Pot Pie Soup and EVOO Biscuits

There are few foods as comforting as chicken pot pie.

There are also few foods as fattening as chicken pot pie.

So when I'm craving a creamy no-good-for-me soup with a buttery no-good-for-me pastry, I respond accordingly. With vegetables.

Here's an easy meal that you can throw in the crock pot in five minutes before you head to work. The biscuits take a wee bit longer, but they are worth every second.

Crock Pot Pot Pie Soup
serves 4 hungry hippos


Ingredients

• Now:
• 4 large frozen chicken breasts (or 8 tenders)
• 1 cup diced white onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (I use TJ's brand)
• 1 cup of non fat milk
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp celery seed
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 2 tsp marjoram
• 2 tsp onion powder
• Later:
• S & P to taste
• Tabasco!

Instructions

• Put all "Now" ingredients in the crock pot on Low

take a shortcut and buy your mirepoix pre-cut

• Cook for 8 hours (or high for 4 hours)

• Season with S & P to taste
• Serve with Tabasco
• Yeah. It's that easy.

Now we need to talk about these biscuits.

Again, another shortcut. 

Make the biscuits according to the box instructions, but instead of using vegetable or canola oil, use extra virgin olive oil. This gives the biscuits a richer flavor than boring baking oil.

You can always mix the dough and make drop biscuits, but I chose to knead, roll, and cut the dough for portion control purposes.

Just turn the dough out on a floured surface...

Knead five to six times. Too much kneading makes for too dense of biscuits.

Roll out to 1/2" thin, and use a cookie cutter or cup to press out biscuits. I used a plastic cup.

Bake according to box instructions.

This biscuit looks like it's frowning. I MIGHT have dropped my camera on to the biscuit before it went into the oven. A little EVOO is good for the camera, right?

Sad biscuit.

Happy tummy!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

If you know me, you know I'd do just about anything for cheese. And really, anything is an acceptable vessel for cheese transportation into my mouth. This is why I could never be vegan for more than one meal.

i don't know what this is, but i want it. source

My BFFFFFFFforever Ruchipants lives in NYC by a huge cheese shop, which is one reason I shouldn't ever go visit her. We'd never leave the cheese shop. 

Problem is, cheese usually pairs super well with straight-up-bad-for-you-no-nutrition carbs. Like cheese and crackers. Mac and cheese. Grilled cheese. Pizza. Pizza. PIZZA.

No no no no NO. You silly little white bread nutrition-less carbs aren't stopping me from eating pizza. 

Another problem with pizza is that no matter where you get it, you're never going to find a slice for less than 6 WW P+. Now for those of you with bodies that aren't soft and round (i mean those of you with self-control), I must explain that 6 points is a lot. That's like, a 1/4th-1/5th of my day. And come on, WHO just eats one piece of pizza. 

So I present to you: white-nutritionless-carb-less pizza that is TWO points per slice. You're welcome.

Cauliflower Pizza

2 WW P+ per slice

Makes 2 8-slice pizzas

Inspired by RecipeGirl

Ingredients

• Crust
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 c. light mexican blend shredded cheese
• 3/4 c. light shredded mozzarella
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt

• Toppings
• 1 cup marinara or pizza sauce 
• 1 cup shredded light mozzarella
• your favorite pizza veggies
• canadian bacon if you so desire

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450F
• Rice or grate the raw cauliflower into a large microwave safe bowl
• I used a cheese grater and it worked great

• Microwave cauliflower on high for 8 minutes

• Remove from microwave and let cool, stirring occasionally to assist in the cooling process
• After 10 minutes, add all other crust ingredients to the bowl and mix well

• On two cooking sheets sprayed with cooking spray, divide cauliflower mixture evenly
• Form into 12" or so circle

• Bake for 10 minutes, switch the pans, and bake another ten (unless you have a really reliable oven and can do this without switching the pans. Good for you. )

i have white balance problems. oops.

• Remove crusts from oven, top with sauce, cheese, and veggies

one

two

three

• Bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melty and toppings are hot
• Slice with a pizza cutter or knife and serve! 

Pair two slices of this with a big caesar salad and you won't be missing that bread.  TWO POINTS each!

Vegetables for Dessert

Hey, remember that one time I ate a bunch of zucchini and carrots and had all sorts of leftover veggies?

Would you like to know what I did with them? No? Don't care? Oh, you will.

Vegetables. In your dessert. Why not?

This recipe is adapted from a user recipe at allrecipes.com.

Carrot and Zucchini Bread
5 WWP+ for 1/16th 


Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/3 c. egg whites (I use trader joe's in a carton)
• 1 1/2 c. nonfat buttermilk (if you don't have any buttermilk, add 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to 1 1/2 c. nonfat milk, stir, and let it chill for a few minutes before using)
• 2 tbsp no sugar added applesauce
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 c. shredded zucchini
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• zest of 1 orange
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 c. pistachios

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F
• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, powder, soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.

• In another bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, applesauce, and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
• Add in veggies and zest.

• Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until combined. Don't overmix.
• Fold in pistachios.

• Pour batter into a bundt pan sprayed with cooking spray. Level batter with a spatula.

• Bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick comes clean
• Let cool in pan for 15 minutes before turing out cake onto a cake stand or platter.

• For two 9x5 loaves: same amount of time

This recipe is completely non-fat and the entire mess only uses 1/2 cup of sugar. That is crazy! The carrots offer a lot of natural sweetness and there is so much flavor from the spices and zest that you don't miss the fat and sugar. That being said, if you want a more decadent cake, feel free to double the sugar and use real eggs and oil in place of the applesauce. It will cook just the same, but will not be as light or weight watcher friendly as my version. Also, if you don't like pistachios you can sub other nuts... but that will also add more calories and fat. Sorrryyyyy....

Oh- you can also make this recipe vegetarian by subbing in almond milk. And vegan if you use a chia egg in place of the egg (1 tbsp ground chia: 3 tbsp liquid per egg).

This cake needs an icing.

I mixed together 1/2 c. nonfat plan greek yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp each orange and lemon zest, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tbsp orange juice, and 1/4 c. powdered sugar

 Glaze the cooled cake.

Do you see this? It looks like confetti! The veggies keep this cake so incredibly moist.

Here's a hot tip for portion control:

Take a piece of wax or parchment paper. Trace your upside down bundt pan or whatever pan with a pencil. Fold that piece of paper into even portions. With scissors, cut out a 1-portion stencil. Now you can actually measure your slices instead of guesstimating! This works great for desserts or casseroles or anything that is easy to divide.

One sixteenth of this recipe is actually pretty large. It sounds small, but it is not!

This recipe was a great way to utilize leftover veggies and to get my cake fix without OD'ing on sugar. It's a great recipe to keep handy...

Orange You Glad?

Please don't delete me from your google reader just because I made an "orange" joke. I promise to make it up to you by the end of this entry.

I come from a very citrus-y family. My grandpa came to California from Texas to work at the Limoneira farm in Santa Paula, which is now one of the world's main suppliers of citrus fruits. Growing up, my grandparents always had several orange trees on their property. I remember my grandma always made orange juice popsicles for my sister and I to enjoy after school. (Orange juice mixed with white Karo syrup, that is). I learned to drive a tractor doing figure eights around lemon and lime trees. I can honestly say that my family has never ever paid for an orange at a supermarket.  Have I proven my point?

imagine me... a real tractor... and some citrus trees!

We at the Roady household have a humble dwarf navel orange tree/bush thing. It's not like the giant huge trees my grandparents had, but it still produces more fruit than a family can eat. So, other than eating one every morning with breakfast, we need to find some creative ways to use these things. They are starting to get ripe and delicious!

And what goes better with orange than.... Sriracha!?

source: theoatmeal.com

PS, click that link ^up there ^ for an LOL.

Sriracha Orange Shrimp
for 4

Ingredients

• 2 lbs raw, peeled, tail-on shrimp, thawed if frozen
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• zest of 1 large orange
• juice of 3 oranges (about 3/4 c.)
• as much sriracha as you can handle (start with 1 tbsp, add as you wish)
• slurry: 1 tbsp corn starch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water

Instructions

• Heat EVOO in a saute pan over medium high heat
• Add garlic and stir around for a few moments until garlic is softened and super aromatic
• Toss in shrimp and stir fry for 3-4 minutes or until turning pink
• Add OJ, zest, and sriracha and reduce heat to medium low

• Simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until sauce it hot hot hot and shrimp is thoroughly cooked

• Add slurry to orange juice sauce and very quickly whisk in! Any pause at this step will result in corn starch globs and that is effin gross. 

• Stir well. Sauce will thicken up in moments.

The sriracha makes the sauce a nice bright orange color. You do eat with your eyes first . . .

On the side, I quickly stir fried snow peas, snap peas, broccolini, baby bok choy and portabellas in garlic and a touch of oil.

Also, I had some leftover brown rice from my black bean and brown rice burgers that I spruced up with fresh diced green onion and sesame seeds.

Winner winner spicy orange sriracha shrimp dinner!

This recipe would be equally excellent with tofu or chicken. 

Orange you glad you didn't de-follow me?

Avocado Pasta

Remember how I mentioned that spiral slicer I got for christmas?

Well that little buddy got to work this week for one of the greatest super healthy dinners I have had in a while.

I got to experiment with the different blades and I learned a few things. (1) I need to make Arby's status curly fries stat (2) This thing realllly doesn't slice anything dense (like carrots).

But that's okay, because zucchini is delicious. And it makes an excellent substitue to pasta!

I've been wanting to try Oh She Glow's Avocado Pasta for a while now. I've adapted this recipe to make a creamy sauce that is lighter and goes a lot further.  To go with the avocado sauce, I spiraled zucchini and cut carrot ribbons with a vegetable peeler.

twirrrlllyyyyy!

This can be done in advance, like if you're procrastinating on the day of an econ midterm.

Blanch the veggie "pasta" in salty boiling water for a few minutes. Blanch the vegetables separately so you can control cooking time. I blanched the zuch for about 1 minutes, the carrots for about 2.

Drain, but KEEP THE PASTA WATER. For this:

Lemony Avocado Pasta
1 WWP+ per heaping tablespoon
Makes about 1 cup 


Ingredients

• 2 medium avocados
• 1 clove garlic
• juice of 2 lemons
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• 3/4 c. pasta water (+/- for your preference)

Instructions

• In a food processor, combine garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and EVOO
• Process until garlic is minced
• Add avocado 

• Process until smooth
• Add pasta water in 1/4 c. increments until you get a smooth sauce that's the consistency of pudding (that sounds gross, but it's very accurate)
• Add pepper and taste for S & P adjustments

• Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap (with plastic touching the sauce)
• I wouldn't try re-heating this sauce.

The pasta water heats the sauce, thickens it up, and adds starchy flavor. I served my sauce poured over veggie pasta and grilled chicken breast. Just add garlic bread!

Or don't, depending on how you feel about carbs.

This sauce would be just as excellent tossed with noodles and some protein like grilled shrimp, salmon, or even crab. That could get prettttyyy fannccyyyy.

Now I have a big pile of zucchini and carrot scraps. You're gonna have to stick around to see what I made from those!

Have a great weekend!