Greek Salad with Chicken

Its been the basics at our house for a while.  Roasted veggies, rice, and  simple proteins have been a staple the past few weeks due to a tight budget.  But this dish did make it onto the menu to liven things up during a dry spell.     This recipe is from the Weight Watchers Momentum cookbook.   If you aren't worried about calories, I recommend adding more kalamata olives! I also used a whole regular size tub of feta instead of the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe.  I also added a healthy dose of salt and pepper to the dish.  This is super simple, but does not work for leftovers.  It gets tooooo mushy.  So make what you can eat in one sitting!

Ingredients

3/4 cup plain fat- free yogurt
3 T chopped fresh mint
3 T chopped fresh dill
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp olive oil
2 cups diced roasted chicken breast
3 cups torn romaine lettuce leaves
2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 cup chopped red onion
at least 8 pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1 small carton of crumbled  feta cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1.  To make the dressing, whisk together the yogurt, mint, dill, lemon zest and juice, garlic, and oil in a small bowl. 

2.  Toss together the chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and onion in a serving bowl.  Drizzle the yogurt dressing over the salad and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with the olives and feta.

WW Point = 7pts per 1.5 cups

Sweet Italian Turkey Brats

Sometimes this blog is about fancy food, but sometimes it is just about getting supper on the table quickly with great flare and flavor in the smallest amount of time possible.  Tonight is one of those nights.  With all the summer fairs and festivals going on, I get hungry for great fair food - but my waistline can only take so many indulgences.  This is my low fat fix for fair food - and honestly it's almost as good as the original.  In some ways it is better- much less grease and no heartburn!   Next venture... lemon shakeups!

Ingredients

5 sweet Italian turkey brats

1 vidalia onion

1 orange pepper

1 T sugar

5 hot dog buns

1 T butter

spicy brown mustard

Directions

1.  Place brats in boiling water and boil for approximately 7 minutes.

2.  While brats are boiling, slice onion and pepper into topping size pieces. 

3.  Butter inside of hot dog buns (we will heat them up on a hot skillet later).

4.  When boiled and cooked through, transfer brats to grill and cook until nicely browned. 

5.  While brats are on grill, saute onions and peppers in about 1/4 cup of reserved liquid from the brat boiling pan or butter.  I used the brat water to save on calories..   Salt and pepper mixture to taste.

6.  Cook until onions start to caramelize.   Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to pan and stir.  Let cook for a few more minutes. 

7.  Take buns and place on hot skillet to brown the insides.  Only takes about 30 seconds.

8.  Place brats on buns and top with onions, peppers, and spicy brown mustard.


Points= one brat is 8 pts

A schooling in Red Harissa

I love Aldis for many reasons, but one is because I can get a jar of roasted red peppers for $1.00-$1.29.   When they go on sale, I really stock up.  So I have a pantry overflowing with roasted red peppers.  In doing a search for a use for them I came upon  recipes  for Red Harissa which has several variations.  My plan was to drizzle it over chicken and vegetable kebabs.. however the drizzle of rain outside was threatening to turn into a downpour.. so out went the grilling of kebabs.

Instead I cooked up the chicken and veggies inside and added the Red Harissa to the pan.  I served it over a bed of couscous. Which after doing more research on Harissa, learned that it is often used to flavor couscous!  I can see why.  This is a very strong sauce.  The recipes called from anywhere to 1 clove of garlic to 4 cloves.  I used four - that was a mistake.  It was still tasty... but man, once the garlic aftertaste sets in.. .well.. all you taste is garlic.  I suggest starting with one clove, or none... taste and see what you think.  Then add cloves to your garlic tolerance.  The same is true of the cayenne.  For myself,  a half teaspoon was perfect.  Others might want more or to use fresh jalapenos which is common in Harissa.  Also, traditional African Harissa isn't even made with red peppers... its made with straight up hot chili peppers... so this can be made to so many different heat levels.   I believe it can be a versatile sauce too.  You could use it with pasta, sandwiches, wraps, pizza.. anywhere you want a spicy red peppery kick.   This recipe makes about 3 cups.


Here is my version of a Harissa...

18 oz of roasted red peppers
2.5 T white wine vinegar
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 of a cup olive oil

Puree all ingredients except olive oil together in a blender or food processor.  After mixed, slowly add the oil while machine is still running.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.


For my chicken and veggies...

16 oz chicken breast
4 oz mushrooms sliced
1 T oil or butter
1/2 onion, minced
2 zucchini, chopped into large bite size pieces
balsamic vinaigrette dressing (optional)
salt and pepper
couscous (I just use a box mix - prepare as directed)


1.  Chop up  chicken breast into bite size pieces.  Salt and pepper them.  Toss with balsamic vinaigrette and cook in skillet.  Add mushrooms when nearly finished cooking.

2. While chicken is cooking, saute onions in butter for a few minutes in separate pan.
3.  Add zucchini to onions and cook until nicely browned.  Salt and pepper to taste.
4.  Add cooked chicken and mushrooms to zucchini.  Pour 1 cup of Harissa sauce over ingredients and simmer for one or two minutes.
5.  Spoon chicken and vegetables over prepared couscous. 
6.  Drizzle extra Harissa sauce over top or use on the side for dipping.


WW points*
1 cup of chicken/veggies with 1/2 cup of couscous =7pts  (may need to increase depending on what oil/butter substance you use to saute onions.  I use a butter which is only 1 pt per T.. so it basically adds nothing to the entire dish of 5 servings.)
Extra Harissa for dipping = 1 pt per 3.5 Tablespoons
*not endorsed or figured by WW - these are calculated by blog author