Chicken & Vegetable Salad

This is good as-is, or served over a bed of greens or cous cous. If cherry or grape tomatoes are in season, they would be a nice addition.

Salad:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1.5 c lightly steamed green beans, cut into 2-inch lengths
1 can quartered artichoke hearts packed in water, drained
1 bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed, cut into small pieces
1 smallish-medium zucchini, cut into rounds

Dressing:
4 T olive oil
4 T red wine vinegar
Juice of half a lemon
1 small bunch fresh basil, chopped
Leaves from a few sprigs fresh oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all of that up.

4 servings
270 calories per serving

Mmmmm GRITS.

Savory Grits Breakfast...or lunch...or serve it with a salad and call it dinner

This is simple enough I won’t even bother typing a recipe. It’s hot and filling and wonderfully comforting, especially on a cold winter morning.

Fix yourself a couple servings of grits according to the directions on the box. White, yellow, quick, original…your choice.

While they’re cooking, sauté a couple big sliced-up mushrooms in a skillet. Add some garlic, crushed tomatoes, herbs, salt & pepper, or a bit of pasta sauce if you have some in the fridge. Or use the mushrooms & garlic by themselves, that would be great too.

Poach a couple eggs.

Split up the grits into two bowls, top with the mushroom mix, top with an egg or two.

Make a vegan breakfast by skipping the eggs.

Serves 2
250-300 calories per serving, with one egg, depending on how large a portion of grits you use.

Poached Egg & Lardon Salad

I make this for weekend breakfast or brunch a lot. It's also a nice light lunch or dinner, especially if you serve it with a little bread or small pasta dish. (In the photo, I've served it with a small amount of fried potatoes, a tomato, and some apple slices.)

Dressing:
1 T olive oil
2 t red wine vinegar
1 t Dijon mustard
Juice of a quarter or half a lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

Salad:
2 big handfuls mixed greens
2 eggs
3 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and broken into pieces; or, cut into dice, cook, and drain

Set a nonstick skillet with about an inch to an inch and a half of water—and a couple of tablespoons of white vinegar—over heat to boil.

While it's coming to a boil, mix dressing ingredients well in a jar or small cup. Place the greens in a mixing bowl, add dressing, and toss. It's very important not to overdress the salad, since the runny yolk of the egg will also dress it, so keep in mind that you may not need all the dressing.

Divide the greens between 2 plates and top with bacon pieces.

By this time, the water should be boiling. If you don't know how to poach an egg, here's an easy method: crack each egg into a small bowl or cup and tip into the water. Cover and remove from heat. After 10 minutes, the eggs should be perfectly poached. (Me, I just lower the water to a simmer, tip the eggs in, and keep an eye on 'em.) Remove with a slotted spoon and drain the water off before topping each salad with an egg. Add a little salt & pepper to the egg if you like.

Serves 2
250 calories per serving

Stuffed Squash

This is hearty, lovely for fall and winter, and feeds a crowd really cheaply. Make it vegetarian and lower in calories by eliminating the pork.

4 smallish to medium-sized acorn squash, halved, seeds removed
1 T olive oil
1 lb lean ground pork (or buy some lean pork loin and chop it into very small pieces yourself)
1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 c cranberries, fresh or frozen
4 oz goat cheese crumbles
1 c cooked brown rice
Salt & pepper
Sage, fennel, whatever spices you like

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Arrange the squash halves cut side up on baking sheets. If they don't sit up nicely, make a thin slice off the back so they are stable. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until nearly cooked through; the squash should be about 20 minutes away from being fully cooked.

While squash is cooking, brown the pork in a nonstick pan with canola spray.

When pork is fully cooked through, combine with remaining ingredients and season to taste with salt, pepper, and any other spices you like. I used sage, fennel seeds, a little Chinese 5 spice, and I don't remember what else.

Remove squash from oven; fill cavities with pork mixture. Put them back in the oven for about 20 minutes. Serve 1 squash half per person.

8 servings
About 310 calories per serving

The Contest

Gained 7 lbs back. I shake my fist at thee, holidays! I coulda been a contender!

Spurred on by a contest with my friend Tigger, I'm back on the plan.

Whichever of us loses 10% of our total weight first, wins.

167. 16.7 lbs. Let's do this.

Sesame soba, shrimp, and green beans

The boyfriend can't eat much seafood due to an allergy, so when I'm fixing dinner for only myself, I usually cook fish since I get to eat it so infrequently. I'd originally intended to do something with salmon, but saw these big, beautiful Gulf shrimp on sale at the co-op and couldn't say no.

2 oz dry soba noodles
6 large shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 T soy sauce
1/2 t honey
1 t sesame oil
1 t sesame seeds
Juice of 1/2 lime

1 cup green beans
1/2 t sesame oil
1/2 t soy sauce
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 t sesame seeds

Combine soy sauce, honey, 1 t sesame oil, 1 t sesame seeds, and juice of half a lime. Set aside.

Set 2 pots of salted water to boil.

In a nonstick skillet over medium heat and coated with canola spray, cook shrimp just until pink. Add half the sauce and toss to coat.

While the shrimp cooks, cook noodles in the boiling water according to package instructions (these cook very quickly, about 4 minutes maximum). Drain, return to pan, and toss with the other half of the sauce.

While the shrimp and noodles are cooking, cook the green beans in the second pot of boiling water until crisp-tender (should take about 5 minutes or fewer). Toss with 1/2 t sesame oil, 1/2 t soy sauce, juice of half a lime, and 1 t sesame seeds.

Place the noodles on top of the beans and top with the shrimp.

Serves 1
343 calories per serving

I am so far behind...

Well, I was without internet access at home for about 3 weeks (save my iPhone), and so, was unable to post.

Add to that a full-time job, impending winter, various other projects, and starting a master's program...suffice it to say I may be in the weeds.

I have, however, been cooking. It's the one thing that helps me unwind at the end of the day. And I've been taking photos, though their increasing ugliness is directly linked to the decreasing daylight.

Hopefully I'll find time this week to catch up, and then can start posting regularly again. From the start, I decided I'd aim for 4 to 5 posts per week; I now see that 3 would be more realistic, but I'll give it my best shot.

Weight update: I'm currently down about 10 pounds, while the boyfriend is down about 20, the jerk. This is much slower progress than I'd hoped to be making, but I try to look at any loss as a victory. There's a lot I could be doing to lose more weight, namely, exercising and not saying, "Who cares, it's the weekend." But I'll get there. Slowly but surely.