Goat Cheese Stuffed Veal

Have I mentioned that I love goat cheese?

This is an adaptation of a recipe from a South Beach Cookbook. It turned out great! I served it with mashed cauliflower, green beans with mushrooms and balsamic, and a tossed salad.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Veal
4 pieces of veal scallopini, pounded thin
2 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 c crumbled goat cheese
2 T chopped pimento
1 tsp chopped fresh basil
1 T chopped shallot

Combine cheese, pimento, basil and shallot in a small bowl. Spoon 1/4 of the cheese mixture on top of each piece of veal and spread evenly over the meat, but not to the edges. Roll and secure with a toothpick. Brush veal roll-ups with oil, and season meat with salt and pepper.

Heat grill pan to medium high. Spray pan with cooking spray. Grill veal until cooked thru browned evenly all over (about 5 minutes a side) and filling is melting.

Thai Red Shrimp Curry

Sticking to this South Beach Diet thing has been easier than I thought! Besides a few indulgences on the weekends, we have been following it pretty closely. It's giving us a chance to try a lot of different things and come up with tasty, healthy and satisfying meals.

We both love spicy food...the hotter the better! I came across this on allrecipes.com as I was trying to find something "thai" to satisfy a craving I had. I took a lot of the suggestions left by recipe reviewers, including upping the red curry paste, and I subbed in shrimp for the chicken. Whew! This was one hot dish. We both sat here eating this with flushed faces and with lots of water.

Thai Red Shrimp Curry

Source: allrecipes.com

Serves 4

2 teaspoons olive oil (used 1 tsp mongolian stir fry oil, and 1 tsp sesame)
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into thin strips (used frozen, cooked shrimp instead)
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste (doubled)
1 cup sliced halved zucchini - didn't have any so I omitted it
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 onion, quartered then halved

1 jalapeno, minced (not in original recipe)

Juice of one lime (not in original recipe)
1 tablespoon cornstarch (omitted)

1/2 t ground coriander (not in original recipe)

2 T fish sauce (not in original recipe)

1 garlic clove, minced (not in original recipe)
1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp pieces; cook and stir for about 1 minute. Remove shrimp from skillet and cover to keep warm. Mix in the garlic, curry paste, bell pepper, carrot and onion, jalapeno, coriander, fish sauce. Cook and stir for a few minutes.

Stir in the coconut milk, then pour into the skillet. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat. Since I didn't add cornstarch, I let it simmer until it was slightly reduced. Add shrimp in, and heat thru. Right before serving, stir in the cilantro.

Smoked Salmon Scramble

I love me some fine breakfast foods! This was no exception...I also added in a little crumble goat cheese to my portion because I cannot get enough of the stuff! We had this with a little turkey bacon on the side - just for good measure.

Smoked Salmon Scramble
Serves 2

1 t canola oil (I used olive oil)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 oz smoked salmon, cut into thin strips
1 oz reduced-fat cream cheese, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 T finely chopped fresh chives
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggs and allow to set (10 seconds). Sprinkle salmon, cream cheese, chives over the eggs. Scramble until just cooked and combined (1 minute - be careful not to overcook). Season with salt and pepper.

Balsamic Green Beans and Mushrooms

Still playing catch up!

Excuse the horrible steamy picture. These were actually pretty tasty. This is a South Beach Diet recipe...one of the many I have been trying out on my husband (whether he likes it or not =D)

Balsamic Green Beans and Mushrooms
1 lb fresh green beans
1 T olive oil
Sliced mushrooms
Shallot, cut in half and sliced into half-moons
1 T Balsamic vinegar
Salt, pepper

Steam green beans until crisp tender. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add mushrooms and shallots, cook until mushrooms are browned. Add green beans and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss to combine and heat thru.

Chicken Green Curry

I'm really trying to stick with the South Beach Diet. In all honesty, going into phase 1 - which is the most restrictive - I had my doubts that I would make it the two weeks the induction phase lasts. But it was much easier than I thought. You just have to be creative = )

I found this recipe on a random South Beach Diet chat board. It was pretty good, but definitely needs to be jazzed up if I make it again. Maybe add some garlic, jalepenos and up the curry paste to maybe 2 tablespoons for more flavor.

Chicken Green Curry

6 C of fresh spinach, washed and stems removed

2 tsp canola oil (used olive oil)

1 small onion roughly chopped

1 13.5oz can light coconut milk

1/4 c lower-sodium chicken broth

1 T of green curry paste (from a jar)

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips

1 1lb eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 T fresh lime juice

Heat oil in large straight-sided skillet over med-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened (about 5 minutes). Stir in coconut milk, broth, curry paste, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 8 minutes.

Add chicken and eggplant; bring to a low boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook stirring occasionally until chicken is no longer pink inside and eggplant is tender - about 8 minutes. Add spinach, stir, and cook 1 minute. Stir in lime juice and serve.

Veal Involtini with Mashed Cauliflower

I originally got this recipe from my friend, Christy, on a visit to their house in Annapolis. She and her husband served it as a tasty appetizer by cutting it into bite-sized bits before cooking. I then made it for Norm and some of my other friends soon after for an entree and Norm was hooked. He asks for this every once in a while, and I'm more than happy to oblige!

We made this as one of our first dinners on the South Beach Diet. This was also our first attempt at mashed cauliflower to replace the whipped potatoes that we would normally have with it.

Veal Involtini

4 pieces of veal scallopini, pounded thin

4 slices of proscuitto

4 slices of provolone (used reduced fat)

fresh sage leaves, chopped

Layer proscuitto over the veal, top with cheese and a sprinkling of sage. Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Cook over med-high heat in a frying pan or grill pan (also great on the grill!), until cooked thru.

Mashed Cauliflower

1 bag of frozen cauliflower

1 can fat-free, low sodium chicken broth

(can also add a variety of add-ins: chives, shredded parmesan, roasted garlic, cream cheese and a little fat free 1/2 & 1/2....etc)

Cook cauliflower in broth until tender. Drain thoroughly and press out as much water as possible. Place cauliflower in food process and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Baked Goat Cheese in Marinara

I love goat cheese in a big way. So when I found an appetizer recipe that had goat cheese in it, it was a no brainer! I made this to take over to dinner at our friend's house. I knew our hostess would love it as the love of goat cheese is one of the many things we have in common!

Baked Goat Cheese in Marinara

1 4oz log of goat cheese (I used the herbed variety)

Marinara sauce (I used a spicy red pepper tomato sauce)

Spray a small, shallow baking dish with cooking spray. Gently flatten the goat cheese to form a rectangular block in the center of the dish. Pour marinara sauce around the cheese, but not over it. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until bubbly.

Serve with sliced baguette.

Blueberry Eggnog French Toast

One of my husband's favorite things about the holiday season is eggnog. I could definitely leave it, but I humor him and buy it for him. I wanted to use up the last of the Sara Lee Blueberry Yogurt Breakfast bread in the fridge (also known as the some of the last carbs that would willingly pass my lips before going on the south beach diet, phase one...) and thought that maybe eggnog would make a fun twist in place of milk. And it was! I thought it was really good. Not good enough for me to slug down a glass of eggnog, but good enough that I will try this again!

I don't have an actual recipe, I am a toss-it-in-a-bowl-as-you-go kinda gal when it comes to french toast. But here my guesstimates.

Eggnog French Toast

1/2 C egg substitute

1/3 C low-fat eggnog

1 tsp granulated sugar

dash of nutmeg

dash of cinnamon

sliced bread

Mix egg, eggnog, sugar and spices. Heat a frying pan, spray with cooking spray. Dip bread slices in egg mixture. Cook bread slices until golden brown.

Playing Catch Up - And a Beef Tenderloin Masterpiece

So I had lunch with my friend, Kristin, this past weekend. She asked me WHEN I was going to FINALLY update my blog with some more stuff. It's been on my ever-growing "to-do" list forever...and I always seem to find something else to do other than takes a couple of minutes to do a quick post to show off some wonderful culinary creation (said with mucho sarcasm, lol).

But seriously, Norm and I have been cooking a lot, I just haven't been so diligent with taking pictures as I should. Not that my pictures are great...far from it. Some look like my 2 yr old nephew took them. But in downloading pictures tonight from my camera, I realized that my camera ate the best picture...Norm's Christmas Day masterpiece - a bacon-wrapped, crab-stuffed, yummy beyond belief beef tenderloin. **sigh** I'll have to settle for the "before" picture of it dressed up, ready for the oven.

Just a little background, Norm's been making THE tenderloin for the last couple of years, and it's always delish. Last year, he decided to up the ante and stuff it with lobster. Very tasty! This year he wanted to do some even better and stuff it with crab and serve it with bernaise sauce. WOW. It was probably the best meal we've ever had. His sister and brother-in-law were with us for the holidays, as were his parents....everyone raved. We kept everything else simple, baked potatoes with sour cream and chives, steamed asparagus, and a salad. He definitely outdid himself!

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Tenderloin
1 filet mignon tenderloin
1 lb peppered bacon (or more if you have a larger piece of beef)
string for tying the tenderloin
crabmeat stuffing (recipe below)

Slice tenderlloin down the center, but not the whole way thru. Spread a layer of crab stuffing in the "pocket" of the tenderoin. (note, don't pack in an excessive amt of stuff or you'll have a hard time closing it to wrap with the bacon and tie up for roasting.) Close the tenderloin over the stuffing and layer bacon over the top of the tenderloin, covering the sides as well, and securing with toothpicks. Tie tenderloin tightly to keep together while roasting.

Roast at 425 degrees until desired temperature. We did ours medium rare - we had a rather large piece of meat, and it took at least an hour. After it rested for about 10 minutes out of the oven, we sliced it and anyone who wanted it done more, we just cooked it in a pan on the stove.

CRABMEAT STUFFING WITH SOUR CREAM
Source: cooks.com
1 c. crabmeat
1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms (*omitted)
3/4 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. butter, melted (*omitted)
2 c. bread crumbs
1/2 c. sour cream
2 tbsp. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt

Cook celery and onion in butter until tender. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Makes approximately 1 quart.

A side note, this makes yummy crabcakes as well. We had some stuffing leftover, and made mini crab cakes for a twist on eggs benedict the next morning.