Chickpea Tuna Salad

I was looking for  low point WW lunch and had everything I needed in the pantry or fridge.  What luck!

Chickpea Tuna Salad

1 can chickpeas, drained
6 oz. canned tuna
Mint leaves, chopped
Crumbled feta cheese
Red onion, sliced
2 T. capers
2 T. juice from caper juice jar
2 T. red wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients and enjoy.

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T = tablespoon
oz = ounce

Beef Wellington

I have had this recipe on my to-do list for a couple of years and finally gave it a go on Christmas Day.   We still have leftovers but I can't wait to make it again!

Because I didn't want to do all the work on Christmas Day, I did almost everything the day ahead.  Then that morning, I wrapped it in the pastry and put it back in the fridge.  Before baking, I took it out to bring it more to room temperature. 


Beef Wellington

3 lb beef tenderloin, trimmed
2 T. canola oil
1/4 c. dijon mustard. 
1 T. butter
2 shallots, minced
2 lb cremini mushrooms, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. prosciutto, thinly sliced
kosher salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 or 2 sheets puff pastry, depending on size of meat
2 eggs, beaten

Let the beef come to room temperature. Season with salt and pepper on all sides.

Add the oil to a large pan on high heat.  Add the tenderloin and don't move it.  Cook until a dark brown crust forms, about 3 minutes per side.  Repeat the searing on all sides, including the ends.

Remove the tenderloin.  Brush the mustard on all sides of the meat while it is still warm.  Let the meat rest.

In the same pan, add the butter, mushrooms, shallot and garlic over medium-high heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms mix becomes a thick paste, 25-30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the mushroom mix from the pan and let it cool completely. 

Place a large layer of overlapping sheets of plastic wrap on the counter that is twice the length and width of the tenderloin.

Lay overlapping strips of prosciutto on the plastic wrap in an even square layer that will cover the whole tenderloin when rolled.

Spread the mushrooms evenly over the proscuitto and pat it down.

Tightly wrap the tenderloin with the prosciutto/mushroom layer, using the plastic wrap to wrap it even tighter and seal ends.  Place in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place a new layer of plastic wrap on the work surface and lay a sheet of pastry over it.  Unwrap the tenderloin and place it on the puff pastry, wrapping until the ends meet.  Cut off any extra pastry so there is no overlap on the long seam or the ends. 

Wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap to form a log shape and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Place the beef Wellington on a greased parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush the surface with beaten eggs.  With a fork, score a decorative pattern or use leftover pastry to make designs.

Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake about 40 minutes or until the puff pastry is a dark golden brown and the internal temp of the beef it 135 degrees for medium-rare.













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lb = pound
T = tablespoon

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Oat Balls

We went to a Christmas event in St. Louis and a store was giving out free chocolate covered granola balls.  We got there and they only had ONE LEFT.  What do you do when you have 6 people?  Let the kids split it and plan on making your own!   I made this based on recipes I found on line and what the two lucky eaters said about them.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Oat Balls
1 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter (I used a combo of 3 I had open and wanted to use up, one was natural, gotta-stir-it kind)
2 c. quick oats
2 T. honey
1 bag dark chocolate chips

Mix the peanut butter, oats, and honey.  Roll the mix into balls a bit smaller than a quarter.



Melt the chocolate chips.  Dip the rolled balls into the melted chocolate.

Chill until the chocolate hardens.

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c = cup
T = tablespoon

Chicken Piccata

I never made Chicken Piccata before but know it is one of my daughter's favorites, so I thought I would give it a try.  Husband gave it an A+.   I found the recipe on Skinnytaste.com and made some minor alterations.

The leftover sauce would be great on fish for another day.

Chicken Piccata

1 lb. skinless breasts, fat trimmed.
2 large egg whites + 1 t. water (I used liquid egg whites, undiluted)
2/3 c. seasoned bread crumbs
olive oil spray
1 T. olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon, halves reserved
1/4 c. dry white wine
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 T. capers
salt and pepper

Cut the chicken into 4 cutlets. Place between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4 inch thick.

Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Put the egg whites in a shallow dish and the breadcrumbs in another dish.

Dip the cutlets in the egg white and then coat with the breadcrumbs.

Heat a saute pan to medium-low heat.

Spray a generous amount of olive oil spray on one side of the chicken and lay it in the pan oil side down.  Spray the top of the chicken generously to coat.  Cook 5 minutes or so per side until the chicken is cooked through.  Set aside.

For the sauce, over medium heat add the olive oil, lemon juice, wine, broth and reserved lemons, salt and pepper.  Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes.

Discard the lemon halves and add the capers.

Spoon the sauce over the chicken cutlet.

Garnish with a lemon slice and fresh parsley if you want to be fancy.

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4 WW freestyle points

T = tablespoon
c = cup
lb = pound

Pasta Meat Sauce - Cheater's Version

Looking for a super easy but delicious meat sauce?  Try this.  It makes enough to feed 18+ if you have a crowd.   It was so tasty that even our light eaters had seconds.  I'm going to use Italian Sausage instead of ground beef in all my meat sauces now.

Pasta Meat Sauce Cheater's Version

1 medium onion, chopped
4 T. olive oil
3-4 T. garlic, minced
4 jars of pasta sauce (I usually use a variety of whatever brand is on sale of Tomato-Basil, Marinara, Roasted Garlic, etc.)
1 t. or more red pepper flakes
1 lb. sweet italian sausage

If the sausage is in links, remove the casings and fry the italian sausage in crumbles.  Set aside.

Saute the onion in the olive oil in a large stock pot until translucent.  Add the garlic at the end and saute for another minute.  Add the jarred sauces, red pepper flakes, and sausage.  Bring to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes or so.

Use it right away or let it cool and freeze if for another day.

Yum.

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lb = pound
t = teaspoon
T = tablespoon

Spice Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

I'm not a baker, but after my successful Speckled Easter Egg Cake (see April 2018), I decided to give a showy cake another try.  This time, for Thanksgiving.  It's a combo from a few different ideas I saw online.

Spice Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

1 Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix, mixed according to directions

Frosting:
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 c. butter, softened
2-3 t. vanilla
2 T. milk (or more to thin frosting to desired consistency
1 t. cinnamon

Stem:
2-3 chocolate frosted chocolate cupcakes.  I used store bought--easy!

Prepare the cake mix.  Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake according to the instructions on the box.

When the cake is done, let it sit in the pan for 15 minutes before flipping it out of the pan to let it cool completely.

To prepare the frosting, put the powdered sugar and softened butter in a bowl and blend.  Add the vanilla and 1 T. of the milk and combine.  Add the next 1 T. of milk (or more) if it is too thick.  (I ended up using about 2 1/2 T. milk total.)  Finally, add the cinnamon and mix.

Before smoothing the grooves

Frost the top and sides of the bundt cake.  With a flat knife or back of a spoon, make grooves all around it. 

While the buttercream is firming up a bit work on the stem.  Scrape off the frosting off of 1-2 cupcakes and pack them on top of each other to fill in the hole in the center of the cake.  Put a frosted cupcake on top.  Take the scraped off frosting and cover the sides of the top cupcake.  Use a fork to run grooves up the cupcake so it looks like a stem.

Now that the frosting is set a bit.  with your finger, tamp down to smooth the rough edges of the groves to make it look more smooth and natural.

After smoothing the grooves

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c = cup
T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon
lb = pound

Spaghetti Squash Pesto Alfredo with Sausage

This was so yummy! 


Spaghetti Squash Pesto Alfredo with Sausage 

1 spaghetti squash
1 lb. sweet italian sausage
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/4 to 1/3 c. pesto (see the pesto recipe August 2017!)
1 jar of creamy alfredo sauce

Cut a spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds and guts.  Brush with olive oil and bake on a sheet pan, cut side down,  at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until tender.  Use a fork to pull out the squash into spaghetti

Fry up sausage and mushrooms.

Heat alfredo sauce and add pesto sauce.

Add the sausage and mushroom mix to the sauce or let people layer it on the spaghetti themselves.