Greek Tuna Steaks

I love the simplicity and flavors of the fresh herbs in Cooking Light's Greek Tuna Steaks recipe.   I use similar flavors with Chicken breasts in another dish I like to cook.   The fresh, chopped oregano and thyme, combined with the lemon juice and garlic give the fish a wonderful flavor.  

I started with fresh tuna steaks I bought from Whole Foods.   I served the fish with Orzo with Butter and Parsley and some zucchini sauteed in olive oil.   It was a delicious dinner and the whole dinner was about 600 calories.  

Ground Beef Kabobs, Grean Beans with Tomatoes, and Hummus

Middle eastern ground beef kabobs was one of my favorite dishes growing up.    I like to make these kabobs a couple of times per year and usually on a weekend when I have more time to chop a lot of parsley! 

The kabobs are just ground beef mixed with chopped parsley, chopped onions sauteed in olive oil, garlic, and salt.   I use about a half cup of chopped parsley and a half cup of onion per pound of beef.   I mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and then form the kabobs into little footballs.   I use about 2 oz of meat per kabob, so a pound will yield about 8 kabobs.  The kabobs are about 100 calories each.   Then I grill the kabobs over a charcoal grill.

The green beans and tomatoes is another recipe from my childhood, although I have made some modifications to this recipe.   I saute the beans in a little olive oil for about 5 to 7 minutes.   Then I add salt, pepper, and cumin and one 28oz can of diced tomatoes and let the beans and tomatoes simmer for a couple of hours on the stove before serving over rice.

My hummus recipe is online at myrecipes.com.   I have given my hummus recipe to several people over the years.    If you try it and you like it, please leave a comment for me on myrecipes.com.

Bulgur with Dried Cranberries

There are a few different bulgur dishes I like to make and one of my favorites is a Cooking Light recipe for Bulgur with Dried Cranberries.   I have been making this for a few years now.   I use about half the salt called for in the recipe and if I remember to ease up on the salt, this dish is always delicious.

Photo: Ellen Silverman; Styling: Toni Brogan

I served this with grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast and steamed asparagus.   The chicken was seasoned with salt and pepper before grilling... nothing fancy there.   I probably steamed the asparagus a little too long because it was too soft.   I don't mind soft asparagus really.   I grew up eating canned asparagus which I loved, but my wife didn't much care for it.   Usually, I just steam it a little and then saute in olive oil for flavor, but I couldn't manage that and grill the chicken.   I think the bulgur and cranberries were so good that it made up for the mushy asparagus. 

The whole meal with 4 oz of chicken was around 400 calories.

Chicken Fried Rice

I love this fried rice recipe from Cooking Light, but I don't make it that often mostly because for fried rice to turn out well, you need to make the steamed rice the day before and I don't usually know what I am going to make for dinner the day before.   Well, I planned ahead this week and had the steamed rice in the fridge ready to go.  

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross

I use chile garlic sauce from a bottle instead of sambal oelek (which I can never find in the grocery store).   I like the way the chicken or pork is cut into very small pieces when I order fried rice from a restaurant, but I never seem to be able to cut my chicken into small enough pieces to get the same effect. 

The recipe calls for cooking the chicken for one and a half minutes or until slightly browned.   I have found, that I need to cook the chicken for about 7 or 8 minutes before its slightly browned.  After about 2 or 3 minutes, a lot of moisture comes out of the chicken and then it takes about 4 minutes for that moisture to boil off and then another minute before the chicken starts to brown.   Maybe cutting the chicken into smaller pieces would help?

My egg never turns out in a form such that I could transfer it to a cutting board and cut it into smaller pieces.   My egg always turns out mostly scrambled and pretty much in small pieces.

Despite these obvious gaps in my ability to correctly prepare fried rice, the dinner turned out great.   It was really delicious and I had a hard time limiting myself to the serving size of one and a half cups.

Three Bean Chili

As the weather turns colder, I always look forward to making a pot of chili.   I will usually make chili for dinner 2 or 3 times during the fall and winter season.   Until tonight, I have always made chili using my mother's recipe which is pretty much beef stock, cooked ground beef, cooked onions, a can of kidney beans, diced tomatoes, a little tomato sauce, salt and chili powder.   It makes a wholesome and delicious chili that reminds me of home.

The past couple of years, my wife hasn't been very enthusiastic about my family chili recipe, so I decided to try something new and move to a healthier vegetarian recipe.    I found a Cooking Light slow cooker recipe for Three Bean Chili on myrecipes.com

This recipe adds a few more spices and flavors compared to my family chili recipe.   The Three Bean Chili includes jalapeno, Worcestershire sauce, and cumin and of course some additional types of beans and no meat.

Both my wife and I liked the new recipe better than my family chili recipe and I could always add meat to this recipe if desired.   But I like this healthier, lighter take on chili.   I am sure I will make this a couple of more times before spring.

Grilled Steak with Mushroom Wine Sauce

Seems like it had been some time since I grilled steak.  In general, this year, I have been eating much less beef than I have in the past.   I probably eat steak about once per month.   I wanted to something different with the steak and I found this Cooking Light recipe for a Filet Mignon with Mushroom Wine Sauce.

 Randy Mayor; Bob Gager

The recipe calls for cooking the steak on the stove, but I wanted to grill the steak.   I trimmed some of the fattier pieces off of the steak and cooked them over the stove to brown the pan and create some drippings for the sauce.   I prepared the sauce as directed by the recipe using the pan I cooked the trimmings in and substituting a California Black Muscat for the Sweet Marsala wine called for in the recipe.    I had a glass of the wine while I was cooking and it was really nice.

I grilled the steak and then we poured the sauce over the steak on our plates.   I served the steak with a baked potato and zucchini sauteed in olive oil.   The dinner turned out great.   And this is the first time I have ever served steak with a sauce.   This is definitely a recipe I will make again.

Cilantro-Serrano Pesto with Grilled Chicken and Penne

My wife did the cooking tonight using a recipe I had picked out from Cooking Light.   This dish is a fusion between Italian and Mexican cuisine and it is the first time we have tried to make this.

Photo: Randy Mayor

The pesto is made from cilantro, Serrano pepper, and pecans.   Instead of grilled chicken we bought roasted chicken from the grocery store.  

The flavor was much more mild and the dish was much more dry than we expected.   Still, I liked the dish, but my wife found it to be a bit disappointing.   I don't think it is something we will make again.

Sauteed Halibut with Romesco Sauce

I was in the mood for fish tonight and wanted to try something new, so I decided to make Sauteed Halibut with Romesco Sauce.   I have never made Romesco Sauce before and it seemed like a sauce which should have a lot of flavor from looking at the recipe I got from Cooking Light.

Photo: John Autry; Styling: Cindy Barr

I was not disappointed.   I think this dinner was probably one of the best meals I have made in a few weeks.   We loved the sauce with the sauteed halibut.

I served this with rice and sauteed spinach and it was so good, I was looking forward to eating the left overs the next night.

Chevy's Grilled Chicken Fajita Recipe

Given the success I had with the steak fajitas and the crab enchiladas, I decided to try another recipe from my Chevy's cookbook... Grilled Chile-Rubbed Chicken Fajitas.   Making fajitas is all about the marinade for the meat and Chevy's Chicken Fajita marinade includes a kind of chile paste called achiote paste, tropical fruit juices, onion, garlic, and vinegar.  

I marinated the chicken for several hours before grilling and I cooked the veggies on the stove using a spice consisting of oregano, chile powder, cayenne pepper, and salt per the recipe.

Everything turned out great.   The fajitas were delicious!

Curied Shrimp and Chick Peas in Tomato Sauce over Rice

Our schedules on Thursday and Friday this week were thrown off due to a car in the shop.   Its amazing how much turmoil is created by having to fight my way through peak traffic to get to the mechanic's shop across town before the shop closes at 6pm.   

I didn't have time to go the grocery store on Thursday or Friday, so I had to make due with ingredients on hand.   I had some frozen, wild-caught, gulf shrimp in the freezer and combined this with canned chick peas, canned diced tomatoes, rice, and some spices to make a dish which was similar to Chana Masala (without fresh herbs).

I cooked the onions, garlic, and spices in oil and then added shrimp follwed by chick peas and the diced tomatoes and salt.   I did not drain the tomatoes so the liquid in the 28 oz can of diced tomatoes provided most of the liquid for the sauce.   I did end up adding a bit of broth to give the dish more moisture.

I served this over steamed rice and it was pretty good-- good enough that we actually ate the left overs on Saturday night.   This is something I will make again but with some cilantro next time.

Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Arugula Potatoes

There is no dish I have posted more often than Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin.   It is the family's favorite dish this year and one of the few things my daughter asks for.   I try not to make it more than once every couple of months, and its been about 6 or 7 weeks since I made this last time.    It was delicious as usual.

In order to keep things interesting I introduced a new side dish with tonight's dinner, Roasted Potatoes with Arugula-Pistachio Pesto.   Oh, the potatoes were amazingly good and complimented the pork tenderloin well.   The sharp flavor of the arugula combined with the nutty flavor from the pistachio is totally delightful.   The potatoes were a hit with my wife as well.  It was a delicious dinner.

Jamaican Spiced Chicken and Black Beans

There is a Jamaican restaurant I really like in downtown San Jose called the Back-A-Yard.    Since I have been cooking at home more in order to manage my diet, I don't go out to eat very often and have not enjoyed Caribbean food for quite some time... until tonight!  

I found a Cooking Light recipe for Jamaican Spiced Chicken which looked promising.   The recipe had almost 40 positive reviews, so I decided to give it a shot.   Its a pretty simple recipe.   Toss the raw chicken in a mixture of red onion, sugar, jalapeno, vinegar, soy sauce, allspice, thyme, black pepper, and red pepper and then cook the chicken.   In my version, I cooked the chicken over a charcoal grill.   The recipe calls for chicken thighs, but I used boneless skinless chicken breasts instead.

To go along with the chicken, I made Simple Black Beans, which is another Cooking Light recipe.  I found this recipe on myrecipes.com while searching black bean recipes of Caribbean cuisine.   The beans are cooked with onion and garlic and in the last stage they simmer on the oven for a half hour creating a thick and flavorful dish which I served over rice.

Both the beans and the chicken turned out great and this is something I am sure I will make again.

Thai Beef Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Slaw

After the lasagna earlier in the week, I was in the mood for something a little lighter with more exotic flavors.  I decided to make Thai Beef Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Slaw using a Cooking Light recipe I found on myrecipes.com.

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Jan Gautro

 Although the recipe calls for marinating the steak for only 20 minutes, I let the steak marinate for a couple of hours in the refrigerator.   I grilled the steak over a charcoal grill using indirect heat.   I like to arrange the charcoal in a ring around the grill leaving the center open.   I place the meat in the center area and move the meat to the outer edge for searing when needed.

 Ring of Fire

My wife made the slaw for the tacos using the Cooking Light recipe and we used Smart and Delicious Light Flour Tortillas from La Tortilla Factory.  

The slaw was great and the combination of the cilantro, lime juice, ginger, and steak was wonderful.   We really enjoyed this dinner.

Classic Light Bolognese Lasagna

I'm not sure if its the anticipation of fall or something else, but I have been feeling hungrier lately and craving heavier foods.   It has been quite a long time since I have made lasagna.   I have been thinking about this for a few weeks and looking at lasagna recipes and finally settled on a Cooking Light recipe for Classic Light Bolognese Lasagna.  

Photo: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl

I liked that this recipe used mostly poultry instead of pork or beef and I liked the use of the fresh basil.   I substituted chicken sausage for the turkey breast in the recipe and I did not include the celery or carrot called for in the recipe.  

The lasagna was absolutely delicious.  Without a doubt it was the best lasagna I have ever made.   The recipe made about a little over 7 good sized (4" x 4") servings with each serving at about 420 calories.   When I make a dish like this, I like to freeze some of the servings so that I can use them for lunches over the following couple of weeks.

Chicken Piccata

I have posted previously about Chicken Piccata and don't have anything new to say about this dish other than to say I am getting better at it.   As I have mentioned in the past, I got this Cooking Light recipe for Chicken Piccata from myrecipes.com.   The sauce is a bit tricky because there are several steps and you can't really take time to go back and read the recipe between each step or something is going to be burned or overcooked.   So, its important to have all the ingredients prepared ahead of time and ready to go.  

Photo: Johnny Autry; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl

This dish has turned out great of me every time I have tried it.   My wife and I really enjoyed dinner and the left overs the following night.