Archive from December, 2011
Dec 12, 2011 - Posts    No Comments

Pan-Fried Flounder

I don’t really get crazy with the type of fish I use in my cooking. Generally, I use tilapia (more for convenience since I can buy a frozen bag of tilapia filets) and shrimp – if you really want to count shrimp as a fish (and also because I can buy a convenient bag of frozen pre-cooked tail-off shrimp). I love salmon, but the one time I made salmon after I got married it smelled super fishy and I ditched making it myself. I’ll leave salmon to my mom and the restaurant pros. I’m sure I’ll pick it back up sometime in the future.

Tilapia was starting to get boring. So I found this recipe for pan-fried flounder. Don’t let the name fool you. It’s not deep fried or bad for your health or anything like that, but you end up with a nice flaky, lightly browned filet that goes well with a number of veggie sides. This kind of fried won’t break your diet.

 

 

 

 

Pan-Fried Flounder Recipe

Ingredients

2 Flounder Filets
2 teaspoons Butter
1 cup of Flour sprinkled onto a dinner plate (this is enough flour for several flounder)
Salt
Pepper
Lemon wedges
 

Directions

Sprinkle salt and pepper onto the floured plate to make a basic seasoned flour.
Lay the flounder on the plate of flour and dust liberally on both sides. This  will turn golden and crunchy later.
Melt 1 teaspoon of butter in a large frying pan.
Add the flour coated flounder.
Fry the flounder for about 5 minutes each side on medium heat until golden. Add more butter if you love butter.
Serve with lemon wedges

 

Serving Size: 1 Flounder filet

Nutrition Information: Cals 254. Carbs 22g. Fat 7g. Protien 24g. Sodium 93mg. Sugar 1g.

Dec 11, 2011 - Posts    No Comments

Low-Fat Date Cake

I didn’t actually know it was called a bunt until I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding  – you remember the scene:

 

 

It’s a Cake!

This is my first bunt. We had some left over dates from Ramadan and Eid that I knew I had to put to use, otherwise throw out. My sister-in-law sent me her recipe for date cake over the summer. I tried it out and took it over to my parent’s house. Everyone loved it. So I decided to make her date cake with some minor modifications. I bring you a low-fat date cake recipe. Best if served with Teavana’s Peach Momotaro Artisan Tea.

 

 

 

Low-Fat Date Cake Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup Mashed Dates (soak in a little bit of water)
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cups Flour
3/4 cup White Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Mott’s Apple Sauce
1/2 cup Fat Free Milk
1 tsp Cinnamon
Dash of Pumpkin Spice (optional)
 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.
 Pit and Soak the dates in hot water.
Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and cinnamon together
Then add the eggs, apple sauce, milk and white and brown sugar.
Drain the dates, and mash. Mix in the dates – they should be easier to mash by the time u have soaked in water.
Bake for 40 minutes.
 

 Servings: 11.

Nutrition Information: Cals 230. Carbs 53g. Fat 1g. Protien 5g. Sodium 226mg. Sugar 34g.

Dec 8, 2011 - Posts    2 Comments

Spinach Sausage Sauté

Today was probably one of the coldest days this winter. That’s not saying much, considering it was 60 degrees on Monday. Tonight we turned on our fireplace for the first time. It was a very exciting moment – until it got too hot and I opted for my throw blanket over the fireplace. I’m sure we’ll spend many more winter nights by the fireplace. In my imagination, my husband and I will be holding steaming mugs with hot chocolate and candy cane stirrers. Tonight, I decided to make us a cozy, healthy dinner.

Recipe adapted from The Lovely Cupboard.

 

 

Spinach Sausage Sauté Recipe

Ingredients

1 bunch Fresh Spinach
1/2 Lemon, juice of
3 Turkey Sausages
2 tablespoons Pine Nuts
2 Shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup Cherry or grape tomatoes
1 can Cannellini Beans
 

Directions

Toast pine nuts on medium heat in a skillet with no oil. Shake the skillet often to keep the pine nuts from burning. When they are a light brown color, remove from the skillet and allow to cool.
Grill sausage on grill or grill pan. Slice and keep warm in the oven or covered.
Saute shallots and garlic in olive or grapeseed oil on low-med heat until fragrant and translucent but not browning. While this is cooking, drain and rinse one can of cannellini beans and slice tomatoes in half.
Add a half of your spinach and toss with tongs often. Remove first batch of spinach to serving dish. Add remaining spinach, cannellini beans, and tomatoes.
Add the zest of one lemon and the juice of 1/2 of the lemon to the pan. Add sea salt and ground pepper to taste. I usually add whatever herbs I have handy. Tonight I added some dried Rosemary.
When spinach is cooked, transfer the mixture to serving dish. Add sausage and combine. Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and serve immediately.
 

Nutrition Information - Servings: 4. Calories per serving: 256. Carbs 29g. Fat 10g. Protein 18g. Sodium 838mg. Sugar 4g.

Dec 6, 2011 - Posts    No Comments

Bresaola and Arugula Salad Plate

A month or so ago, I saw this recipe for Bresaola, Melon & Basil with Tartare Dressing on D’s Kitchen. I’m not a pork eater so the minute I saw these prosciutto-like slices of  air-dried, salted beef I knew I had to have it. In all honestly though, I don’t eat melons either. All I could think about was that I wanted bresola in my possession and from there, I’d figure out how to prepare it.

So where does one go about finding said bresola. Since the dried beef is Italian in nature, I decided the best place to get some was The Italian Store,  a small Italian specialty store opened in Arlington, Virginia in 1980.  I love this little place. They sell all the Italian novelties you crave – including cheeses, meats, sweets, pastas, pasta sauces, etc. It reminded me so much of some of the small auto stops I visited driving through Italy on the Autostrada to Switzerland.

I finally got my Bresaola. According to my dad, bresaola is best eaten as an appetizer or small salad with arugula, lemon and mozzarella cheese.

 

 

Bresaola and Arugula Salad Plate Recipe

Ingredients

Bresaola (thin slices)
Fresh Lemon Juice, to taste
Arugula
Mozzarella Cheese
Olive Oil
 

Directions

On a flat individual plate or serving plate, carefully place a layer of bresaola
Sprinkle arugula leaves on top
Sprinkle chunks of mozzarella cheese
Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top
Top with some olive oil

 

 

Nutrition Information – Servings: 2. Calories per serving: 149. Carbs 2g. Fat 6g. Protein 21g. Sodium 1443mg. Sugar 2g.

 

 

Dec 5, 2011 - Arabic Food Made Easy, Posts    5 Comments

Arabic Food Made Easy: Malfouf [Cabbage]

Let’s face it, Arabic food takes forever to make. There are lots of steps and long cooking times, time I don’t have when I’m working full time and trying to conserve our culture simultaneously. That’s why I’ve decided to start a recipe series featuring traditional Arabic dishes, made much easier for those of us that have full time jobs and prefer to keep weekday cooking to 30 minutes or less. This is the first installment of the series. Don’t forget to check out other posts in the Arabic Food Made Easy Series.

If you’ve ever spent time – a lot of time – rolling grape leaves with your sister and you mom you know it’s not easy. Traditionally, malfouf is rolled cabbage stuffed with ground beef and rice. Well, that’s a lot of work, if you ask me, for a weeknight. I love cabbage, especially the way my tayta makes it. Each piece melts in your mouth and has the perfect amount of lemony-goodness.

The following doesn’t involve any rolling or stuffing. My tayta calls this version “malfouf  kharmasheh” which literally translates to “cabbage scratches,” indicative of the slices of cabbage that resemble scratches.

 

 

Unrolled Malfouf Recipe

Ingredients

1 Medium Cabbage (with flat leaves)
1 pound Ground Beef
1 cup Jasmine Rice
5 cloves Garlic, minced/smashed
2 to 3 teaspoons of the following spices: Seven Spice, Cinnamon, Nutmeg Salt and Black Pepper.
Vegetable Oil
1 esspresso-sized cup Lemon juice
Water as needed
 

Directions

Wash and drain the rice three times, set aside.
Prepare your cabbage by washing and boiling the Cabbage, then drain and cut into pieces.
In a pot, brown the meat with a little bit of vegetable oil.
Add the garlic and spices (Seven Spice, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Salt and Black Pepper).
Prepare your cabbage leaves by separating the leaves from the cabbage head. Cut away stems, You can save them to use in the mixture.
Add the cabbage to the browned and spiced meat, mix well.
Add rice over the mixture.
Mix together lemon juice and water then pour over the mixture. Cover the mixture with water (1 inch over the mixture).
Bring to a boil. Once boiled, cover and cook on low for another 30 minutes to an hour.
Add salt as needed.
Serve with Plain non-fat yogurt.

 

Although the dish calls for 1-hour cook time, at least you’ve saved yourself 1-2 hours of time stuffing and rolling the cabbage. If you need some ideas for how to spend your hour, here are a few:

  1. Make salad
  2. Give yourself a manicure
  3. Give your kids a bath (if you have young children)
  4. Shower, then wash and curl your hair
  5. “Work from home”
  6. Meal plan for the rest of the week
  7. Catch up on Law-and-Order episodes
  8. Catch up on Bravo TV shows
  9. Laundry
  10. Re-organize your cookbooks
  11. Call your mom
  12. Shop online for things you may or may not need
  13. Update your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
  14. Clean out your fridge

 

I spent my time on a 7:15pm conference call for work. Don’t judge, I used too much water and my rice turned out mushy.

 

Nutrition Information – Servings: 6. Calories per serving: 301. Carbs 33g. Fat 10g. Protein 20g. sodium 75g. Sugar 6g.

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