Chinese Vegetable Stir Fry

I'm sorry, but does this plate not look like something you would get in a restaurant? For dinner, we had a basic shell steak on the grill that had marinated for 2 days in Lawry's Sesame Ginger marinade. That is tasty stuff. But the Asian flavors in the marinade don't lend to corn on the cob the way the typical steakhouse marinade I use does. The vegetables were crisp and colorful ... I don't know why we don't use the wok more often.

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1/2 cup green bell peppers, sliced
1/2 cup red bell peppers, sliced
2 cups broccoli florets
1/4 cup plum sauce
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup baby corn
1/4 cup sliced water chestnuts
1/2 cup snow peapods
2 cups bok choy, sliced
1/4 cup sliced scallions

Heat the sesame oil over high heat in a wok. Add broccoli and peppers. Toss, cover tightly and cook for 5 minutes. Add plum sauce and soy sauce, stirring to mix well. Add garlic, mushrooms and corn. Toss, cover and cook another 3-5 minutes. Add water chestnuts, peapods, bok choy and scallions. Cover and cook for 3 minutes, just until bok choy has wilted.

Serve over rice or by itself.

Yields 4 servings.

Roasted Potatoes with Yellow and Red Piperade

Piperade: A traditional Basque dish that is comprised of peppers, onions, and tomatoes in olive oil. (Thank you, Wiki!)

These potatoes involved a little more work and effort for roasted potatoes but the final dish is wonderful. All the flavors come together perfectly. I found the recipe in the Thanksgiving issue of Bon Appetit where it was shown as a potential Thanksgiving side dish. I personally don't know if these flavors would work alongside traditional Turkey Day fare, but I will definitely make it again. I did alter the recipe slightly and I think it came out wonderful.

non-stick cooking spray
1 large red bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed, and sliced into 1/4 strips
1 large yellow bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed, and sliced into 1/4 strips
1 small red onion, sliced thin
2 Tbsp olive oil
coarse kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 large potatoes), sliced into thick
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 shallots, finely chopped
2 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a bowl, toss the bell pepper strips and red onion strips with the olive oil. Add to baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat salt and pepper evenly. Roast for 10 minutes. Add potatoes over the peppers and onion and spray generously with non-stick cooking spray. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and toss with peppers and onion. Return dish to oven and continue to roast until the potatoes are golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Toss parsley and shallots into potatoes and roast an additional 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped basil immediately prior to serving.

Yields 4 servings.

Original recipe

WW info:
core - included
flex - 3 points

Haricot Verts with Shallots

Since only about 3 people at my Thanksgiving table would eat a green bean casserole (myself included), I decided to forgo it this year and just do some healthy green beans with a little extra flavor.

1 Tbsp light olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 pound haricot verts (the skinny green beans!)

Heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until soft. Stir in vinegar and cook for one minute. Add green beans and toss well. Cook until beans are heated throughout.

Yields 8 servings.

WW info
core-included
flex-1 point per serving.

Chicken Bruschetta

Another winner! This was devoured by all parties, including the picky eaters, the Weight Watchers eaters, and the eaters who will eat anything! And the colors were amazing! The trick is to not overcook it so that the vegetables retain all their natural colors. For the tomatoes, I found a pint of assorted baby cherry tomatoes in a variety of colors. The end result was gorgeous.

1 teaspoon garlic powder object
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
6 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (6-ounce) package of crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced (about 8 ounces)
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 cups chopped tomato (about 1 pint of cherry tomatoes)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Combine garlic powder, dried basil, dried pregano, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl; sprinkle chicken with garlic powder mixture and spray lightly with cooking spray. Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Grill chicken until cooked through. Remove the chicken from grill, place on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, mushrooms, zucchini, and minced garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Add 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, tomato, onion, basil, and vinegar; sauté 5 minutes. Serve the vegetable mixture over chicken.

Yields 6 servings.

Original recipe

WW info: core - all included; flex - 5 points per serving.

"Fried" Zucchini Chips

I found this while flipping through the Weight Watchers magazine and Barnes & Noble. Sometimes I just eat both servings for dinner (like I did tonight).

1 medium zucchini
1 Tbsp Kraft Free Italian Salad Dressing
1/8 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice zucchini into 1/4" slices. Toss in bowl with italian dressing. Mix breadcrumbs and cheese in a bowl and dredge coated zucchini slices through mixture. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and lay zucchini flat. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping chips once halfway through. After 20 minutes, remove baking sheet from oven and turn broiler on high. Broil on each side for 2-3 minutes. Serve with a side of marinara sauce for dipping.

Yields 2 servings.

WW info:
core and flex: 1 point per serving (not including dipping sauce)

Grilled Sausage & Veggies

Given that sausage and peppers go so well together, I decided to grill up some sweet italian chicken sausage, zucchini (leftover from the bread I made earlier), and portobello mushroom caps and mix in with the roasted pepper marinara sauce. Served over penne. Yum!

WW info:
core: if served over whole wheat pasta, only count 4 points for a 4 ounce link of sausage.
flex: 9 points (4 for sausage, 4 for 2 oz. uncooked penne, and 1 for sauce)

Grilled Vegetables and Chicken

Does this platter of veggies (and chicken!) not look gorgeous????? We wound up not eating the eggplant because I forgot to salt it and it was waaaaay too bitter to eat. I had to spit it out! Good thing I tried a piece before tossing it in with everything else.

1 small red pepper, halved, deseeded and deribbed
1 small yellow pepper, halved, deseeded and deribbed
1 medium zucchini, sliced
2 thick onion slices (about 1/2" thick)
1 small eggplant, peeled and sliced
8 chicken tenderloins
fat-free italian dressing (non-creamy)
non-stick cooking spray
2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 (14 oz.) can of diced tomatoes
fat-free, low sodium chicken broth
dried oregano, basil, salt, and pepper
8 oz. whole wheat spaghetti


Salt eggplant slices and let sit for half hour. Preheat grill to high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Rinse eggplant and toss eggplant and zucchini in a small bowl with enough italian dressing to coat lightly. In a separate bowl, marinate chicken tenderloins in enough dressing to coat lightly. When grill is hot, place chicken and all vegetables on grill. Be careful to not separate the onions rings. Grill until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are cooked through. Peppers should grill until the outside skin is completely blackened. Remove chicken and veggies from grill. The tenderloins cooked much faster than anything else on my grill, so be sure not to overcook them.

Allow grilled items to cool. Boil water for pasta and heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Add garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add diced tomatoes into a large saute pan. Slice chicken and veggies into bite size pieces. Season tomatoes with dried basil, oregano, salt, and pepper and add in chicken. Bring to a light boil and toss in grilled vegetables. Add chicken broth as needed to thin sauce out.

Cook pasta to desired tenderness and toss with chicken and vegetables.

WW info:
CORE - all included!
FLEX - 6 points