Saturday, April 17, 2010

Baked Orange Roughy Italian-Style


So once again it's another fish dish.  What can I say, I really enjoy my white fish, and now that I realize that it can be cooked without making my whole house smell like fish it might be difficult to keep me from cooking it.  I REALLY liked this one, it's more of what I was wanting when I made the parmesan crusted tilapia the other day.  It had a breaded outside with a cheesy flavor and I really do think the orange roughy is worth paying a little more for.  Very tasty!  Richard enjoyed this as well, he just wished he had more of the crust to eat with the fish.  I reheated some quinoa from earlier in the week and I put a box of the Green Giant veggies in the microwave.  I love the most of th elittle boxes of Green Giant veggies that are 2 servings, just enough for dinner for the two of us.  This one was the immunity blend, it had cauliflower, orange and yellow carrots and dried cranberries in a butter sauce; neither of us really enjoyed this mixture of veggies, I will have to remember not to get those again. 
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Baked Orange Roughy Italian-Style

Ingredients:
1/8 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 orange roughy fillets (4 oz) 
butter flavored cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Coat a medium baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a shallow bowl, mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic powder, and salt. Dredge fillets in the bread crumb mixture and spray with butter flavored cooking spray. Arrange in a single layer in the prepared baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven 10 to 15 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Italian Stuffed Artichokes


The prep work for these took quite awhile, so this would be another recipe that needs to go in the weekend recipe pile.  They really weren't all that difficult, just takes awhile to get everything put together.  I'm not certain if I did something wrong or if it's because I'm not used to eating artichokes like this but they really did make quite the mess.  The leaves didn't want to peal off the bottom which made getting everything to come apart quite interesting.  Normally when we have artichokes the heart seems a bit softer, the leaves fall off easier, and we can lay them on their side to fight the lower leaves.  These ones we couldn't do that with, I'm not sure if the artichokes just needed a cooked a little longer or what the deal was, but yeah, it was a mess.  They were tasty but I can think of easier ways to eat artichokes, and easier ways to eat stuffing.  Unless Richard asks me to make them (which isn't likely), I see no point putting them together again to make a huge mess.  This really wasn't all that great for the work that went into it, nor do I think it was good enough to order at a restraunt.  This is probably the first recipe I've made where I haven't considered wanting to try it again.
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Italian Stuffed Artichokes
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Servings: 2 • Serving Size: 1 artichoke • Points: 7 pts
Calories: 357.9 • Fat: 10.7 g • Protein: 17.6 g • Carb: 46.2 g • Fiber: 8.5 g

2 medium artichokes
4 cups water
1/2 lemon
2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano or a good parmesan cheese
1 egg white, whisked
1 cup fat free chicken broth (vegetable broth can be used instead)
2 oz cup white wine
olive oil spray

Cut the stems and the tops off the artichokes. Using a scissor cut off the tips of the leaves and squeeze lemon all over to prevent browning.

In a large pot, fill with 4 cups water and place artichokes upside down in pot. Boil 12-14 minutes. Remove from water and set aside to cool. When artichokes have cooled, remove the center leaves and scoop out the choke with a teaspoon.

In a small sauté pan, heat oil and sauté garlic until golden (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat. Add breadcrumbs, grated cheese, and egg white and mix well.

Place artichokes in a baking dish and stuff the centers and leaves all around with the stuffing. Spray lightly with olive oil. Fill the bottom of the baking dish with broth and wine and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes at 350° removing the foil the last 10 minutes of baking.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Turkey Stuffed Zucchini


I decided to make up for my lack of cooking the last few weeks and am making a few things this week.  Go me!  Richard and I both liked these, we liked the turkey stuffing, we liked the zucchini, we think we might like them both seperate a little better then we liked them together.  Especially for two whole halves of it.  One half is about all we needed and it would be good with something else, we just don't know what yet.   They are good, probably not something I'll make very often, but I don't think it's something I'll never make again either.  Oh, and it took me more then 50 minutes, maybe it'll take less next time, but this certainly took me longer!  I call this a weekend recipe, it takes to long to make after work!

Richard thinks the stuffing goes well on tortilla chips, he thinks it has a bit of a mexican taste.  I don't think it tastes mexican, it is more like italian seasonings to me.  But we both agree the left overs should make tasty burritos.  We're thinking to take the stuffing and some black beans, put it in a shell and add a little sour cream.  Yum!  And then we'll cut up the zucchini boat and eat it with the burritos.  Sounds like tasty left overs to me!

I left out the rosemary, partially because we just gave away the fresh plant we had, and partially because the directions never said to put it in so I completely forgot about it.  I didn't miss it, I think rosemary is a strong flavor and this really does have enough flavor already!

Very tasty and I can't wait for the left overs as burrito's!  I'll let you know how that turns out! 

So I made the left over burrito for dinner tonight.  All I did was cut up one half of the zucchini and reheat everything on the stove.  Once hot I placed it in a burrito shell and ate up.  I must say it was even better the second day, and a very good way to use 4 points.  I want to try it some time with the black beans and sour cream but I didn't have many points left for today since I'm making the stuffed artichokes so this is what I had.  Honestly I'm not certain it would be better the other way, this was super tasty.  I might make these again just to eat them as left overs.  YUM!



Turkey Stuffed Zucchini
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Servings: 4 (2 halves) • Time: 50 minutes • Points: 4 ww points

Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini
1 tsp butter
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp white wine
1.3 lb (20.8 oz) ground turkey (99% fat free)
1 large egg white
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup fat free chicken broth
2 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp dried basil
Salt and fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 400°. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and using a spoon or melon baller, scoop out flesh, leaving 1/4" thick. Arrange in a baking dish. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini in small pieces.

In a large saute pan, melt butter and add onion, shallot and garlic. Cook on a medium-low flame for about 2-3 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add chopped zucchini and season with a pinch of salt, cook about 2-3 minutes. Add wine and cook until it reduces. Add ground turkey and season with salt and pepper, cooking until turkey is white, breaking up in smaller pieces. Add paprika, garlic powder, marjoram and basil. Mix well and cook another minute.

Place turkey meat in a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool. When cooled, add parmesan cheese and egg white, mix well. Using a spoon, fill hollowed zucchinis with stuffing, pressing firmly and top with bread crumbs. Place chicken broth in bottom of the baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake 35 minutes.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia


So I was feeling guilty about my lack of making food recently.  And I really wanted Tilapia.  I searched online for parmesan tilapia because Applebee's used to have a very yummy one on their menu and they no longer do.  What I found isn't much like what they had, but it was very tasty!  Richard and I both enjoyed it.  Though Richard ended up sprinkling it with a cajun seasoning, it was good but he said it needed a little something more.  I can't have the cajun seasoning, but I imagine it would be a nice addition as it did feel like it was missing something. 

The recipe below is the one listed online.  What I did different was I didn't add any salt or pepper (I forgot), the tilapia I bought was 3 fillets (1.25 lbs), so I call it 3 servings and it was 6 pts a serving.  And I used olive oil spray instead of drizzling olive oil on it. The way the recipe is, they call it 4 servings so I'm guessing the points would be less since it would be less of everything per serving.  

It was yummy (and really quick and easy), I'm certain we'll make it again sometime.
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Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia
From: Everyday with Rachel Ray (Take 5)

Ingredients:

¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons paprika
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 tilapia fillets (about 1 pound total)
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°.  In a shallow dish, combine the cheese with the paprika and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the fish with olive oil and dredge in the cheese mixture. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until the fish is opaque in the thickest part, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve the fish with the lemon wedges.