Quinoa, mango, and black bean salad

This was the perfect combination of tangy and sweet, along with the texture of the quinoa. I decided to try it after thinking all day about what to make for dinner, and this ended up being a perfect side dish. Plus, I love mangos!

* 1/2 cup quinoa
* 1 cup water
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
* 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
* 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* Pinch of cayenne pepper
* 1 small mango, diced
* 1 small red bell pepper, diced
* 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
* 2 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Toast quinoa in a small dry saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until it crackles and becomes aromatic, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly. Return the quinoa to the pot and add water. Bring to a simmer; reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cover and cook until the quinoa is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, whisk orange juice, cilantro, vinegar, oil, ginger, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl. Add mango, bell pepper, beans and scallions; toss to coat.
3. When the quinoa is finished cooking, add to the mango mixture and toss to combine.

Bacon, Ranch, and Chicken Mac and Cheese

Photo courtesy of Romulo Yanes, Randy Mayor

I feel like there have been a lot of mac & cheese posts on here but I just had to do another one because it is so stinking delicious! Plus, it is definitely a different take on mac & cheese so it is unlike anything you've had before! We love this in our house and it has been my go-to meal to make for friends when they have babies, etc. You do need to like ranch to like this recipe though, just FYI. The combination of onion and garlic powders plus dill creates a flavor similar to ranch dressing. It is just so good! Yay for semi-healthy comfort food!

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 2 cups)

Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni
- 1 slice bacon (this is not enough, I use 2 or 3)
- 8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
- 1/3 cup condensed 45% reduced-sodium 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
- 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded six-cheese Italian blend (I use the 5 cheese blend cuz I can't find 6 cheese)
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh dill (if you don't have fresh, use about 1/4 tsp dried)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Cooking spray
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded colby-Jack cheese (cheddar works too)

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Preparation
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.
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2. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan. Finely chop bacon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add chicken to drippings in pan; sauté 6 minutes or until done. (I don't always use the bacon drippings, seems super unhealthy but if I do, I only use half)

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3. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; sprinkle flour evenly into pan. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Combine milk and soup, stirring with a whisk; gradually add milk mixture to saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat; let stand 4 minutes or until sauce cools to 155°. Add Italian cheese blend, onion powder, garlic powder, dill, and salt, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in pasta and chicken.
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4. Preheat broiler.

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5. Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with reserved bacon and colby-Jack (or cheddar) cheese. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts.

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Nutritional Information
Calories:497
Fat:17g (sat 9.2g,mono 4.7g,poly 1.4g)
Protein:33.3g
Carbohydrate:51.7g
Fiber:2g
Cholesterol:74mg
Iron:2.4mg
Sodium:767mg
Calcium:368mg

Cupcake bites

A few of you asked for the recipe for these when I posted about them on my other blog. So, to make it easy, I will post it here. My friend Yvonne taught me how to make these a couple of months ago. They are definitely a sweet treat and something you might want to consider sharing with others, as they are LOADED with sugar, sugar, sugar, lol.

Step 1: Make a cake, any cake. Whatever flavor you like
Step 2: Pick a can of frosting that will go well with the flavor of cake you baked
Step 3: Pick up 2 different kinds of Wilton candy melts (I used chocolate for the bottom on these ones and then red colored ones for the top shell)You can pick up white ones and add food coloring to make them the color you want if they don't have a color you are looking for.
Step 4: Take the can of frosting and the cake, put them in a bowl and mix them together until mashed and blended well. With a big baking pan/platter, roll the cake/frosting mix into golfball size balls (maybe even a little smaller) and place them on the sheet
Step 5: put the cupcake balls on the sheet in the fridge while you are making the base for the cupcake bite
which, you will need some of these for:

Step 6: Use a frosting bag or a plastic bag (with a tip you can cut off) to put in about 1/4 of the candy melts that you want to use for the base, and melt it in the microwave (or melt it in a ceramic bowl if you don't want to microwave plastic) Start with 20 seconds and add more time if needed
Step 7: pipe the melted candy base into the molds, take the cupcake balls and set them on top of the melted candy base. You want to make sure the mold is almost all the way full of the candy melt base, otherwise the cupcake cake part will not stick to the base when you refrigerate it
Step 8: Put the molds with the cupcake ball on top in the fridge to set, for about 5-10 minutes
Step 9: Take the candy melts that you want to use for the hard candy shell and put them in a microwave safe bowl, big enough for you to be able to dip into. Melt the shell candy until completely smooth
Step 10: Take the base with the cupcake bite out of the fridge, and carefully pop the bases out of the molds. Then, tip the cupcake bite upside down and dip the top into the shell of the candy melt.
Step 11: If desired, top with a garnish of your choice, nonpareils, sprinkles, M&M's (we used white sprinkles and M&M's) and place back onto the baking sheet/platter and let sit in the fridge for another 5-10 minutes
Step 12: Once the shell of the cupcake bite has hardened, you are now ready to enjoy your delicious cupcake bites

FYI: This entire process took us about an hour, not including the baking of the cake (this we did ahead of time), so it's a bit of a lengthy process, but the cupcake bites are worth every minute in the end.

Spinach Salad with Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Nectarines

(photo courtesy of Oxmoor House)

Feast your eyes on the easiest, tastiest salad ever! :o) This salad has become a favorite of mine this summer as it is super easy to make, tastes delicious, and almost has zero clean-up. I got it from CookingLight.com (don't I always post their recipes?)

One thing on the nutritional value. I make this salad as my main course and I'm a big eater so I eat more than their serving size for the nutritional info and if you have a healthy appetite like me and want to feel satisfied, yours will be more than the 169 calories too. Because, I mean really, I want more than 2oz of pork in my meal!

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Prep Time: 16 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

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Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 2/3 cups spinach salad, 1/2 nectarine, about 2 ounces pork, and 2 teaspoons cheese)
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Ingredients
1 (1-pound) peppercorn-flavored pork tenderloin, trimmed
3 nectarines, halved
Cooking spray
2 (6-ounce) packages fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup light balsamic vinaigrette (I use a white balsamic and LOVE it)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

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Preparation
1. Prepare grill.

2. Cut pork horizontally through center of meat, cutting to, but not through, other side using a sharp knife; open flat as you would a book. Place pork and nectarine halves, cut sides down, on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill pork 5 minutes on each side or until a thermometer registers 160°. Grill nectarine halves 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until thoroughly heated. Remove pork and nectarine halves from grill. Let pork rest 10 minutes.

3. Peel off nectarine skin (it will come off easily after being cooked). Cut nectarine halves into slices. Thinly slice pork. Combine spinach and vinaigrette in a large bowl; toss gently to coat.

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4. Divide spinach mixture evenly on each plate. Top each serving evenly with nectarine slices and pork slices. Sprinkle with cheese. Sprinkle evenly with pepper, if desired.
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Nutritional Information
Calories: 169 (31% from fat)
Fat: 6g (sat 2g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.9g)
Protein: 16g
Carbohydrate: 15.8g
Fiber: 3.9g
Cholesterol: 41mg
Iron: 2.9mg
Sodium: 766mg
Calcium: 86mg

Salmon, Asparagus, and Orzo Salad with Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette

(photo courtesy of Oxmoor House)

I made this for dinner last night and it was fantastic. Very easy to make, super light, refreshing, and filling too. If you love dill and lemon, you will love this dish! It is from the Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast cookbook. What is amazing about this dish is that when I made it, it seriously looked just like the picture! When does that ever happen?

This post has two recipes, one for the pasta salad and one for the vinaigrette.

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Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette

Yield: 1/3 cup (serving size: about 1 tablespoon)

Ingredients

- 1/3 cup (1.3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (I didn't have fresh so I used 1teaspoon on dried dill in a jar)

- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

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Preparation

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Salmon, Asparagus, and Orzo Salad

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/4 cups)

Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3-inch pieces
- 1 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
- 1 (1 1/4-pound) skinless salmon fillet
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cooking spray
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

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Preparation
1. Preheat broiler.
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2. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add asparagus; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove asparagus from water with tongs or a slotted spoon, reserving water in pan. Plunge asparagus into ice water; drain and set aside.
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3. Return reserved water to a boil. Add orzo, and cook according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

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4. While orzo cooks, sprinkle fillet evenly with salt and pepper (I added lemon juice and dill too). Place fish on a foil-lined broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness (it took 15 minutes until my salmon was done). Using 2 forks, break fish into large chunks. Combine orzo, asparagus, onion, and Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Add salmon and gently toss again. .
Nutritional Information
Calories: 310 (32% from fat)
Fat: 11g (sat 3.2g,mono 4.7g,poly 2g)
Protein: 26g
Carbohydrate: 24.6g
Fiber: 2.2g
Cholesterol: 56mg
Iron: 1.4mg
Sodium: 333mg
Calcium: 67mg

Macaroni and Four Cheeses

I got this recipe from Eat Smart with Ellie Krieger. It's a little cookbook magazine thing from Fine Cooking. Anyway, it's a healthier version of Mac and Cheese and it was super easy and pretty tasty. Since it's a healthier version it doesn't use as much cheese - next time I make it I might throw in a bit more.
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Cooking spray
One 16-oz box elbow macaroni
Two 10-oz packages frozen pureed winter squash (yep - that's right!)
2 cups low fat milk
1 1/3 cups grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
2/3 cup grated Monterrey jack cheese
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp plain dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp olive oil
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Preheat oven to 375. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

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Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and transfer to the prepared baking dish.
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Meanwhile, place the frozen squash and milk in a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up the squash with a spoon until it is defrosted. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until the mixture is almost simmering, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheddar, jack cheese, ricotta, salt, mustard and cayenne. Pour this mixture over the macaroni and stir to combine.
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Combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oil in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the macaroni and cheese. Bake until the cheeses are bubbling around the edges, about 20 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes so the top is crisp and nicely browned.
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Serves 8, serving size 2 cups.
Per serving:
390 calories
11 grams fat: 1 mono, .5 poly, and 6 saturated
18 grams protein
56 grams carbs
3.5 grams fiber
35 mg cholesterol
547 mg sodium
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*** I could not find frozen squash for the life of me! So I bought two butternut squash, cut them in half, and baked them until they were soft (about an hour). Then I scraped the pulp out and mashed it up. This worked great.

Sesame Orange Chicken

This is my new favorite dish. It is absolutely delicious and MUCH lower in calories and fat than most Chinese restaurant versions. I got the recipe from the Nov/Dec. '09 issue of Eating Well magazine. The recipe actually calls for shrimp but I rarely buy shrimp so I just substituted the shrimp for chicken, which probably changes the nutritional info below but probably not by much. Feel free to use shrimp if you want ... and eat up!

Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds (white, black or a mix)
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch chunks

- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar

Preparation
1. Whisk sesame seeds, egg whites, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a large bowl (I also add garlic powder too). Add chicken and toss to coat.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat (if it isn't non-stick, the chicken will get stuck and it won't work). Add the chicken (one by one, don't dump the whole thing or there will be too much batter) and cook until golden, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

3. Add orange juice, sherry, soy sauce and sugar to the pan (I just use the cooking sherry from the grocery store, but beware, it adds more sodium. I also add some orange zest and fresh grated ginger for extra flavor). Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and reduced by half, 4 to 6 minutes. Return the chicken to the pan and stir to coat with the sauce. Serve immediately, over rice if you wish.

Nutrition:

232 calories

10 g fat (1 g sat, 5 g mono)

168 mg cholesterol

12 g carbohydrates

21 g protein

1 g fiber

488 mg sodium