Tuscan Chicken and Sausage Stew

Book club is one of my favorite nights in the month. Challenge, what dish to make that's healthy, pairs well with any wine and feeds 10. In the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, there is an entire chapter dedicated to slow cooker recipes, which I love. So, I decided to make Tuscan Chicken and Sausage Stew. 

First change I made to the recipe was not precooking the chicken or sausage. This is something that frustrates me about slow cooker recipes. Why precook something when you are going to cook it again in the dish.

This is a layered dish, so make sure to layer not mix everything together. Which means sprinkling the garlic, oregano, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes evenly over the chicken, sausage, mushrooms, and red onion. Tip, since this is a layered dish make sure when you combine the chicken and sausage to cover the entire bottom of your slow cooker. 

I also choose to thinly slice rather than chop the bell peppers. I wish I had chopped as the skins came loose and made the dish a bit messy when eating. I would also double the frozen artichoke hearts. I love artichokes and this dish could have used a second helping.

Since I could not find turkey sweet Italian sausage, I used pork. It adds to the points value but the spices were heavenly.

I suggest cooking for 8 hours on low heat. Half a cup equals one serving. Pairs well with any wine as the ladies of Wine and Wisdom can attest. If you need a carb, pair the dish with garlic bread and zucchini chips.

Cookbook

• Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
• Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.
• Copyright 2011

Recipes

Page 312 Tuscan Chicken and Sausage Stew

Island Chicken w/Pineapple & Jasmine Rice

Quick to cook, counts as a vegetable serving yet a little bland. In less than 30 minutes with little prep this dish was definatly easy to cook. I used Blood Orange Olive Oil to saute the chicken which paired nicely with the orange juice sauce and pineapple garnish. I omitted the salt but believe even if it had been added, the dish would still be bland. Maybe another Jalapeno an 2 more garlic cloves would have spiced up this dish. The pineapple was intended as a garnish but I let it soak and simmer in the dish which helped thicken and enhance the sauce. The sweet and tart of oranges and pineapple played well together. 

For a carb we put the Island Chicken with Pineapple over Veetee Thai Jasmine Rice. I love the quick all in one package of Veetee quick cook rice. Other nice thing, it serves exactly 2. Perfect for my household. In hindsight, I would have paired this dish with saffron rice for the extra kick.

I paired this with a Viognier. A nice crisp wine to enhance the tropical flavors from the dish.

Overall, if you are looking for a quick, healthy dish that can be spiced up or down with your choice of carb go for it.

Websites

• Veetee Rice - http://www.veetee.com/ 
• Oliveto Artisan Oils and Vinegars - http://www.olivetooliveoil.com/Products.html  

Cookbook

• Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
• Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.
• Copyright 2011

Recipes

• Page 176 Island Chicken with Pineapple

Jamaican Style Halibut With Wild Rice Salad & Cranberries

Fish is not one of my favorite foods. I have to make an effort to eat it at least once a week. When I cook fish I want the spices to overpower the fish taste and smell. I let the Jamaican Style Halibut marinade for two days with positive results. I was concerned it would to be spicy with 2 Jalapenos, yet the Halibut had a nice and subtle kick. I did substitute Stevia for the brown sugar with no noticeable difference. The recipe called for grilling the fish which I did not do. I seem to burn most things I put on the grill. Instead I cooked the fish at 400F for 15 minutes. Flaky and perfectly done.

Tonight's carb was Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries. I used wild rice, less seasoning, from a box. I recommend letting the rice cool for 10 minutes before mixing with the other ingredients. This will give the dish a more cohesive feel. Since Trey does not care for pecans I omitted them from the recipe. 

I did pair this dish with a Cabernet, but I suggest pairing with a Chardonnay.

Prep was easy, but dinner was not as filling as I hoped. Next time I would serve the fish over the rice and double the portion of rice. I would also add a side of steamed vegetables for a healthy and visually appealing plate.

Cookbook

• Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
• Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.
• Copyright 2011

Recipes

• Page 94 Wild Rice Salad with Pecans and Cranberries
• Page 199 Grilled Jamaican-Style Halibut

Monterey Jack Turkey Burgers w/Zucchini Chips

Easy and filling, that's how I describe tonight's dinner. I am not a fan of ketchup yet it added just the right touch of sweetness to offset the powerful punch of garlic and shallots. Turkey bacon gave the Monterey Jack Turkey Burger the right crunch and the tomato provide a juicy end. I did omit the buns and lettuce and would add two slices of tomato instead of one to each burger.

When I eat a burger I want a salty side dish such as potato chips or French fries. Tonight we experimented and ate Zucchini Chips. They did the trick. After eating my serving I realized that these chips would not make good leftovers so we enjoyed a second helping. Prep time is suppose to be 15 minutes but it was more like 20. I got tired of dredging each chip so I put the breading in a Tupperware and dumped them in. Viola, quick and easy with little muss.

Low calorie, fun and delicious what a great dinner. I paired my burger with a Sam Adams seasonal ale which topped off a great meal.

Cookbook

• Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

• Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.

• Copyright 2011

• Recipe Page 189 Monterey Jack Turkey Burgers

Recipe for Zucchini Chips provided by Kroger
Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Breadcrumbs

• 1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

• 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

• 1 Teaspoon Dried Basil

• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt

• 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

• 1/4 Cup Milk

• I used 2% 

• 4 Medium Zucchini Sliced

• I sliced the zucchini on a mandolin at a 3 setting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450F.

1. Grease 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

1. In a Ziploc bag, combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan, garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper.

1. Shake till ingredients are mixed.

1. Pour milk into a bowl.

1. Dip zucchini into milk then put into Ziploc bag.

1. After putting in about 20-30 slices, shake vigorously.

1. Put coated zucchini onto baking sheet.

1. Repeat until all zucchini is coated.

1. Spray the tops of the slices with cooking spray.

1. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip. Bake for another 10 minutes.

Serves 6

Mixing Pizza With Pasta

One of the things I love about my recipe experiment is finding two that you think are perfect for each other and finding out you were right. Take meatballs and pizza stuffed mushrooms. The common link was sausage. I need 1/2 pound for both recipes so I decided to mesh together. Let's start with the appetizer, Sausage Pizza-Stuffed Mushrooms.

This recipe was yet again provided by Kroger. My  husband loves mushrooms. As a fungus, I have grown to like them. Since this recipe called for sausage, parmesan and mozzarella I figured I would give it a try. The only thing I replaced was the breadcrumbs with panko crumbs. This cuts sodium and gives any dish a unique texture. I also think panko crumbs makes a dish feel lighter. Maybe that's just in my head. The recipe did not identify a specific spaghetti sauce so I used Newman's Own

Weight Watchers Picadillo, Roasted Asparagus & Curried Basmati Rice

Dinner tonight was very fulfilling, almost too much. I was looking to incorporate more vegetables into our meal and found a fun way to do so.

Let's start with the Picadillo (Page 182) dish. What intrigued me was combining stewed tomatoes with a Granny Smith apple. I used a Kroger roasted chicken, which was not spicy enough for the dish. It was the apple, raisins and cinnamon that saved this dish by making it sweet. To offset the sweetness, I chose to pair the Picadillo with Curried Basmati Rice (Page 285), which was a good choice. 

The Basmati toned down the sweetness with it's spiciness from the curry. I was concerned with how the vegetables would dull the dish but when sauteed down they made the dish filling. I would use a mandoline to slice the mushrooms at a setting 1. The directions said to simmer for 20 minutes which is not enough. I had to cook the rice for 35 minutes. Make sure the dish is boiling before you simmer. This dish was to serve 6, but only made 5 at 1 cup per serving.

To ensure we had enough vegetables, I also made Roasted Asparagus and Red Peppers (Page 266). I used Lemon Olive Oil from Oliveto which added an extra punch. The dish tasted like lemon.

I paired the entire dish with Cupcake's Cabernet Sauvignon which enhanced the sweet and spicy nature of each dish.

Total servings was 4 with this low calorie, flavorful meal. When cooking, start with the Basmati first, followed by Picadillo then the roasted asparagus. All dishes should be done within 40 minutes with 20 minutes of prep time.

Websites:

• Cupcake Wines - http://www.cupcakevineyards.com/product/wine/cabernet-sauvignon 
• Oliveto Artisan Oils and Vinegars - http://www.olivetooliveoil.com/Products.html

Cookbook

• New Complete Cookbook from Weight Watchers
• Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.
• Copyright 2011

Recipes:

• Page 182 - Picadillo 
• Page 285 - Curried Basmati Rice
• Page 266 - Roasted Asparagus and Red Peppers