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!

cake and banana toss with spiced chocolate drizzle

Made this last night for dessert and enjoyed the sweet heat! I didn't take a photograph because it really didn't come out that pretty! :-( In fairness, I rushed through the chocolate melting step and the chocolate never really got to drizzle consistency. Maybe I should rename this recipe "cake and banana toss with spiced chocolate Clumps. Nonetheless, it satisfied our desire for something sweet!

In other news, I've now lost more than 5 pounds eating according to Ellie. Mind you, and this is important, this is not a diet. It's really just making making better choices on what you eat and enjoy for most of your meals. Thanks Bosley!

Red bean stew with walnuts and pomegranate

Truth: Of all the recipes I have tried thus far this has been my least favorite. I think (for me) there were too many contrasting things going on with the recipe. Muddy beans, bright parsley, intense pomegranate seeds and walnuts. We served it with cottage cheese (nice offset to the stew heat) and pumpernickel bread. I am happy to have the leftover pomegranate seeds! I cleaned them myself in a bowl of cold water to keep the mess to a minimum.

Vegetarian folks will probably welcome a dish like this as an addition to the normal repertoire. On a positive note: we will be making "cake and banana toss with spiced chocolate drizzle for dessert. Yum!

Cool and crisp shredded romaine salad

Not much to this recipe unless clean, crisp and refreshing is something you crave (I do!). The problem I had was this salad represented my lunch and 80 calories simply wasn't enough for my wife and I. So we did a variation and added chicken paillard to the recipe. I'm sure adding thinly sliced red onions instead of the scallions would be a welcome change...I also considered adding capers. In the end, I ate wonderfully with the salad straight from the cookbook with the half of a chicken breast my wife and I split between us. Truly good -- we felt healthy just eating it!

People, you should seriously be cooking from this book. It's all so darned good. Have a nice day!

Halibut with kale and chorizo in broth AND tHomato bread

We made two recipes from the "Weeknight Wonders" book last night. Each was wonderful - see the following for details

Halibut with kale and chorizo in broth
This dish could not have been more delicious. The fish was flakey and flavorful and the chorizo provided nice little taste sensations here and there. The fish broth (not a fan in general) wasn't fishy at all, in fact, the broth when combined with all the other ingredients was smooth and comforting. The kale was also delicious which isn't always the case with kale. I wasn't looking forward to this dish (kale and fish broth) but I'm glad we made it and was surprised by the result. Great recipe.

THomato bread
The tHomato bread was a great accompaniment to the main course. I loved the crunchiness and the flavor. I found myself dipping the bread into the broth and enjoying the combination. Another great recipe.

Note: I have been posting a link to buy the "Weeknight Wonders" cookbook at the end of my blog entries but the blogger gods keep flagging me as a spammer. If you can't figure out how to find and buy Ellie Krieger's book, "Weeknight Wonders", then you probably shouldn't be cooking with sharp knives! Go buy it - you'll love the flavors and enjoy the health benefits too!

Whole grain penne with chicken, mushrooms and spinach

The biggest challenge with this recipe is in finding enough superlatives to describe the sumptuousness of this wonderful dish. Rich, filling, earthy, amazing, wonderful.... THIS RECIPE ALONE MAKES THE BOOK A WORTHWHILE INVESTMENT. I'll be passing this one along to my kids and their kids! Oh my god Ellie - I bet this one makes Thom a happy camper! Better than restaurant quality. Buy the book here - IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS!

Sole with savory breadcrumb topping and roasted asparagus

The dish was easy to make and tasted wonderful. I went with extra skinny asparagus (much prefer to gnawing on tree trunk stems) and roasted them for 10 minutes. I substituted Sole with Pacific Cod and added a bit more lemon zest than Ellie recommends. The rice was lame - Uncles Bens Whole Grain Microwave... The recipe from the book however, totally rocked! Thanks Ellie! Buy the book here

Chicken and Broken Noodle Soup

I thought the recipe was a bit salty (probably my bad) or I used the wrong kind of chicken broth... The recipe also failed to tell me when to add the ribbons of escarole. All of that said, the soup was hearty, nutritious and wonderful. The two substitutions I made was whole wheat penne for the whole wheat spaghetti, and, I didn't have dried basil so I used italian seasonings instead. It was really good. Thanks Ellie. Buy it here

and here we go...

That's us - Jeff and Julie

I really like Ellie Krieger. I like the fact that she comes at cooking from a healthy point of view -- as a nutritionist first, chef second. Through the years I have cooked many of her recipes liking them all and was excited for the release of "Weeknight Wonders." So this time around, as part of an overall effort to get fitter and feel healthier, I decided I would cook every recipe from her new cookbook and then blog about it -- ala Julie and Julia. I think there are 154 total in the book? That's what this blog represents and I'd be remiss if I didn't dedicate it "to Bosley". Buy it here