Grilled greek salad with chicken

Okay, Okay...so I'm getting a bit repetitive gushing about the wonderful salad recipes in Ellie's Cookbook Weeknight Wonders, but, it's true. Her salads are so good and this one was no exception. Really good!

I'll give you that there are more than 1 million google recipes for a grilled greek salad but that doesn't make it less good, right? I seem to recall one of the Iron Chef's ridiculing the notion of grilling romaine lettuce (Flay?) but it really adds interest and a diversity of texture to the salad. Grilled lemon is fun too. This salad really rocked and was a complete meal! Props to EK for making it good and making it healthy.

The only thing we considered changing next time is a pinch more salt at the end -- Julie added it and said it made all the difference.

Mozzarella,, tHomato, and peach salad

Another great salad from EK. No shock there. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the book is the worth the price for the salads alone! 5 Stars, 10 on 10, awesome...you get the message. It was super easy to make and only 270 calories. Clean-up a breeze too.

We used a mango instead of a peach (seasonal thing) and the mango delivered enough sweetness to make the salad work. I might suggest a variation to this recipe. (Good chance to see if Ellie actually reads this blog).

Instead of tossing the greens in oil and vinegar, I suggest whisking the oil and vinegar with some finely minced rosemary and an equal part of maple syrup. It'll impact a nice rosemary taste and really work to cut the bitterness of the arugula too. I've made a similar salad before and it's really good.

Thai vegetable curry with tofu

We had time to make dinner last night -- just no time to blog about it. First, credit goes to Julie for cooking this meal from A to Z. She even did the grocery shopping! Thanks sweetheart. This dish started out with an incredible disadvantage. Having had the orange-seseame chicken stir-fry with snow peas the night before, well, it's a little like following Lea Michelle in a talent competition -- it never had a chance!

That said, and given that it was a vegetarian dish, this recipe fought hard to make an impact and it mostly succeeded. We rate it as pretty darned good though maybe a bit bland. I think on the next go-around I'll double the amount of red curry a paste to amp it up a bit.

At 260 calories it was a nice meal to be sure. It took less than 30 minutes and the clean-up was a breeze. If I am ever charged with cooking vegetarian for friends I'd proudly serve this dish (taking full credit for the recipe)!

Orange-sesame chicken stir-fry with snow peas

WOW! This was excellent. One thing about Ellie Krieger -- her salads and her stir-frys are incredible and this one was no exception. Truly and excellent dish and only 370 calories with none of the hidden nasties that so often come with restaurant stir-frys.

My favorite Sous Chef (Julie) handled the wok tonight for dinner - it's her biannual tradition - and she did an outstanding job. I managed the ingredients and prep work but she sautéed the chicken and then managed the wet ingredients. Such a pretty girl in the kitchen or out!. We made no modifications to this recipe although we did zest the orange into thin strips using a zester and left them in the dish. Served with whole-grain rice. Fabulous.

Thanks EK for the great recipe. Thanks too for your sense of humor when I posted the following to twitter.

Ellie Krieger (James) Bearded

Mediterranean Chopped Salad AND Lamb Kabobs with Pomegranate Sauce

Tonight we went with a Mediterranean theme -- pretty darned good! Ellie's salad once again failed to disappoint. I'll tell you what - people that toss a bunch of iceberg lettuce into a bowl before covering it with nasty 'ol store bought dressing are really missing out! I'd buy this book just for the salads.

The Mediterranean Chopped Salad was absolutely delicious and refreshing. I chilled it for a bit before serving it and I also shook the tHomato pieces in a colander to get rid of the pulpy membrane. So good - Julie, myself and the giant all loved it! The Lamb Kabobs with Pomegranate Sauce were less good but that's really not the fault of the recipe -- I overcooked the kabobs to just short of well done. A couple of things about this recipe: 1.) It's a messy time with balsamic reductions, 2.) there will certainly be nasty/sticky dishes to clean up, 3.) I cooked it on a range-top grill pan -- next time I'll use the outdoor grill, 4.) I could not find a pomegranate to seed so we omitted that from the recipe.

So...the bottom-line is simple. Awesome food in 30 minutes or less. Really well conceived and executed recipe by Ellie Krieger. Or should I say JAMES BEARD NOMINATED ELLIE KRIEGER!

Chinese Vegetable Soup with Pork

Been away for a while...sick for a few weeks, traveling for a few, getting ready to move... the blog suffered (but we tried to maintain a healthy diet nonetheless). For lunch today we got back "into" the whole Ellie Krieger adventure (we missed you EK) and made some pretty tasty soup. Julie summed it up best as tasting "super-healthful" and as "good trending to very good". I thought it lacked punch! so I added some hot sauce to the soup to kick it up a notch!

The recipe was quick and really easy to follow. I do think there was a slight error in the recipe because it did not fully instruct when to add the pork back to the soup pot. I added it with the baby bok choy, etc. It's a one-pot recipe (love) and I used two cutting boards (raw pork) but the clean-up was easy. The yield was substantial....you get a ton of soup to enjoy -- we struggled to finish our bowls full! Thanks for the recipe EK!

Spinach, herb and goat cheese frittata

Been a while since I've been able to cook from this cookbook. I've missed it.

I made the spinach, herb and goat cheese frittata for dinner this evening and served it with sliced tomatoes drizzled with Italian herb-infused olive oil and a slice of crusty whole-wheat bread. It was a delicious and beautiful way to get back into the habit of cooking from this wonderful cookbook. My photo doesn't really match the book photo but I attribute that to my lame-a$$ electric broiler. Other than that the recipe was fast, easy and earthy delicious. I was concerned I would leave the meal feeling hungry but not at all the case. All I need to know; If real men don't eat quiche; do they eat frittatas?

Meatballs with simple marinara

Been laid up with a bad cold since Thursday so my blogging came to a screeching halt. I made this dish for dinner this past Wednesday night for my teenage giant and myself.

You know, my favorite spaghetti recipe of all-time happens to be an Ellie Krieger recipe from one of her other cookbooks. It's so delicious that I make it for company from time to time. Needless to say, I expected that this recipe would be just as good! Sadly no...

Don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with this recipe. Easy and fast to make (like all the recipes in this book). The problem I had was with the flavor and I readily admit that my taste buds might have been compromised by my upcoming cold. I would liken the meatballs to more like meatloaf than meatballs. I think adding onions to the recipe might be a good idea. Broiling them until browned before plopping them in the sauce would also be a good idea. Might even consider adding some moisture-free chopped spinach to the meat. As they were, they just lacked interest and pop. I'll have to try this recipe once more to give it a better chance without a cold.

Back to cooking healthy this week upcoming. Cold is getting close to gone.

Ancho chicken salad with jícama, orange, and avocado

Right off the bat, write down the ingredients for the chicken rub and use it all over the place -- awesome! As a whole, this was another great Ellie Krieger salad. Her salads all rock!

We did a fair amount of substituting with this recipe. To begin, I used New Mexico pepper instead of ancho chile powder because I didn't have ancho powder and I wanted to use the New Mexico powder I had on hand. A relatively minor sub. The second substitution was yacón for jícama. They are pretty similar and not being able to find jícama made it a no-brainer. The third substitution did affect the flavor of the dish -- substituted grapefruit for the orange slices. (I really thought I had an orange!)

Even with my two minor substitutions, and the one major substitution, the dish was really enjoyable. I definitely think it would be better with the orange slices contrasting against the rubbed chicken -- but it was awesome as prepared. One thing is for sure - Ellie's salad recipes are going into my standard cooking rotation once I have cooked my way through the book. Thanks EK!

Note: I used a paillard of chicken for more predictable grilling and maximum flavor.

Pistachio-crusted tilapia AND Orange-balsamic green beans with basil

Starting with the Pistachio-crusted tilapia I find it interesting that the facing page to this recipe is last night's dinner! Let's just call these two facing pages "Night and Day". The tilapia was delicious although difficult to make. Getting the nut mixture to adhere to the sides of the fish fillets was nearly impossible. Also, I still wonder why the recipe called for 1 1/2 pounds of fish? That seems like an awful lot of protein. I'm sure Ellie Krieger knows what she's doing, but it did make me wonder. Cooking it in the pan and then transferring it to the oven did create a nice outside texture while preserving it in the oven made the fish flaky and moist -- five stars.

The Orange-balsamic green beans with basil was also just wonderful. I was fortunate to have some olive oil infused with blood orange so I got a major (welcomed) overdose of orange with my preparation. Sneakily, I scraped a few of the cooked pistachios that dislodged from the fish while cooking into the final product (post-photo) to add a bit of crunch. The shallots cooked down nicely and added a great element. The basil, added very little in my view -- it just sort of wilted away to nothing. All said, Ellie Krieger proves once again that her sides and her salads are always SUPERIOR.

Creamy asparagus soup

I suppose it's a safe bet that asparagus soup is generally a pretty healthy and low-calorie item in most recipes. In fact, taking a look at epicurious.com I see a version for half as many calories though not as much nutrition. The Ellie Krieger soup we made was just 180 calories (epicurious was 93) though the Weeknight Wonders version had twice the fiber and 50% more protein. Hey, it's not just about calories after all.

As for the taste...really nice. The lemon added at the end with the yogurt really lends a lot of flavor to the dish. It's easy to make even though EK seems hell-bent on making me wash my food processor on a daily basis! Grrr..... It was really good with the whole-wheat baguette. I rate this as very good!

Pasta in creamy tuna sauce with arugula

Admittedly, I like Ellie Krieger. We share a tweet here, and share a tweet there, and it's all good fun. I also like her approach to cooking, her credentials, and in general, her sweet disposition and quick mind. She's all good! Because of that, I have always wondered how I'd handle a review for a recipe I truly did not like. I guess the answer is: 1.) shower her with praise, 2.) write an honest review. Here goes...apologies to Ellie Krieger.

On the plus side, this dish is one of the easier dishes to cook in the book. You basically whip some fish with oil and capers, toss it with arugula and pasta, and done! That's good that it's so easy. On the negative side was the texture and the general taste. As I ate it, I just kept thinking to myself how mayonnaise was really missing. It was pasty and didn't smell overly good. It was also pretty darned bland.

I'm not Ellie Krieger, nor am I a trained chef or dietician. I am sure there are ways to make this better that stay loosely within the overall rules of good nutrition. I doubt mayo is one of them though, so...I won't be recommending this recipe to the people that have connected with me, but, if something like this sounds good to you, go for it. My palette is far from definitive.

This weeks menu (Feb 10 - Feb 14)

Monday Lunch
(Leftover) Savory Carrot-Cashew Soup

Monday Dinner
Pasta in creamy tuna sauce with arugula (page 208)

Tuesday Lunch
Whole-grain baguette
Creamy asparagus soup (page 62)

Tuesday Dinner
Orange-balsamic green beans with basil (page 244)
Pistachio-crusted Tilapia (page 209)

Wednesday Lunch
Ancho chicken salad with jicama, orange and avocado (page 56)

Wednesday Dinner
Celery, radish, and herb salad (page 34)
Meatballs with simple marinara (page 107)

Thursday Lunch
Penne with grape tomatoes, spinach, and toasted garlic (page 224)

Thursday Dinner
Individual tri-color salad pizzas (page 216)

Friday Lunch
Whole-grain bread
Mozzarella, tHomato and peach salad (page 42)

Friday Dinner
Chipotle beef-stuffed portobello mushrooms (page 105)

Beef and scallion "negimaki" stir-fry AND Parsley Potatoes

My sister beat me to making this one so we had high hopes. WE WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED!

The Beef and scallion "negimaki" stir-fry was incredibly flavorful We used portabello mushrooms instead of shiitake which was just lovely. The mushrooms were the tastiest part of the beef dish -- soaked up all that broth goodness and exploded in our mouths with flavor. All-in-all a really traditional recipe but who says traditional can't be delicious and healthy too!

The Parsley Potatoes were also simple to make and probably a pretty standard type of recipe too. I suspect the temptation to slather butter on them might be hard to resist for some people but we stuck with the plan. I have lost 13 pounds in the last three weeks by eating from this cookbook -- why fight it? Besides, they were just as good without the extra salt and butter.

If you need further proof that this meal was incredibly delicious, I'll quote from the teenage giant, "Is there more?"

Blog Viewership

I'm absolutely stunned by the reach of this humble little blog. Here is the list of countries this far:

• US
• India
• United Kingdom
• Kuwait
• Russia
• South Africa
• Germany
• Malaysia
• Canada
• Hong Kong
• Nepal
• Australia
• Russia
• Japan
• India
• Jamaica
• Ireland
• Cyprus
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• Kuwait
• Belgium
• Ireland
• Latvia
• Ukraine
• Puerto Rico
• Portugal
• Poland
• Philippines
• Oman
• Norway
• Nigeria
• Namibia
• Malta
• Egypt

I wonder how many people have bought the book or at least googled the recipes? It's been a really fun experience. I've lost over 13 pounds and have now cooked 28% of the recipes in the book. I'll compile and share a list of our favorites at some point in time -- might wait until the very end.

Happy, healthy eating!

"Falafel" salad

Admittedly, when I first leafed through the book the "falafel" salad was not one of the recipes that sprang forth declaring, "try me, try me"! Let's chock that up to my own lack of adventure? This salad, like all of Ellie Krieger's salad recipes, was rock-on good -- even great!

The recipe was infused with all the major healthy spices (cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper) which served as a dressing with toasted pita bread, tHomatoes, cucumbers and chickpeas. There are other ingredients too but these are the main ingredients. The one thing probably not found in most US pantries is tahini (sort of a peanut butter made from sesame seeds?). Anyway, the recipe was easy. Chop, whisk, toast and go. A full meal by itself and a perfect lunch entree.

Julie, the teenage giant, and I all raved about this one. A real keeper and such a bonus to get outside of the normal taste palette we've eaten for so long. Awesome job EK.

Wok-charred lettuce and spinach noodle with shrimp

All snowed-in in Portland (I know, right!) so we had plenty of time to prepare and enjoy this wonderful dish. I made portions for 4 (Julie and I plus the teenage giant [ double servings ] ) and found the recipe to be easy to follow for sure. We all rated it "very good" and really had no complaints.

I was lucky enough to find some fresh-made spinach fettuccine which was delightful. Oregon fresh shrimp were also amazing - so juicy in this preparation they were something to truly look forward to eating. If you want it spicier you can always add more sriracha, either as part of the preparation, or just dashed on top. We didn't. There was enough of an undercurrent of heat by following the recipe closely. This dish was really good - will definitely make it again and again.

Guinness and beef skillet stew (THom's FHavorite)

We thought this was a good stew. It wasn't "awesome" but it was delicious and only 430 calories. Julie is not a huge fan of pearl onions so that was the source of her angst; I thought it wasn't quite thick enough so I'll make a note to cook it down a bit before adding the carrots, potatoes and onions.

This was very easy to make and took all of the 30 minutes. Reviewing the nutrition this dish is seriously healthy. I was able to knock out the dishes while the stew simmered which made clean-up after dinner a breeze --- that's a bonus! One suggestion, weigh the ingredients to keep the flavor balance in check. After all, Mrs. Krieger has gone to a lot of trouble to keep us healthy and happy. ;-)

Pumpkin seed pesto wraps

Not quite sure how Ellie came up with this recipe? Whipping pumpkin seeds in a food processor with other savory ingredients? Well, it mostly worked.

For us, it needed a bit more kick or something to make it special. It was certainly good, but it was crying out for something extra -- hot sauce maybe? extra tomatoes? more salt? Not quite sure. It was definitely easy to make (even though messing up my food processor is always low on my priority list) and it was certainly unique. I'd make it again and serve it with a bowl of soup. I have a feeling I am going to be hungry in a few hours

Final note: I bought red lettuce but couldn't find it. It's probably rolling around in the back of my car somewhere. We substituted romaine lettuce leaves. I bet the crunch and flavor of the cabbage would elevate this recipe to a higher level

Amaretti-Peach Parfait

I'd eat this on Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie! Unbelievably good and only 260 calories? WOW! WOW! WOW! We couldn't locate Amaretti cookies so we substituted "Newman's Own Vanilla Alphabet Cookies" in the recipe. Of course, that might affect the calorie count but at only 140 calories total for this recipe for 4, I doubt it

This was so good it defies description. BY FAR the best dessert recipe we've had from the book. Thanks Ellie

Steak Fajitas

The power outage meant no home-cooked lunch but we got the lights back on in time for this awesome version of Steak Fajitas. Julie, the teenage giant, and I, all really liked the flavors and the ease of cooking -- love the one pot! The fresh tomatoes, semi-carmelized onions and peppers, refreshing avocado and cool sour cream made it all sing!

The one issue we had was with the whole-wheat tortillas. Every one of them had a hole in it, or teared while we were trying to separate them, so we went with corn instead. Again, we didn't miss the whole-wheat tortilla at all.

Thanks Ellie for a great alternative to steak fajitas.

No lunch today

Power outage in our high-rise due to nearby construction left us with soup and salad nearby.  Sorry blog followers. Hopefully dinner can still happen!

Parmesan-crusted chicken breasts AND Pan-steamed broccoli with lemon, garlic, and parsley gremolata

I seem to recall Ellie Krieger telling someone (on TV) that Parmesan-crusted chicken breasts are one of her favorite go-to meals at home. It's no wonder! First of all, can we all say in unison "healthy recipe with fried cheese"? I'm the first to admit that my first try at this dish was weak (there must be an art to getting enough cheese on each breast) but even weak, the chicken was awesome. I loved it! Fast. Super-easy. Delicious!

Julie and my teenage giant (Connor) actually preferred the Pan-steamed broccoli with lemon, garlic, and parsley gremolata. A little disagreement over varying degrees of excellence is a healthy thing, don't you think? For me, the broccoli was a little too lemony which is something that can be easily controlled. I'll make a note and maybe toss the dish with less lemon juice/zest, but serve it with lemon slices for anyone so inclined.

Side note: This blog is starting to explode (modestly) with 25% of my total page views coming today. I am now 22 countries strong with heavy trending in the UK and Canada. It's kind of fun to watch. Hope people are buying the book and enjoying the very healthful recipes. I know we are!

Mushroom sloppy joes

The blog is starting to gain some steam. Thus far we have been visited by 20 countries (US, India, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Russia, South Africa, Germany, Malaysia, United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Nepal, Australia, Russia, Japan, India, Jamaica, Ireland, Cyprus, Turkey) and today alone has had more than 400 visitors. That's pretty amazing. I hope Ellie is selling more books because of this...she deserves it.

For lunch today we had mushroom sloppy joes. "Sloppy" and "mushroom" certainly belong in the title. Not really sure where the "joe" comes from.... At any rate, this was a decent version of a sloppy joe. I thought it lacked something...more vinegar maybe? less molasses? fewer mushrooms? I can't really put my finger on it. While it was definitely a tasty dish, it was a bit muddy to me.

I'll make this again and toy with the ingredients a bit. Probably do a little less mushroom, a little more vinegar and half as much molasses. I'd love to hear feedback from anyone else...

Buy the way, the cool and crisp shredded romaine salad was a nice accompaniment.

This weeks menu (Feb 3 - Feb 7)

Monday Lunch

Mushroom sloppy joes (page 93)
Cool and crisp shredded romaine salad (Page 28)

Monday Dinner

Pan-steamed broccoli with lemon, garlic, and parsley gremolata (Page 253)
Parmesan-crusted chicken breasts (Page 134)

Tuesday Lunch

Chinese vegetable soup with pork (Page 74)
Sesame quinoa (Page 260)

Tuesday Dinner

Steak Fajitas (Page 98)
Amaretti-peach parfait (Page 278)

Wednesday Lunch

Pumpkin seed pesto wraps (Page 87)

Wednesday Dinner

Guiness and beef skillet stew (Page 108)
Crusty bread

Thursday Lunch

(Leftover) sloppy joes
(Repeat) cool and crisp shredded romaine salad

Thursday Dinner

Wok-charred lettuce and spinach noodle stir-fry with shrimp (Page 179)

Friday Lunch

"Falafel" Salad (Page 51)

Friday Dinner

Pasta in creamy tuna sauce with arugula (Page 208)
Coconut-date truffles (Page 290)

Chicken enchiladas with avocado sauce

What do you get when you combine an Ellie Krieger recipe with the mastery of Rick Bayless? Answer:A little slice of heaven. This is our new favorite from the book! It was so good and really easy too! The amount of heat you'll have with your enchiladas (ours resembled tacos) is entirely dependent on the Tomatillo salsa you use. We looked to the master, Rick Bayless, and his Frontera Grill tomatillo salsa. It was truly one of the best things we've ever eaten!

I have two signed cookbooks in my kitchen. One by Ellie Krieger and one by Rick Bayless. All I can say is I know how to choose my chefs! Stupendous!

Savory carrot-cashew soup AND chicory salad with green apple, cranberries, and blue cheese

Lunch today was really nice. The Savory carrot-cashew soup should really have the word "ginger" in the title -- it made the soup great from good. Was it easy to make? Yeah, the ingredients were easy to handle and the instructions were great, however, two pots and my food processor? dishes galore! I probably should have done a better job food processing the soup, and I probably should have let it cook down a bit more to thicken it...next time.

The chicory salad with green apple, cranberries, and blue cheese was the star of lunch. I couldn't find chicory at the grocery store which didn't upset me too much. Whenever I think of chicory I think of horrible coffee in New Orleans with chicory in it.... not my cup of, er, tea? I substituted the chicory with dandelion greens which was a good find. I like the flavor of dandelion greens and they are super healthy too. (Ellie - give 'em a try!) The salad was really good like all of Ellie's salads. The play of vinegar on the apple, the tart cranberries and the decadent cheese. A really good play of flavors and another "keeper" salad from EK.

Ravioli with savory pumpkin sauce AND Spinach salad with mushrooms and red onion

The ravioli with savory pumpkin sauce was ridiculously easy to make. It was a lot less spicy than most of the dishes we've made thus far but it was really a comforting dish. I mean really, who does''t like pumpkin and nutmeg? My notes in the cookbook are to add a bit more nutmeg next time around. Of course, cooking the pasta to just 'al dente' is smart -- finish the ravioli in the sauce just like with any other pasta.

The spinach salad with mushrooms and red onion had all the makings of another great salad compliments of Ellie Krieger. We still enjoyed it but in all honesty I bought the mushrooms on Tuesday and they were pretty dried out. I also bought a red onion that was far too large. The recipe calls for 1/2 of a small red onion and that's good advice. Don't get me wrong -- the salad was still wonderful. It went really well with the savory ravioli dish too.

One-pot dominican-style chicken and rice

We've got a new number one favorite recipe! Julie and I both agreed that this one knocked it out of the park. The complexity of flavors from all the spices; the perfectly cooked moist chicken; the occasional salty olive (it's OK spellcheck gods if you changed "olive" to "love" for me -- that'll work!)...

Buy the book and cook this recipe! You can send me a thank you note later.

If the flavors weren't enough of a treat...it was fast and easy and only used ONE POT! I did the spices "mise en place" ​[mi zɑ̃ ˈplas] (fancy talk for getting them all ready before cooking) but Ellie lays it all out so neatly that anyone with moderate kitchen skills can keep up with her step-by-step directions. Final thought: DAMN! GOOD!

Pasta fagioli with zucchini

45 degrees and rainy/windy weather - how fortuitous that I had soup on the menu for lunch today. This dish was really good. It was fast and easy enough for even the most novice home cook to prepare and enjoy. We love pasta fagioli and have been making one recipe or another for decades. This is the first recipe that didn't have a small amount of ground meat added and it got by just fine without it! I'd recommend chopping the zucchini small and dropping it several minutes after the noodles -- it'll keep it slightly crunchy.

My plan was to freeze a couple of servings (note: this soup is 1 1/2 cups instead of 2 cups for serving size) but I'm not sure the zucchini will freeze well. I'll probably just feed the extra to my over-sized teenager and be done with it!

Salmon with savory rhubarb sauce

Oh, hell yes! This meal was absolutely wonderful even though I overcooked the asparagus to the point of being nearly inedible. The rhubarb sauce stole the show. It was so delicious even though I made two major substitutions.

I was out of basil so I substituted savory. The biggest substitution was as big as they come -- I couldn't find rhubarb so I used the red stalks from swiss chard. I have no idea what the rhubarb would taste like in this recipe but I'd be willing to bet it wouldn't compete with the chard. The honey, wine and orange juice all sweetened it up nicely and it went perfectly with the sockeye salmon. Besides the destroyed asparagus I made a quinoa / whole wheat rice combination. It went really well with the fish dish. 5 Stars!

Perfect Meal? Maybe! Celery, radish and herb salad WITH Asparagus and mozzarella pizza AND Pears baked with sweet pecan and brie topping

The Celery, radish and herb salad was refreshing and delicious. Of course it was easy to make and took less than 30 minutes - much less. I've been really impressed with Ellie's salad recipes. Buying salad dressing at the stores is definitely not the way to go! Awesome - loved by all!

The Asparagus and mozzarella pizza rocked. My teenager thought it was a bit bland but good. Julie and I totally enjoyed the roasted asparagus nestled in two different kinds of cheeses. We also loved the hearty/earthy whole-wheat dough for the pie. Turned out great and was delicious. There is no real confusion with the recipe. Just remember when it tells you to "brush it with oil" she is talking about the asparagus tips, not the whole pie. Anyway, the thing was great / awesome / wonderful and we are pretty big home-made pizza snobs!

And finally, dessert. We were pretty full at this point but I promised a dessert would be part of tonight's blog so we made it anyway. Super glad we did too! What's not to like about baked pears, fresh nutmeg and fresh ground cinnamon, toasted pecans and brie? It was a superstar combination in our view. Really good - will serve for company any time.

Ellie Krieger - you cook and create as beautifully as you look! Thanks.

Rush-hour chili

Darn Good! That's the 2 word description of this dish. It was very easy to make, looked good, tasted good! I'm really happy that I have leftovers to eat on Tuesday for lunch. I used Muir Glen tHomatoes (I love those products), went with black beans as opposed to kidney beans or pinto beans, and used 93% lean ground sirloin. At 450 calories it's a pretty hearty lunch.

I'm really hard pressed to come up with anything negative? Maybe a bit more heat would have been good. Chunk some hot sauce on top and you're good to go if you need it. Wonderful. Thank you Ellie Krieger!

This weeks menu (Jan 27 - Jan 31)

Monday Lunch
Rush-hour chili (Page 101)

Monday Dinner
Asparagus and mozzarella pizza (Page 215)
Celery, radish and herb salad (Page 34)
Pears baked with sweet pecan and brie topping (Page 285)

Tuesday Lunch
Leftover rush-hour chili

Tuesday Dinner
Salmon with savory rhubarb sauce (Page 196)
Steamed asparagus and cous cous

Wednesday Lunch
Pasta fagioli with zucchini (Page 70)
Left over celery, radish and herb salad

Wednesday Dinner
One-pot dominican-style chicen and rice (Page 159)
Cool and crisp shredded romaine salad (Page 28)

Thursday Lunch
Leftover Pasta fagioli with zucchini

Thursday Dinner
Ravioli with savory pumpkin sauce (Page 223)
Spinach salad with mushrooms and red onion (Page 30)

Friday Lunch
Savory carrot-cashew soup (Page 76)
Chicory salad with green apple, cranberries and blue cheese (Page 37)

Friday Dinner
Chicken enchiladas with avocado sauce (Page 145)
Zucchini, spinach and corn sauté (Page 254)

Mini pumpkin "jar cakes"

It's been a busy three day weekend in the beautiful Oregon mountains and high desert so I haven't cooked too much. I did manage to get home in time last night to make dessert though. The mini pumpkin jar cakes had a nice flavor to them. To be honest, working with frozen vanilla yogurt is obviously not my thing!

So...this recipe was easy to make with common ingredients and good instruction. I'm only going to give it a mid-level rating partly because of my yogurt difficulties and partly because of the flavor. I gave it every chance of success too. Freshly micro-planed nutmeg, fresh ground cinnamon...you get the picture. Sorry Ellie... I'm sure it's me and not you. :-)

shrimp creole

Only 330 calories? WOW! This dish was so full of powerful flavors and a piece of cake to make. Modifications: I discovered I was out of onions (last night I tossed one that had gone bad) so I used a couple of shallots instead. I also added a small orange bell pepper I had laying around. (color is good, right EK?) I also added about twice as much water in the beginning of the recipe -- it was getting too dry. Recipe told me that was normal so I felt good about that.

The dish was a snap to make -- love those darned Muir Glen tHomato products! The shrimp were cooked perfectly moist! Just really good food for 330 calories. I've made creole 20 times before without really checking into the nutritional values. They were probably pretty healthy too but I know this one was good for me and mine. ThX EK!

Orzo with shrimp, peas, herbs and feta WITH Bananas brûlée à la mode with coconut

The Orzo with shrimp, peas, herbs and feta was a superstar dish. Tough to mess this one up too. The onion I had bought was a bit sorry looking when I cut into it so I used a red onion instead. The dish was well-balanced and plenty flavorful with nice lemony notes in every bite. I didn't add the pepper from the recipe and cut the salt in half. Next time I make it I will definitely add more peas and a bit more basil. It's not that the recipe requires these changes, I just really like those ingredients.

The Bananas brûlée à la mode with coconut (making me use all the unusual characters Ellie?) was tasty as heck. It would have been even better but I dropped the frozen vanilla yogurt container into the dish water -- no three second rule there! The coconut was super tasty like you'd expect toasted coconut to be...the brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon added some familiar flavoring. Beware though, in my broiler they were well and truly melted in less than one minute.

I've cooked a lot of dishes from the book already and continue to have fun blogging about it. Just today I ordered up a few more cookbooks to give as gifts to people following my progress. I'm starting to think Ellie needs to show up when I cook the final recipe from the book. Bring your waffle iron Ellie and we'll make double-chocolate waffles à la mode! My waffle iron is somewhere in a storage facility!

Shotgun wedding soup (modified)

So...I had left over turkey breast from last night's butchering of Tom (not Thom). I used that in the recipe instead of ground meat -- I cut it into small pieces. I also substituted 4 of the cups of chicken broth with 4 cups of vegetable broth so I made this with half chicken broth and half vegetable broth. No big reason, just didn't have enough chicken broth. Finally, I micro-planed 1/2 of a nutmeg into the egg, parmesan and parsley mixture. Recipe didn't call for it but I love the parmesan, nutmeg and spinach combination and I'm pretty sure nutmeg is a "use all the time" ingredient. In fact, I really like heating the broth with a parmesan rind in the broth but didn't go that route today.

The recipe was scrumptious - I knew it would be. I made it on-the-fly instead of what I had planned because I had all the ingredients on hand to go with the leftover turkey meat. Just a really good recipe. Make it - love it! Thanks Ellie.

P.S. - I saw Ellie make this same recipe on HealthTV today. Quite the media goddess there Ellie K. You are everywhere!

Thanksgiving skillet dinner WITH Potato mash-up

Was I off my game tonight cooking this one? I don't think so, but maybe. To begin, it all tasted perfectly good especially considering it was 510 calories total! I haven't been making the entire recipe (cooking for 2 instead of 4) but tonight I cooked for four. My gigantic 17-year-old got a double portion. HE WAS DONE BEFORE ME!

The Turkey was nicely breaded and flavorful. I might have added more paprika to it for a bit more unique flavor. I ended up buying a turkey breast and making my own cutlets because I could not find cutlets for sale. (Turkey noodle soup for lunch tomorrow). I will say that there was an awful lot of broth left in the pan when it was time to serve. I double-checked the recipe and I followed it correctly -- I am wondering why it didn't thicken a bit more? Maybe I should have added a bit more flour toward the end? The Potato mash-up is a combination of celery root, parsnip and potato -- it tasted good albeit a bit "rooty". There was plenty left over which means I don't actually know what a "medium celery root" looks like. Still, really fun and good. I tossed a bit of the leftover broth on it (post-picture) to heighten the flavor.

I can't honestly say this was a "wow" dish and I can honestly say it doesn't replace a Thanksgiving meal. Still....quite good and another good meal from Ellie Krieger!

Pork tenderloin with fennel and grapes

Ridiculously easy to make. I still had half a pork tenderloin left over from last night's dinner (cooking for two does that) so it made sense to make this dish for lunch. I don't think it took 20 minutes to make the whole recipe and it was 20 minutes well spent! Julie is not a big fan of grapes but she really loves fennel so she had mixed POSITIVE reviews. I like both grapes and fennel (and who doesn't like pork?) so I gave it very good marks. We served it with a repeat cool and crisp shredded romaine salad. The lemon in the salad combined with a hint of lemon used when finishing the pork made the two pretty complimentary. Once again, Ellie Krieger rocks the house with a great meal! Thanks for a delicious 300 calorie lunch.

Pork tenderloin with sweet-and-sour red cabbage and dried cherries WITH Egg noodles with onions, caraway and parsley

The pork tenderloin with sweet-and-sour red cabbage and dried cherries drew mixed reviews. Julie gave it a "Very Good" and I went with a "Pretty Good". The difference is easily traced to a love of Apple Cider Vinegar. I slightly messed up the recipe by shredding the cabbage instead of slicing it (made it a bit messier) and I couldn't find dried cherries at the grocery so I substituted dates (I know, I know!). To my credit I added fewer dates than the recipe called for if using cherries because of the calories! Cherries are really good for you, dates, less so... Back to the recipe, I liked it and would make it again but only with cherries. The tenderloin itself was moist and flavorful and the recipe was super easy to make.

The Egg noodles with onions, caraway and parsley was enjoyed equally between us! First, can we all agree that Caraway Seeds are awesome? I couldn't find whole-wheat egg noodles so I substituted a spinach egg noodle variety. I have no idea if it was a healthy alternative -- seemed likely to be better than standard egg noodles. The caramelized onions were amazing in this recipe, and even though the green noodles piled up next to the bright red cabbage made for a less than aesthetically pleasing plate (Christmas massacre anyone?), the combination was good!

One thing we have learned is to trust Ellie's recommended old pairings. She's pretty smart! Thanks EK!

Shrimp with spinach, garlic and smoked paprika and tomato bread

First, I acknowledge that my food styling is anything but average. I use an iPhone and snap a quickie right before eating. This one came out a little blurry -- oops. About the recipe, there are many things I really loved. One pot - check! Super fast - check! Healthy - check! Flavorful - absolutely check! I made it for lunch in about 20 minutes and that included the time it took me to re-purpose a few whole-wheat rolls into tomato bread.

The tomato bread went wonderfully with the recipe. It's the little bit of crunch that comes from the toasted goodness that is tomato bread that makes a big diff. The smoked paprika as part of the shrimp, garlic and spinach is awesome. Thanks Boz!

Korean beef and broccoli stir-fry

Last night for dinner we enjoyed the Korean beef and broccoli stir-fry recipe. It was truly wonderful -- we ate like kings yesterday and all the recipes were from Ellie's cookbook! This recipe was fast and super-easy to make. We served it with modest amounts of whole-grain rice. I substituted the store-bought kimchi with kimchi I make myself (also a very healthy recipe) and always have on hand for quick snacks or quick sides. I think Julie and I agree that this was one of the best recipes thus far in the book.

I'm really enjoying cooking all of the recipes in Ellie's cookbook. It's fun to cook, fun to share PLUS we are losing weight without feeling at all like we are dieting! Win-Win-Win! I think I'll order a few additional copies of her book and send them to a few people in my life.

Grilled tandoori chicken breasts with Indian-style cucumber salad

OK. Yum!

Easy and fast to make. Love the ultra-healthy spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, cloves and cayenne pepper! Seriously nutritious stuff. The grilled tandoori chicken breasts might be a bit dry all alone but making them with the Indian-style cucumber salad creates a powerful and satisfying combination. Really good.

My former next door neighbors were from Mumbai and would make us Indian food from time to time using spices they brought back from India. I can't honestly say this tops their dishes but then I don't think they were all that concerned with great nutrition either. One thing I do that makes a big difference in dishes like this is I grind my own spices 2 or 3 times a year. Adds zing and full flavor to this sort of dish. Thanks Ellie!