Food Therapy

I know, I know...everyone already knows about my love of Tex-Mex and yes, I have published an enchilada recipe before, but this one is definitely worthy of a post.

The recipe actually comes from my friend, Stephanie.  We were chatting it up last week and she mentioned that she had a fab enchilada recipe.  So naturally, I had to try it.  Oh...my...god...absolutely delicious!!!  I am so happy that she shared them with me (and now you!).  And not only are they yummy, but they are super easy too...

Stephanie's Chicken Enchiladas
1 package boneless-skinless chicken breast
salt
pepper
cumin
garlic powder
1 package flour tortillas
1 can chopped green chilies
1 block cream cheese (I only use Philadelphia brand...you can sub low fat if you want)
1 bag shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 can diced tomatoes w/ chilies
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 c. heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Place chicken in a baking dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder & cumin.  Bake for 20-25 mins.  This can be done ahead of time.  Let the chicken cool slightly (about 15 mins) then use 2 forks and shred the chicken. 
2. Place a medium size non-stick skillet over medium heat on the stove.  When heated, add the cream cheese, stir until melted.  Add the can of chilies.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Add 1 tsp. cumin.  Stir until incorporated.  Add shredded chicken.  Stir and remove from heat.
3. Meanwhile, mix the can of tomatoes and tomato sauce and cream in a pot.  Heat through over medium heat. 
4. Lay a tortilla on a cutting board.  Spoon 1/8th of the chicken mixture about 3/4 down the flat tortilla.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese (about 1-2 Tbsp).  Roll and place in a greased baking dish.  Repeat until you have 8 enchiladas.  Top with the tomato sauce mixture (you don't have to use all of it).
5. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until heated through.  After about 13 minutes of baking time, top the enchiladas with more shredded cheese. 

Anyone who knows me knows that as much as I love to entertain and go to parties, I HATE showers!  Bridal showers, baby showers...you name it, I hate it.  I mean who really wants to sit around and see who can make the best "dress" out of toilet paper or have you answer questions to see if you really know your fiance?  Or better yet, watch a bunch of 30-somethings try to decipher a baby word scramble?  Talk about feeling like a moron.  The foodie in me didn't hate tasting the baby food, but Jesus, what genius at Gerber though that chicken and apples would be a good combo for an infant?!  I mean really?  Haven't they heard of focus groups?  Anyway...I digress...

The point is, my soon-to-be sister-in-law's shower is this weekend.  Since I love to throw a good party, I was actually looking forward to this one (aside from the 5 hr drive each way)...but, due to extenuating circumstances, I won't be able to go.  Liz...I will be thinking of you as you act surprised opening gifts that you picked out and as you wear your "hat of bows" as everyone takes pictures of you....I made sure that I put extra bows on my gift  :) 

And even though I won't be there, I am still contributing in spirit...Diane will be making the following on my behalf.  And by the way, it is so good that I just have to make some this weekend for myself!

The batter for this streusel-topped breakfast sheet cake can be prepped and chilled in the pan up to 18 hours before baking.

Much to my delight, I have had some great success putting together healthy meals over the past couple of weeks.  I have lost nearly 5 lbs while still enjoying my daily wine consumption.  It's been a really great trade-off and has encouraged me to try some new food combinations in the meantime. 

Since we all know that I don't really "follow" any recipe, I just use them as guidelines, the following recipe is a Greek pork chop and salad, adapted from Cooking Light magazine.

Greek-Style Pork Chops
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, divided
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, mined
4 (4-oz) boneless pork chops (I used bone in, some you can use either)
3/4 c. plain fat-free Greek-style yogurt
1/4 c. reduced fat sour cream
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh dill - chopped

1. Combine 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, oregano, 1 tsp. olive oil, and garlic in a zip-top plastic bag.  Add pork to bag, and seal.  Marinate for 20-minutes at room temperature, turner after 10 minutes.  Combine remaining 1 Tbsp. vinegar, remaining tsp. of olive oil, yogurt, sour cream, dill and 1/8 tsp. of salt in a small bowl.  Stir together with a whisk, cover and chill.
2. Heat a grill pan (or non-stick skillet) over med-high heat.  Coat pan with non-stick cooking spray, remove pork from the bag.  Sprinkle both sides of pork with salt and pepper.  Add pork to pan, and cook for 3-4 mins./side or until desired degree of doneness.  Remove pork from the pan and let stand for 2 minutes.  Serve with Cucumber Greek Salad (recipe below) and top with dill yogurt mixture.

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Toss and chill until ready to eat.

One of the best things about my healthier eating plan, is that I am able to take traditional recipes and make them a little better for me.  It has made my creative juices flow and I am really enjoying the challenge.

Tonight I started with a recipe from Rachael Ray.  In general I find her recipes to be under-seasoned so I always have to adapt them, but this one I took a little bit more creative freedom with. 

Chicken and Roasted Veggie Napoleons
2 large or 3 small portobello mushroom caps (remove the stems and wash) Slice into 1/4-1/2 in. slices
3/4 of a 2.2 lb. tube of prepared polenta sliced into 1/4-1/2 in. slices
1 eggplant, peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/4-1/2 in. pieces (should have 6)
1 zucchini, sliced on the diagonal into 12-18 pieces
1 squash, sliced on the diagonal into 12-18 pieces
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied into 2 pieces (should yield 6 pieces total)
3/4 c. non fat ricotta cheese
1/2 c. reduced fat Italian Cheese Blend
1 Tbsp. Sundried tomato paste (available in the Italian section of the store)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Italian Seasoning

1. Preheat the oven to 400.  Spray a large cooking sheet with Olive Oil Non-stick spray.  Layer zucchini, squash & mushrooms on the tray.  Spray veggies with olive oil spray and top with salt, pepper & garlic powder to taste. Place in oven for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove from oven and set aside.  Repeat process with eggplant and set cooked eggplant aside.

2. Meanwhile heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Spray with non-stick spray and add polenta.  Cook until heated through and crisp on the outside - about 2-3 mins per side. Set aside.

3. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.  Using the same pan, add more non-stick spray (if necessary) and cook chicken.  About 3-4 mins. per side.

4. In a small bowl combine ricotta, Italian cheese & sundried tomato paste.  Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning to taste. 

5.  The eggplant will be the base for the napoleons.  Top each piece of eggplant with 1 piece of chicken, 2-3 pieces of zucchini, 2-3 pieces of squash.  Place 1 large tablespoon of the cheese mixture on top of the veggies and spread out.  Top with 2-3 polenta rounds and one more scoop of cheese mixture.  Top with mushrooms and return the napoleons to the oven for about 5 minutes until heated through.

This meal was incredibly satisfying.  The sundried tomato paste is a perfect way to add a ton of flavor without a lot of calories...not to mention, this is an entire meal in one!  Christopher (my bro) also suggested topping it off with a tomato sauce, which would be delish. 

For those of you that don't know, I am on a mission to lose some ell-bees (lbs.).  I quit smoking over a year ago and as a result of have added about 15 pounds of love. While my husband loves me unconditionally, I am not the long, lean woman that I once was and it kills me.  I have started a much stricter eating program and have finally incorporated some working out into the program.

Despite the need to be more conscience, I feel that I need to maintain some sense of 'normalcy' in order to succeed.  Potatoes and cheese are my weaknesses and but I am still able to eat them all, to a different degree and in moderation.  Tonight I made a "traditional" meat and potatoes meal...with a spin.

Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

It's been an incredibly long time since my last post and I have to apologize...there have been many changes on the Clem/Hendricks homefront in the past month which has resulted in my inconsistent postings.  We have decided to make the big move back to Dallas, but unfortunately, it means another long-distance relationship for the time being.  But enough about that, let's get back to the food...

I have decided to make a concerted effort to eat better which has encouraged me to make new recipes and in some cases use ingredients that I don't typically use.  Tonight I was craving some good, old-fashioned comfort food.  With the new eating regimine, that meant a turkey burger as opposed to my normal beef burger.  But word on the street is that I make a pretty mean turkey burger, so this one definitely hit the spot!

Turkey Burgers
1 package lean ground turkey (about 1 - 1 1/4 lbs)
1 egg
1/4 - 1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 c. finely diced onion (red or white)
1 tsp. worchestershire sauce 
1-2 tsp. montreal seasoning
salt
pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and divide into 5-6 equal patties.  Make a divot in the center of one side of the patty (this stops them from "puffing up").  Cook on med-high grill or cast iron skillet for 5-6 minutes per side.  Add cheese during final 1 minute. Serve on a roll or english muffin.

I served the burgers with a side of green beans and an arugala salad (arugala, fresh parmesan cut with a potato peeler, topped with fresh lemon juice and olive oil).

I think that this healthy eating is a really nice trend that I am going to keep up with.  Expect more recipes with a healthy twist  :)

Ahhh...food therapy complete!

So, I made one of my stand-by, absolute fave Tex-Mex dishes last night.  It is sitting in a holding pattern until Wednesday, but I figured that it was better to share it tonight so you all could enjoy on Wednesday, as well.

This recipe is actually a Lindsay original.  One night I was at my favorite grocery store in the world, Central Market, and didn't feel like cooking.  So, I picked up a prepared meal of Mexican stuffed peppers.  I heated them up and thought that they were really good.  But, as I was eating them I realized that there were things missing...and that I could make these better than what we were eating.

So I had my challenge.  Make these Mexican stuffed peppers.  AND, make them better than what I had eaten before.  Well, after a couple of tries, I had a keeper.  This recipe is so yummy.  It is unlike anything I had ever eaten before.  It has a little bit of heat, a little bit of meat and whole lot of love...so good!

With Cinco de Mayo coming up on Wednesday, I thought that this recipe was too good not to share.


Mexican Stuffed Peppers
4 poblano peppers
1 small yellow onion
fresh cilantro
1 rotisserie chicken
1 bag shredded mexican cheese
1 bag 60 sec. spanish or mexican rice
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
pepper (to taste)
1 Tbsp. cumin
1/2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1/2 tsp. chili pepper
Lg Sour Cream

• Drizzle poblanos with olive oil; sprinkle w/ salt and pepper. Sear skin over gas stove or broil in the oven.
• Shred chicken; place in a bowl (remove skin & discard)
• Dice onion - place in bowl with chicken
• Finely chop cilantro - start with 2-3 Tbsp - add more at the end if you want
• Add 3/4 bag of rice (add more depending on how much chicken you end up with)
• Add 1/2 bag of cheese.
• Mix in rest of ingredients. Add 1/2 container Sour Cream.
• Cut peppers lengthwise, remove seeds and stuff. 
• Place in 350 over for 20 mins. 
• Sprinkle with remaining cheese - bake an additional 5-10 mins.

As I have mentioned before, having this blog really encourages me to think outside the box and come up with more creative meal solutions than I have in the past.  I mean, I can't keep publishing the same recipes over and over again, right?  So, in an effort to expand my horizons, I went only Amazon and added to my cookbook collection.  While I did stock up on the newest Gourmet cookbook, I also added Now Eat This! by Rocco DiSpirito.  The concept is that all meals are under 350 calories, so naturally I had my doubts.  No butter?  No full-fat cheese?  No white bread?  This cookbook went against ever fiber of my being.  But, hey, what did I have do lose but I few lbs?  And if anyone could pull off good tasting, low cal meals, it had to be a James Beard award-winning chef, right?

My first selection was the chicken cordon bleu...I know, I know...I should have known better.  Matt and my Dad both liked it well enough, but I was disappointed.  Low fat ham and low-fat swiss combined for a combination that I felt was bland and uninviting.

But then Night 2 came along...I chose the Zucchini and Eggplant Vegetable Lasagna.  Holy amaze-balls!  This recipe was awesome!  Naturally, I made a few tweaks, but none that added too many calories and came out with a product that I will be happy to make and proud to serve...it's crazy good!

Zucchini & Eggplant Vegetable Lasagna (adapted from Now Eat This! by Rocco DiSpirito)
1 large eggplant, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into long, thin strips (1/4" thick)
3-4 large portobello mushrooms, sliced thin
3 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into long, this strips (1/4" thick)
salt & pepper
nonstick olive oil spray
1 1/4 c. nonfat ricotta
garlic powder
crushed red pepper
Italian Seasoning
3/4 c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3 c. low-fat marinara
1-2 c. (or so) reduced fat mozzarella
1 lb. ground turkey

• Preheat the broiler on high.  Line 3 baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray them with olive oil spray
• Lay the eggplant slices, in a single layer, on one of the baking sheets.  Lay the mushrooms on the second, and zucchini slices on the third.  Season the veggies with S&P to taste and spray them lightly with olive oil spray.  Broil each sheet of veggies until they are slightly browned and mostly tender - 5-7 minutes.  Set aside.
• Preheat over to 450.  Spray 9x13 in. baking dish with olive oil spray - set aside.
• Brown the ground turkey in a frying pan.  Season with S&P to taste.  Drain & set aside.
• In a bowl, combine ricotta & half of parmigiano-reggiano cheese.  Season with garlic powder, Italian seasoning and S&P, to taste.
• Spread 1/4 of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Lay the roasted zucchini on the top of the sauce.Spread 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over zucchini.  Top with 1/3 of the ground turkey and a thin layer of mozz. Repeat the process with the portobello slices, sauce, ricotta, turkey and mozz. Top the entire lasagna with remaining sauce, mozz and parmigiano-reggiano.
• Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes.  Uncover, and continue to bake until the cheese begins to brown, another 10 minutes.  Let lasagna rest for about 5 minutes.

1. I would recommend peeling the eggplant and preparing it earlier in the day or night before.  Layer the eggplant on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with salt - this will remove the excess water for the eggplant.  While the flavore of this lasagna was awesome, it was runny.  Removing the excess water will help.
2. Place a baking sheet on the rack below the lasagna while baking.  The pan will overflow and drip onto the bottom of the oven.

As a girl growing up in the Northeast, I never really embraced the Southern breakfast staple...grits. As a matter of fact, for most of my life I found them rather tasteless and boring...not to mention, the texture of paste. With all of that said, Matt was rather surprised when I ordered Shrimp & Grits for brunch at Hattie's in Dallas.

I don't know what it was, but when I saw them on the table next to me, I was captivated. It was not long before I realized that I had lived my previous 28 years in the dark. I was missing out on a decadent, silky, corn-based food that when topped with shrimp became a delicacy. Seriously...it was amazing. So amazing that I wanted it again and again. I had to replicate it...with some twists of course.

I first made this recipe over a year ago but recently brushed it off to see if it was as good as I remember...it was. It was awesome. It is a little timely to put together, but well worth the wait.

Shrimp & Grits (well...Risotto)

• 1 lb large shrimp - peeled and deveined
• 1 bunch green onions
• 2 cloves garlic - smashed
• 1 shallot
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 5-6 shakes Tabasco
• 2 c. chicken stock

Cheeseburgers are the all American food. I mean, what is better than a warm night and a burger right off the grill? But I find that burgers can be boring...ground beef (or turkey), mixed with a few spices and put on a bun. Anyone who has read my blog can realize that while I do like traditional food, I yearn to put a creative spin on things. Some things are not meant to be adapted, like a good Filet Mignon, but come on people, ground beef is not filet.

I know that I have a tendency to over-explore the fridge (is 8 times a day excessive?), but sometimes opening that door leads to brilliance. OK, maybe not brilliance but good ideas for sure. This one was awesome. Matt and I both loved it and kept wanting to eat more. I will definitely make this one again...let me know what you think!

Italian Style Stuffed Cheeseburgers
1 lb ground beef (85/15)
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1-2 pinches crushed red pepper
4-5 balls of marinated mozzarella cheese (small size)
6 slices American cheese (or provolone)

Preheat grill to medium. Mix everything except mozzarella in a bowl until well incorporated. Split meat into 6 even pieces - set aside 3 and make 3 into thin patties. Cut the mozzarella in thin slices. Place 3-4 slices on the patties. Make the remaining beef into 3 more patties. Place on top of the mozzarella topped patties. Pinch the sides together until well sealed. Grill for 5-6 minutes a side for medium - add cheese on top during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Serve on toasted buns (English muffins are awesome too!). Top with basil mayo (recipe below) and toppings of your choice.

Sometimes the best way to make something unique with one simple addition. This basil mayo is quick, easy and so yummy! The combo of the ground beef, Italian seasoning and fresh basil mayo really takes it all to the next level.

Basil Mayo
1/3 c. mayo (use something good like Hellman's)
10-12 leaves of fresh basil
1 tsp. of the oil from the marinated mozzarella (this is a great way to add tons of flavor - there are so many spices to take advantage of!)
fresh pepper

Place all ingredients in mini food processor and pulse until well incorporated. Add pepper to taste.

By the way, the Cuisinart mini-prep is the best! It's inexpensive and perfect for dips, aiolis, salad dressings, etc. I love it!

Usually I use large tomatoes on the vine for my Caprese salad, but I used some heirloom cherry tomatoes (leftover from Easter), marinated mozzarella and basil and it really made the salad great.

Tomato Mozzarella Salad
Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes (cut in half)
Marinated Mozzarella Balls (cut in quarters)
2 Tbsp. oil from the marinated mozzarella
6-8 basil leaves (sliced thin)
Salt & Pepper

I definitely carried the Italian theme throughout this meal but even with the same ingredients across courses, it all worked. I said it before and I will say it again...I will definitely make this combo again. So good!

Ahhhh...food therapy complete....