Main Dishes

Stroganoff Genua Style

I know I have already posted a beef stroganoff recipe but this is a different version of that recipe. Most stroganoff uses stew meat and heavy cream and noodles. Not this recipe. In my version I substitute lean ground beef for the stew meat, fat-free half and half instead of cream and my favorite low-calorie noodle, Tofu Shirataki Noodles! It sort of looks like hamburger helper but tastes so much better. It is easy and doesn’t take a very long time to cook. I’m always looking for ground beef recipes other than meatloaf and chili and I found one.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 -15 ounce can cream of mushroom soup (or fat-free)

1 package Tofu Shirataki Noodles (Fettucine style) (prepare as package directs)

2 French Onion Laughing Cow Light cheese wedges, cut up

¼ cup light or fat-free sour cream

¼-½ cup fat-free half and half, use as needed to thin the sauce a little.

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large saucepan sauté the onions in olive oil till they start to soften. Add the garlic and continue to sauté till light brown. Remove onions and garlic from pan and set aside.

2. Add ground beef to same pan and cook until brown. Drain off excess fat. Return the onion and garlic to pan as well as the basil, oregano, and parsley. Stir thoroughly.

3. Stir in cream of mushroom soup and the Laughing Cow cheese. Stir till the cheese is melted.

4. Add the sour cream and stir till mixed in. Add ¼ cup of the half and half. If needed add more of the half and half until sauce is thinned a little. It shouldn’t be too thick.

5. Add the prepared noodles and stir in thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2-4

Creamy Cucumber Pasta Salad

Any excuse to make a pasta salad is good for me. This is a different take on the usual pasta salads because you don’t usually have cucumbers in a pasta salad. This also has peas and cubed ham. Sounds delicious just thinking about it! I always use the lighter versions of mayonnaise and sour cream but you don’t have to. It’s up to you. I will also use the whole wheat pasta in this recipe but if you really don’t like it just use regular pasta. Either way it’s a tasty side dish for a hot summer day! Or cold winter day! Pasta salads are always a good quick meal or side dish for any occasion.

Photo is for illustrative purposes only

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup light mayonnaise

½ cup light sour cream

3 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon salt

1 cucumber, peeled and seeded, chopped in chunks

½ teaspoon dried dill weed, crushed

2 green onions (scallions), chopped

¼ cup chopped black olives

1 teaspoon white pepper

8 ounces fusilli pasta (spirals)

1 cup peas (canned is fine)

1 lb. smoked or plain ham, cubed


DIRECTIONS:

1. In a food processor or blender, purée the mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, honey, salt, cucumber, dill weed, green onions and pepper.

2. Cook pasta according to package, drain.

3. Toss warm pasta with the dressing ingredients. Stir in the peas and ham and olives. Chill until ready to serve.

You can even add some shredded cheddar or other cheese if you want.

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK MY WEBSITE: http://www.cucinadiandrea.com!!!

Fourth of July Food For Kids

This is a long holiday weekend and sometimes we tend to forget kids are involved as well. Not all of us have our own kids but we have family and friends who do. So check out this great little e-book of food and snacks for the younger generation. It’s got easy and kid-friendly recipes that even the big kids will love!

Sample Recipes:

4th of July Fruit Kabobs

• Bananas • Strawberries • Large Fresh Blueberries • Kabob Skewers

Slice bananas into large chunks. Alternate fruit on skewers Serve immediately

Pretzel Sparklers

• Long rod pretzels • White chocolate, melted • Sprinkles (red, white and blue) or star cake decorations

Melt the white chocolate. Dip the pretzel rod halfway into the melted chocolate then sprinkle the sprinkles over the wet chocolate. Lay on waxed paper or place in a cup to dry.

Popsicle Rockets

• Red juice (red raspberry, cherry, cranberry) • Blue juice (blue Kool Aid, Gatorade, blue raspberry) • White juice (lemonade, coconut juice drink) • Red string licorice for fuse • 3 oz. paper cups • Popsicle Sticks

Line up several 3 oz. paper cups on a baking sheet. Pour 2 tablespoons of red juice into each cup. Freeze 2-3 hours until firm-slushy. Remove from freezer and poke a Popsicle stick into the center of each cup of juice. Add 2 tablespoons of white juice and freeze 2-3 hours. Remove from freezer. Top off with blue juice and freeze 1-2 hours until slushy.

Remove from freezer and insert a 2 or 3-inch string of licorice into each Popsicle. Freeze until hard. Peel off paper cups to serve.

So click on the Flag below and you can download a free recipe book!

And don’t forget to check my website as it grows! www.cucinadiandrea.com

Lobster Creole (Puerto Rican Style)

Lobster Creole is not usually thought of as a spanish dish. But it can be. By adding green peppers and tomato sauce it becomes a distinctly different taste sensation all together! And having a Puerto Rican background (Yes, I am only half Italian) this recipe is a nice treat when we can splurge and have lobster! This dish incorporates rice in the recipe and usually Puerto Rican dishes use white rice but feel free to use brown rice if you wish. In Spanish Lobster Creole translates to “Langosta a la Criolla”. This dish is a hearty delicious seafood entrée which can be served with sautéed asparagus, a nice salad and maybe a pineapple sherbet for dessert. If you like add a couple of slices of ripe avocado to garnish the dish.

Photo For Illustrative Purposes Only

INGREDIENTS:

2 onions, chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup olive oil

1½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2 tomatoes, peeled and quartered

½ cup dry white wine

2 pounds lobster meat, chopped in bite size pieces

3 cups hot cooked rice

avocado slices and pickled red peppers for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Saute onions, green peppers and garlic in oil in a large saucepan until tender.

2. Add the salt, pepper and tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add tomato sauce, wine and lobster meat. Simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Serve over cooked rice. Garnish with avocado and peppers if desired.

Makes about 6 servings

Zucchini Pancakes Lite

This is an easy, healthy and light side dish or meatless entrée for the hot summer. I really like zucchini pancakes but they are usually full of fillers and other things that boost the calories and fat. This recipe uses my newest favorite food item, House Tofu Shirataki Noodles and egg substitute. The Tofu Shirataki Noodles are great. I will not lie and say they taste just like regular pasta, they don’t. But they are very good in their own right. Their benefits are:

  • LOW CARB – only 3g of carbs per serving
  • LOW CALORIE – 20 calories per 4 oz serving
  • NO CHOLESTEROL
  • NO SUGAR
  • GLUTEN-FREE
  • DAIRY-FREE
  • CONTAINS 10% CALCIUM
  • VEGAN
  • GUILT-FREE

They can be found in the organic section of the produce department in most supermarkets and come in a pouch with water. They must be kept refrigerated and not frozen. They come in Fettuccine, Angel Hair and Spaghetti shapes. I always have at least 2 bags on hand in my refrigerator.  Even my husband likes them! I adapted this recipe to make it lower in calories and fat but if you do not like egg substitutes please use 2 eggs in its place.

INGREDIENTS:


1 -8 ounce package House Tofu Shirataki Noodles (Spaghetti Shape)

½ cup egg substitute (or 2 large eggs)

½ cup biscuit mix (your choice)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup scallions, chopped

2 cups zucchini, shredded

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Prepare noodles according to package directions. Cut into 2-3″ lengths.

2. Combine eggs, biscuit mix and seasoning in a bowl. Stir in the noodles, scallions and zucchini.

3. Heat a flat skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. When it’s hot, scoop 1/3 cup of the mixture at a time onto the skillet, like making pancakes.

4. Cook until the bottom is golden brown. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown.

5. When finished place on a platter and keep warm. Make remaining pancakes until finished.

Makes about six 4″ pancakes.

Each pancake has about 95 calories and 5 grams of fat. With the regular eggs it will be about 110 calories and 7 grams of fat.

You can also add a little soy sauce to the finished pancakes for some added flavor.

Chicken Egg Foo Young

Egg Foo Young is a really good chinese dish. But I know how high in calories it can be so I usually stay away from it. My husband loves it too and usually gets the pork variety. This recipe can be made with pork, chicken, ham, or shrimp. Pretty much any protein you want to put in will work just fine. I took parts of this recipe from a Rachael Ray recipe as well as another recipe I had found. I left out what I didn’t like (yes, peppers! Eww…) and added my own touch. Another high calorie part of this recipe can be the sauce. Not in this recipe. There are a lot of ingredients and it does look daunting but give it a try. It’s not difficult and it will taste incredible! And it looks so good doesn’t it! If there are any leftovers they make a great breakfast too!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of egg substitute (I use the plain but you can substitute a flavored one if you like. )

1 cup chopped cooked chicken (leftover chicken is great for this)

1 cup fresh bean sprouts (A few big handfuls is good)

½ cup shredded carrots

¼ pound shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced (I used canned because the fresh were too expensive)

1 cup baby bok choy, shredded

1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped

1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced on an angle

1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated, plus 2 thin slices

2 large cloves garlic, grated or minced

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup fat-free chicken stock or broth

¼ cup tamari (aged soy sauce, use regular low-sodium if you can’t find)

1 teaspoon hot sauce (more if you like a spicier sauce)


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat a griddle pan over medium heat and brush it with some olive oil.

2. In a large mixing bowl pour in the egg beaters, chicken, bean sprouts, carrots, mushrooms, bok choy, water chestnuts, scallions, grated ginger and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and mix until completely combined.

3. Using a large mixing spoon, drop about ½ cup of the mixture onto the preheated and oiled griddle. Cook the pancakes about 2-3 minutes on each side,until golden. (Careful flipping them, it’s a little tricky. Well it was for me anyway!)

4. In the meantime, combine the cornstarch with a splash of chicken broth/stock to dissolve it. Place the rest of the stock/broth, tamari, cornstarch, hot sauce and sliced ginger in a small pot. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened for about 3 minutes or until you can coat a spoon with it. Remove the sliced ginger and remove from heat.

5. Serve 2 pancakes per person with gravy poured over the top.

Serves 4

Scallops ala Mediterranea

I love coming up with dishes made with those delicious bay scallops. They are so versatile and full of protein and goodness! This dish was another dinner when I had no idea what to make and just looked in the fridge and freezer to see what was there. And voilà! A great hearty protein filled dinner that was easy to make. I used a can of mushrooms in this recipe because I had them in my pantry, if I had fresh I would have used them instead. I am also a big fan of the chicken sausages out there on the market. I used the sun-dried tomato ones in this recipe. So good and less of the bad things usually in sausage. I use al Fresco brand quite a bit. They are gluten-free and no preservatives added either! If you can’t find any ingredient you can always substitute it with something you do have. No worries! The dish looks a bit like the Italian flag in color! Green, white and red! Very colorful if I do say so myself! And it is even good as leftovers, though there usually isn’t too many leftovers in my house!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound bay scallops

1 medium sweet (Vidalia) onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed (draining isn’t necessary as the liquid is good for this dish)

2 chicken & sun-dried tomato sausages, sliced and cut into bite size pieces

1 cup crumbled light feta cheese (or fat-free if you can find it)

¼ cup light sour cream

4 ounce can Portobello or shiitake mushrooms

1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half

3 tablespoons olive oil

Locatelli Romano cheese to top finished dish (remember we love cheese!)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large sauté pan heat olive oil and sauté onions for a few minutes till they start to soften. Add garlic and sauté till it starts getting a little translucent.

2. Add scallops and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove scallops from pan and set aside.

3. Add the chopped sausage to pan, cook for about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and stir well, cook another 5 minutes.

4. Add the mushrooms to mix and lower the heat to medium low and cook another 5 minutes, stirring often.

5. Add the scallops back to pan, stir well. Add the tomatoes and sour cream. Stir well till heated. Add the feta cheese, stir and serve! Top with the romano cheese as needed!

Serves 2-4 (depends on how hungry you are!)

Sour Cream & Onion Tilapia

I made this dish for the first time last night and it was incredibly delicious! Quick, easy and healthy. Usually when I make tilapia I fry it with panko bread crumbs but I had just cleaned the stove and didn’t want the mess of oil all over it again! So I looked around online for tilapia recipes that were baked. I found quite a bit but none of them had everything I wanted so I took a little bit from a few of them and came up with this recipe. There were no leftovers and there was a request to make it again! Always a good thing! It is a light and refreshing twist on a baked fish dish. And did I mention it was really easy and quick? I wish I had leftovers for lunch! Cleanup was also a snap because it was all in one dish. I just served it with some veggies and dinner was served!

Sour Cream & Onion Tilapia

INGREDIENTS:

6-8 tilapia fillets

salt and pepper

½ cup light sour cream

1/3 cup light mayonnaise

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill (1 tsp dried)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley (1 tsp dried)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Parmesan Cheese for topping

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350º. Grease or spray a 13×9 inch baking dish or baking dish large enough to hold the tilapia in a single layer.

2. Place tilapia in the baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Combine remaining ingredients (except for parmesan cheese) and spread evenly over the fillets. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly over the fillets.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork. When done you can broil for a couple of minutes to brown the cheese on top if you wish.

Serves 3-4

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff (Light Version)

I really love beef stroganoff but with all the fat calories in the sour cream and other rich ingredients I never make it anymore. Till now that is. This recipe uses a slow cooker or crock pot. Most of us have one somewhere in our cabinets so take it out and get ready to make this simple dish. I used to use our crock pot to heat wine for my mulled wine recipe in the fall. No more! Now I use it all the time. I even went out and bought a brand new one! I have an old one from my first bridal shower way back when and it still works but I wanted a more up-to-date model.

Serve this dish with no-yolk noodles or my favorite Shirataki Tofu Noodles keeping it low cal! This recipe calls for fat-free sour cream and 98% fat-free soup, but you can substitute the lightversions for it as well, adding a bit more fat to the recipe but it’s still lower calorie.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ lbs. lean beef stewing meat, trimmed of fat, cut into bite size pieces

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped (use 1 clove if you don’t want too much garlic)

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 pound fresh mushrooms (small white or baby bellas are a good choice), sliced or chopped

10¾ oz. can 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup

1 cup water

1 cup fat-free sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients except for the sour cream into the slow cooker. Best size slow cooker for this is 4-quart but any size is ok.

2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

3. Stir in sour cream.

4. Cook on high for a few minutes more to heat the sour cream. Serve!

Makes 6 servings

Per serving (if made as shown above): 240 calories; 7 grams fat, 15 grams carbohydrates, 800mg sodium, 1 gram fiber, 6 grams sugar, 27 grams protein, 75mg cholesterol.

If calculating points the each serving is 5 points, without the noodles.

Scallop Primavera

I am always looking for recipes for scallops. I really like the bay scallops better than the larger sea scallops. Mainly because you never really know if you’re actually getting real sea scallops. But the bay scallops are easy to keep frozen and have on hand when you’re in the mood. I came up with this recipe one day when I was cleaning out the fridge. I used carrots and broccoli in this but you can also use any other vegetable you want. If you don’t have any fresh veggies on hand a bag of mixed frozen vegetables will work just fine. I also like the broccoli/cauliflower mix for this recipe. If you are watching your carbs use a lower carb pasta or my favorite Shirataki Tofu Noodles. Or leave out the pasta all together and add more veggies. Another variation is to throw in some grated cheese of your choice and sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and butter and bake it! I’m getting hungry just writing about this! Have fun with whatever you choose!

Scallop Primavera

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound bay scallops

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 cups broccoli florets

10 oz. can of cream of chicken soup, reduced fat or fat-free

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ pound  pasta (elbows, small shells, cavatelli, spaghetti, your choice) cooked and drained

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon parsley

Parmesan cheese, if desired

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large saucepan sauté the garlic in the olive oil. Add the scallops and sauté for about 5 minutes. (Don’t overcook). Remove scallops from pan and set aside.

2. Add carrots and broccoli to pan and sauté for about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender, not mushy.

3. Add the cream of chicken soup and stir well. Cook for about 5 minutes and add the scallops back into mix. Toss to coat.

4. Add the cooked pasta and mix thoroughly. Cook a couple more minutes till heated through.

Serve with parmesan cheese for topping if you want.

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