Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash

The beginning of June means it's Mr. Max's CFA time again. I'm so proud of him for all the hard work and dedication he puts into studying and preparing for this exam, it's truly beyond what I would be able to do. As I sit her recapping last night's dinner, he has just started the 6 hour test - wow. This year, he requested chicken parm again for his "last supper" - our affectionate term for his dinner the night before this test - but I decided to revamp just a bit. While I still made him some chicken parm, this featured recipe was the star of the night.

I started to think this up a few weeks ago when we did a very simple turkey meatball dish with spaghetti squash. We typically grab a spaghetti squash each grocery run to make once a week on the busiest night in our schedule. However, this time we made it on a Sunday and I had time on my hands so I had decided to roast it in the oven rather than nuke it. This takes quadruple the amount of time, but the result was worth it. Like spinach, spaghetti squash will emit liquids as it heats and cooks. This can sometimes make for a watery dish when combined with sauce, but when I roasted it, I did not seem to have this problem as much. I already knew that roasting will seal in and lock the nutrients of any vegetable, but the watery consistency was greatly decreased with this method as well. After scraping the spaghetti strands from each half, I looked at the hollowed out shells and I thought about twice baked potatoes. I had other plans for that dinner, so I decided to remake this again in the near future, creating a tasty filling with the strands, then re-baking in the shells.

That brings us to this recipe! I wanted to make the red sauce a little creamy and add thickness, just to help with some of the natural moisture that is inevitable with the spaghetti squash. I had some Neuftchatel cheese in the fridge and used it to help make a thicker, creamier consistency without adding in too many additional calories or grams of fat (like using a cream or cream cheese would do). To give some green and more veggie value, I added in some chopped broccoli, then topped the final product with just a little mozzarella and Parm Reggiano. In the end, we both agreed this was our favorite spaghetti squash dish to date!

This dish takes about 45 minutes from start to finish, largely due to the roasting time, not the prep time. Click here for the nutritional facts calculated at SparkRecipes.com; this meal is a total of 7 WW points per serving.

Grocery List:
Recipe yields 2 servings

• 1 small-medium spaghetti squash, cut into 2 halves
• 2 cups tomato sauce (I used a roasted garlic sauce)
• 2 oz. Neufchatel cheese
• 1.5 cup broccoli florets, chopped very small 
• 1/4 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 pinches of Parm Reggiano 
• Roasted red pepper seasoning (optional)

To begin, pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees. Lightly spray a piece of aluminum foil and set on a baking sheet. Set the 2 halves of the spaghetti squash face up on the foil and place in the oven for 35 minutes.

In a sauce pan, begin to melt the Neufchatel chunk on low heat. This will assist when combining with the sauce. Add the sauce and continue to stir until well combined.

 

To help pre-cook your broccoli just a bit, add the florets into the sauce on medium-low heat and let simmer for about 8 minutes. 

Remove the squash from the oven and you can do one of two things. You can let it cool for about 10 minutes so that won't hurt yourself trying to manage the squash - or, you can be too eager and impatient like me. I did not hurt myself, but I did make it more cumbersome by trying to maneuver with 2 cooking mitts on my hands. It worked, but I should have just listened to Mr. Max's advice to me: "patience darlin, patience." He's been telling me that for at least 3 years now, I think he is patient that one day I will listen :-) When you have the seeds removed, now you can start combing the fork through from top side to bottom side to create the strands, then place them in a bowl and repeat with the second squash half.

  

 

Set the hollowed shells to the side for now.

 

 Add the sauce to the bowl of spaghetti squash strands and mix well.

Now, scoop the strand/sauce/broccoli filling into each hollowed shell until full.

 

Top with the cheeses and we place in the oven to bake for another 10 minutes, or until cheese is slightly browned, bubbling.

 

Remove from oven and place in bowls or dishes that will easily hold the squash bowl.

 

 For a little spice, top with crushed red pepper flakes. Enjoy!

 

Tastefully yours, 

Chipotle Salmon

Last spring I found a delicious alternative to naked chicken and salmon dishes: preservatives + chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Something about the summer months, the want to grill (or fake grill on a griddle to stay out of the heat), and the fruity tastes mixed in is just perfect. I've done raspberry, peach, mango, and cherry jams/preserves with a dash of heat added to it and we just love it! In last night's post, I mentioned we had no meal planning prior to our grocery store run. As we looked for options for the rest of the week, we decided to grab 2 side potentials and some salmon for tonight, then see what we came up with.

For this recipe, I had a can of chipotle peppers in adobo and a plethora of preserves in my fridge.  I decided to go with cherry this time because we hadn't tried that flavor with salmon yet, only with chicken. This time, I decided to change it up a bit with other ingredients I had on hand. The result? Let's just say, it will be made again. And again, and again, and again.

But, let me fill you in on a little something that I learned. For as long as I can remember, I have asked the fish man behind the counter to please remove the skin off the fish for me. This past time when I asked, he turned to me and said "you know, you are losing nutritional value when you do that," - and I said "really, do tell?" - he proceeds to tell me that all the omegas and fish oils are found in the skin. I felt enlightened! The way to take full advantage of this is to cook with skin on, and when you flip it skin-side up, that is when the omega oils filter down into the "meat" of the fish. That created a new wrinkle in my brain, I wanted to pass along that little nugget of wisdom for anyone else that may not have know that either!

This dish was a simple 20 minute fix from prep time to fork finish. Nutritional facts can be found here, calculated at SparkRecipes.com; one 4 ounce salmon is 6 WW points.

Grocery List:
Sauce yields enough for 4 servings

• 2 salmon fillets, 4-6 oz. each
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup cherry preserves
• 2 tbsp. sauce from chili pepper in adobo
• 2 tbps. lime juice
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. cumin

Start by greasing and heating a grill or griddle pan on medium-high heat. In a food processor, add the ketchup, preserves, adobo sauce, lime juice, garlic powder and cumin. Pulse until well mixed.

 

Place the salmon skin side down on the surface. Brush a light layer of the chipotle sauce to top the salmon, then cover. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until the sides of the fish begin to look pink/white.

 

Flip the fish skin side up to allow those omegas to penetrate throughout the fish. Cook for another 3-5 minutes on medium-low heat.

 

To serve, brush another layer of the chipotle sauce over the top of the salmon and enjoy!

Served with rosemary-garlic roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus

Tastefully yours,

Southwest BBQ Quinoa Bowl

I'll take a little walk down memory lane here for the sake of recipe introduction: as I've mentioned before, it was when we started dating that Mr. Max and I learned just how much we enjoyed cooking both together and in general. Instead of going out to dinner, we would go to the grocery store without a plan and wander the aisles until we came up with something to make.

Flash forward to now.

This past weekend did not yield time to meal plan, so we took off for the grocery store in our more spontaneous vintage fashion. All I knew was that I wanted to use up the quinoa in the pantry and had a plan to revise my Mexi-Texi salad sometime in the near future. We passed by the tantalizing BBQ counter that always smells incredible every time we pass by. They had some BBQ sauce on the counter so we sauntered over to taste test it and that did us in right there! At that moment, the clouds parted and the plan for dinner was formulated. It went a little something like this...

Okay, at the risk of sounding annoying and/or mushy, I had swoon moment #11,876: mid-way through food prep my sous chef informs me that this is his favorite part of the day: when we laugh, talk and make a meal together. I die. (insert high pitched squeal and girly wiggle dance) 6 more months until I'm Mrs. Max!

For nutritional facts, click here; 1 serving is equivalent to 9 WW points.

Grocery List:
Recipe yields 5 servings

• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (about 2.5 cups)
• 1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 2 tbsp. lime juice
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. barbecue sauce, divided (Austin's Own in medium will rock your world!)
• 2-3 tbsp. fresh cilantro, diced for garnish

To begin, cook the quinoa according to the package. If you got it from a canister rather than in a package, you cook 2 cups water to every 1 cup quinoa. Rinse, lightly toast in a pan to intensify the flavor, it will start to smell a bit like popcorn. Add the water and bring to a boil, stirring frequently until water is absorbed and the curlique of the seed has popped.

Shred the chicken into a bowl and add the 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce. Stir well to combine.

 

In a skillet, add the olive oil and heat to medium-high on the burner. Saute the red onion and bell pepper until softened, about 5 minutes. Next add the corn and the black beans, combining with other peppers and onions. Turn the heat to low and let warm until quinoa is fully ready.

 

 

Once the quinoa is cooked, set it in a bowl and stir in the lime juice. Add in the pepper, onion, corn and black bean mixture and stir well. Scoop the southwest quinoa combo into a bowl as a bed, then pile on the BBQ shredded chicken, top with the avocado and sprinkle with the cilantro. Finally, add a drizzle (roughly 1 tbsp) of BBQ sauce over the top of your creation and you are ready to dig in!

 

Tastefully yours,

 

Chicken Yakisoba

This was an easy meal for a busy night; one that is simple to throw together after a long day, and let's be honest, we are all in need of those more often than not. After our March girls night in, I had a few repeats with sweet chili sauce and soba noodles. With another pack in my pantry, I grabbed veggies and chicken in the Sunday grocery run, yielding for a simple stir-fry one night that week. This is a delicious and nutritious dish to keep in rotation for ease. You can change it up by subbing in bell pepper or squash, asparagus or green beans!

Nutritional facts can be found here, calculated at SparkRecipes.com, and one serving is 5 WW points.

Grocery List:
Recipe yields 4 servings

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 bundle soba noodles
• 1 cup carrots, grated or shaved
• 1 crown of broccoli, chopped into small florets  
• 1 lb. chicken, diced
• 1/4 cup Tamari (low-sodium, organic soy sauce)
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp. mirin or another sweet rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. sweet chili sauce
• 1 tbsp. sriracha
• 1/2 tsp. ginger, minced
• Green onions, chopped for garnish

To start, in a large skillet or saute pan, add the olive oil to heat on medium. Toss in your shaved carrots and broccoli florets. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes on medium heat.

As your veggies cook, cook the soba noodles in water, according to directions on package. In a bowl, mix together the mirin, worcestershire, sweet chili sauce, sriracha, tamari and ginger. When the carrots and broccoli are mostly cooked, move them to the side of the pan and add the diced chicken. Pour half the sauce over the contents of the pan and saute, cooking the chicken until it is no longer pink, about 10 minutes.

Drain the soba noodles into a colander and place in a bowl.

Mix the rest of the sauce into the noodles and dish it out, topped with the chicken and veggie saute mix. Garnish with green onions if you would like and dig in!

Tastefully yours,

Grilled Shrimp Papillote with Mango-Avocado Salsa

I blinked and it was May... already halfway through May at that! It's been hard to find spare minutes lately but I finally convinced myself to sit down to create time that isn't solely dedicated to wedding planning. Mr. Max and I made this dish a week or so ago and it was such a refreshing dinner packed with super foods and a taste of summer! For this recipe, we've got spinach, quinoa, shrimp, cilantro, mango salsa, avocado.... all wrapped up in a foil packet, set on a grill and you've got dinner 15 minutes later!

I haven't played with foil packets since the very first post, the halibut en papillote. Here is your "I learned something new today" nugget of wisdom: en papillote is french for pouch, or in parchment. It's a great cooking method that uses the liquids from food to steam and cook in a package. The recipe I found for this creation used couscous, but in my adaptation, I replaced with quinoa instead.

This was a fun one, but don't be discouraged if you do not have a grill or simply don't want to take the effort to use it. If it weren't for the E-grill, I would feel the same way. I gave Mr. Max a Weber for Christmas a few years ago and we hardly ever use it. Sad. The foil packets cook in the oven too, so there is your solution! Whole Foods had a great little mango/pineapple salsa like relish in their fresh produce section that already included those obvious ingredients, red bell pepper, tomato, onion and jalepeno pepper so I saved time and money by grabbing that instead of each ingredient individually.

Nutritional facts can be found here, calculated at SparkRecipes.com; it is 9 points for Weight Watchers.

Grocery List:
Recipe Yields 2 servings
Adapted from Self Magazine

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 3 tbsp. water
• 1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled, deveined 
• 1 tsp. lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Olive oil
• 1 cup of fresh chopped mango salsa (diced mango, pineapple, red onion, tomato, red bell pepper and jalepeno or poblano pepper)
• 1 small avocado, cubed

Start by pre-heating your grill to a medium-high heat. If you are going to do this in the oven, I guesstimate a temperature of 400 degrees in the oven. Take aluminum foil and tear out two pieces about 18-in long, then fold in half to create a line in the foil. Unfold and coat with non-stick cooking spray. On each piece of foil, arrange 1 cup of spinach.

In a small bowl, mix the water and the quinoa together in a bowl. By adding water, we are helping the quinoa to have something to absorb as it cooks on the grill. It will become magically fluffy in the end!

Now, add the quinoa on top of the spinach. The spinach naturally produces moisture as it cooks, this will allow the quinoa to cook even more. 

In another small bowl, mix the olive oil, lime juice and cilantro with the shrimp. 

Lay that next to the quinoa on the foil. 

Fold over that unused half from earlier and begin to crimp the edges, folding each in, to create and enclosed packet. 

 .... like-a-so.

I put our foil packets on a grill basket then set on the grill with the timer at 15 minutes. 

When the timer goes off, the packets will be slightly puffed. Cut them open carefully to reveal wilted, cooked spinach, fluffy quinoa and delicious shrimp! 

Take your mango salsa/relish concoction and scoop half over one packet, half over the other, and add diced avocado. Using a fork, gently mix the contents of the packet and dig in! 

Tastefully yours,

Make a Meal: Spicy Shrimp and Polenta

There are some days that I look forward to just sharing a recipe because we enjoyed it and I want someone else out there to be able to enjoy it too. There are other days that I look forward to the aspect of being able to write about food and life, how they connect with one another. Today is a day I feel like writing, so I will. Ahem...

For a few months toward the end of 2011, I had a little side gig as a contributor to Dallas Observer's City of Ate blog. A friend had sent me an ad they posted about looking for writers with new and different perspectives, so I decided why not. I submit an idea to take restaurant favorites and recreate to try to make them easier, cheaper and healthier than going out to dine at a restaurant. It was a fun bit to have, but one that didn't fit in well with my work schedule. I found I was spending much more money dining out, then buying ingredients for the recreation, and more time dining out, then creating, then potentially creating again, then writing, then editing, then re-writing.... it was much more than I had planned on in order to meet their deadlines and expectations. I realized that my hobby was just that, a hobby, and I would keep it as such on my own time and on my own terms.

However, I've had fun with that premise, it's intrigued me for years, and it is something that has inspired a lot of recipes I've made. When Max Man and I first started dating, he was finishing his masters and was in study mode for finals. We got to know each other by staying in and cooking together, rather than going out to eat a lot. That set the tone for our relationship where we would scour restaurant menus and look for appealing dishes to make at home or wander the grocery stores of Central Market putting together a basket of food, then making it work back at one of our apartments. The next year of our little courtship, he started the CFA exam - only offered once a year, this takes up much of his spare time in the spring months before the June test. During that time, we started coming up with low-key date night alternatives, which if we weren't going to a cooking class, we were studying various cooking school menus, researching recipes and making those at home, learning and trying new things together. It has been an activity that encompasses the beginning of our relationship and a common interest that we bonded on early. We always look forward to the nights we get to cook together - and of course, I'm biased, but I have the best sous chef in my kitchen! He is the left-brain to my right-brain tendencies and it's a great balance for us.

Max Man is typically apart of the Sunday meal planning exercise, though during the spring, with his work busy season and study season for the CFA, he can't help cook very often. We chose our challenge dish for the week and decided to make it on a night that he could get off work early enough to cook it up together.

Tonight's Make a Meal dish is inspired by a plate at a local restaurant favorite, Victor Tango's, where my Lobster Mac and Jack post derived from. We tried it recently at a birthday dinner: chili-garlic shrimp served over creamy polenta - it was to.die.for. I had a few shrimp dishes that I've made before using Sriracha, sweet chili sauce, some garlic and honey so I decided to resort to those for some ingredient choices. I searched for a lighter, lower cal polenta recipe, not wanting to compromise the creamy consistency and this one did the trick! This was just as good as the restaurant and definitely met my three objectives to be healthier (more than likely because I was in control as to what went in it), easier and cheaper than going to Victor Tango's and getting this on any given night.


Grocery List:
For shrimp - enough for 3 servings. Nutritional facts found here, calculated to 2 WW points, serving size is 5-6 shrimp.

• 3/4 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 tbsp. low sodium Ponzu (a citrus enhanced soy sauce - great for cooking with fish)
• 2 tbsp. chili sauce
• 1 tsp. mirin
• 2 tbsp. Sriracha
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Scallions, chopped

For polenta - enough for 5 servings. Nutritional facts found here, calculated to 5 WW points, serving size is equal to 1/2 cup.

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Dried thyme and parsley to taste
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups fat free skim milk
• 1 cup polenta
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano

The polenta takes about 15 minutes to make, compared to the 10 minutes for the shrimp, so we will start with the polenta. In a large stock pot, heat the butter and olive oil on medium heat to melt the butter. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the thyme and parsley.

 

Pour in the chicken broth and skim milk, bring to a boil.

 

While you are waiting for this to boil, start the shrimp. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the ponzu, chili sauce, mirin, sriracha, and garlic.

 

Add the shrimp to the sauce and mix to fully coat. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat and pour the shrimp in. Cook for about 2 minutes and flip to cook another 2 minutes on the other side. 

As the shrimpies cook, slowly whisk the polenta into the pot, a little at a time to prevent from clumping. Turn the heat down to a medium-low heat and continue to whisk as the polenta thickens.

 

Add the parm and stir until it is melted in.

Ladle one scoop of the polenta into a shallow bowl and top with the spicy shrimp and any additional sauce. Top with chopped scallions and serve!

Tastefully yours,