Italian seasoning, I added basil, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, and ground black pepper.]
  
• 1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste [I skipped this.]
  
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce [The baking pan I was using was bigger than the one the recipe called for, so I used 2 cups of tomato sauce to make sure the whole thing was coated.]
  
• 1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded [I used a bit more than this.]
• 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray. [I didn't have a square dish so I used a slightly larger rectangular one.]
  
• Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. Combine bread crumbs with Italian seasoning and salt; pour into another shallow bowl. Dip chicken in egg whites; turn to coat. Dip chicken in bread crumb mixture; turn to thoroughly coat.
  
• Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and add oil; heat over medium-high heat. When hot, add chicken and cook until lightly browned and no longer pink in center, about 4 minutes per side.
  
• Pour 1/2 cup of sauce [I used about a cup] into prepared baking dish; place chicken in dish and pour remaining sauce evenly over chicken. Sprinkle with cheeses and bake until chicken is cooked through and cheese is bubbly, about 25 minutes.

I served the chicken over whole wheat linguine; if you use six ounces (uncooked), it adds 3 WW points per serving.


The verdict: When Torsten got home, looking forward to the coconut chicken, and I told him I'd made something else instead, he was disappointed. But once he tasted it, he changed his mind. The recipe turned out to be delicious, and also very simple to make. We will definitely be making this one again--I'd say soon, but we've been saying that a lot this week, and there aren't enough days "soon" to fit everything in.