Saffron Tomato Sauce with Capers

Saffron...it's the world's most expensive spice.

**Sigh**

It adds such a unique flavor to dishes, and a little goes a long way. We actually pretty much always have it in the spice cabinet so that Norm can whip up his famous paella (actually its his dad's recipe, but he's pretty much mastered it!). So when I found this recipe for Saffron Tomato Sauce with Capers in Fine Cooking, I quickly bookmarked it to try.

I was delicious. More than delicious. I loved it! The first time we had it, had it with some sauteed shrimp. The next time we stepped it up a notch and steamed some mussels and clams in the rich broth. Yummy! We had it over whole wheat pasta...and I didn't use as much oil as the recipe called for. It's easy to fit this into South Beach, Weight Watchers, or other healthy eating plan.

Saffron Tomato Sauce with Capers

(Source: Fine Cooking)

3 T extra virgin olive oil

1/2 a small yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 c)

2 large cloves of garlic, very thinly sliced crosswise

30 threads of saffron

Pinch crushed red pepper

28-oz can whole peeled plum tomatoes, drained and small diced (about 2 C)

2 tsp capers, rinsed and chopped

1 small sprig fresh thyme

Pinch sugar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 T chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and garlic and cook stirring occasionally, until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Crumble saffron into the pan and stir in the crushed pepper. Let cook for about 20 seconds and then add the tomatoes, capers, thyme, sugar, 1/2 t salt and several grinds of black pepper. Simmer briskly, adjusting the heat as necessary until the tomatoes are softened and the flavors melded, about 15 minutes. Discard the thyme sprig and stir in parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

(*EASY*) Lighter Mini Cinnamon Rolls

Man, I love me some tasty breakfast pastries! Unfortunately, they don't exactly fit into a healthy eating lifestyle. I found this recipe posted on a Weight Watchers message board...it was everything I love in a recipe...quick, easy and most of all tasty! Not something for every day, but a great something sweet for company.

I made these as a last minute breakfast when my parents were in town. They came together in minutes and looked pretty on the serving plate. My only regret was that I didn't whip up a quick icing for them, but they were great without it. Oh well, next time!!! We had these with fresh cantalope and honeydew on the side.

Mini-Cinnamon Rolls

(Source: Weight Watchers message board)

2 T packed brown sugar (I used 1/3 C Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t unsalted butter (omitted, but spritzed Smart Balance butter spray on the dough before topping)

1 11oz tube of refrigerated breadsticks

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Separate breadsticks into 12 strips, sprinkle mixture on each strip (I rolled out the dough, and patted the entire "square" of dough with the sugar/cinnamon topping, then separated). Roll each strip into a spiral, pressing to seal the ends. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet, 1 inch apart for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool 10 minutes on a rack before serving.

Grilled Pizza

We've been wanting to try grilling pizza for a while...but things came up, other dishes to try took precedent over a simple pizza and this went on the proverbial back burner for a while.

A couple of years ago, Norm bought a Weber Grill cookbook (Weber's Real Grilling) that had a couple of pizza recipes in it that looked fantastic. By the way, this cookbook is gorgeous...lots of pictures (a big plus for a visual person like me) and loaded with pro grilling tips and of course some outstanding recipes.

For the holiday weekend, we decided we'd try a grilled pizza. And holy cow, it was delicious! I was going to try my hand at a homemade crust, but opted for the ready-made whole wheat pizza dough that I found at Trader Joes. The pics I took came out blurry so I figured I wouldn't post them...but here's the recipe!

Barbecued Chicken Pizza
(Source: Webers Real Grilling)

Dough:
1 envelope active dry yeast
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling dough
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt

Sauce:
2 T unsalted butter
1/4 C finely chopped yellow onion
2 tsp minced garlic
3/4 C ketchup
1/4 C dry red wine
1/4 C dijon mustard
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, 5-6 oz each
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
ground black pepper
2 C grated smoked Gouda cheese
1/4 C finely chopped fresh chives

To prepare dough: In a medium bowl, combine the yeast and sugar with 3/4 C warm water (105-115 degrees F). Stir once and let stand until foamy, 5-10 min. Add 2 1/2 C flour, 3 T of olive oil and salt. Stir until the dough holds together. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, 4-6 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Turn the ball to cover the surface with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, 1-1 1/2 hours.

Punch down the dough in the bowl. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and cut into 4 equal pieces. Cut parchment paper into 9-inch squares and lightly oil each sheet on one side. Roll or press dough flat on the oiled side of the paper into circles about 8" in diameter, leaving the dough a little thicker at the edges. Then lightly oil the top side of the dough.

To make the sauce: In a medium saucepan over med-high hear, melt butter. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until light brown, about 1 min, stirring occasionally. Add remaining sauce ingredients. Whisk to combine. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Pour 1/2 the sauce into a small bowl, reserving the other half in the saucepan.

Lightly brush or spray chicken on both sides with oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Lightly coat the chicken on both sides with the sauce in the bowl. Grill the chicken over direct medium heat until meat is firm to the touch and no longer pink in the center, 8-12 minutes, turning once. Finely chop or shred the chicken and moisten with same reserved sauce in the saucepan (you may not need all of it).

Lay dough on the grate, with the paper facing up. Grab one corner of the paper with tongs and peel it off. Grill over direct medium heat until they are marked on the underside, 2-3 minutes, rotating the crusts occasionally for even cooking. Don't worry if crusts bubble, they will deflat when turned over. Transfer the crusts from the cooking grate to the back of a baking sheet, with the grilled sides facing up.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cheese over each pizza, leaving 1/2 inch border around the edges. Arrange the chicken and chives over the cheese. transfer the pizzas from the baking sheets to the cooking grate. Grill until the crusts are crisp and the cheese is melted, 4-5 minutes, rotating the pizzas occasionally for even cooking. Transfer to a cutting board, cut into wedges. Serve warm.

A Private Wine and Cheese Tasting

So we made a special trip to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Saturday to gather all the yummy foods we needed for the holiday weekend. On the menu...burgers & dogs, corn on the cob; steaks and pasta; and pizza on the grill.

While we were in Whole Foods, Norm found one of our favorite cheeses - Humbolt Fog. So that sparked the idea of getting a few specialty cheeses, cracking open a bottle of wine and enjoying our deck. So 4 cheeses, a container of quince paste, apples and pears and the cutest whole wheat mini-toasts that you have ever seen later...we were exiting Whole Foods ready to have ourselves a good time! That is until we got back to our car, parked by the state store and I had the idea of each of us picking out 2 bottles of wine to have a wine tasting along with our newly acquired cheese.

Here's what our feast looked like -

Before...

...and after = )

Eggs Over Spinach & Mushrooms (& other fun stuff!)

So this brings us up to the Memorial Day holiday weekend. We decided not to go anywhere, and just spend some quality time on the deck, grilling tasty foods and just relaxing. And that we did!!!

It was so nice to sleep in for a change!!! On Saturday morning, I woke up before Norm, so I put on the coffee and decided on what to make for breakfast.

Here's what I came up with....

3 C baby spinach
1 C mushrooms, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
salt, pepper
1/4 C reduced-fat feta cheese
2 slices of canadian bacon
2 eggs

Heat two skillets over medium-high heat. Spray both with cooking spray. In one pan, add mushrooms, saute until brown around the edges. Add spinach and garlic; sautee until spinach is wilted. While the mushrooms and spinach are cooking, add the canadian bacon to the other pan, and "fry" until it starts to brown. Remove bacon to the spinach pan and keep warm.

Re-spray the bacon pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add eggs and "fry" until done season with salt and pepper. Divide spinach and mushroom mixture between 2 plates; divide cheese between two plates. Top with canadian bacon and eggs.

Spicy Chicken & Veggie Stir-Fry

We make this quick stir-fry quite a bit and it's always fantastic. I first found it in a South Beach Diet cookbook....the original calls for shrimp, but we used chicken this time. You can pretty much put any veggie into it that you want (it's great for cleaning out the ol' fridge), but the snow peas really make it great. We also spice it up with some jalapeno cuz we're spicy like that! It's great over brown rice...or just as is if you're watching your carbs.

Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry

(Source: South Beach Diet Quick & Easy Cookbook)

4 tsp canola oil, divided

2 T plus 1 1/2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce, divided

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 lb chicken tenderloins, cut into bit sized pieces

2 T minced fresh ginger

8 oz mushrooms, quartered (I usually use sliced)

4 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 bell pepper, any color, cut into strips

8 oz snow peas, strings removed

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Whisk together 2 tsp canola oil, 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce, and garlic in a large bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat.

Lightly coat a large skillet (or wok) with cooking spray, and heat over high heat. Add chicken, stir frying until cooked. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.

Heat remaining oil in the same skillet over high heat; add ginger and cook 30 seconds. Add mushrooms, scallions, bell pepper, snow peas, and red pepper flakes and cook until veggies are crisp-tender (about 4-5 minutes). Stir in chicken and remaining soy sauce and toss to combine. Serve hot.

A Twist on Eggs Benedict

For the life of me I can't remember where I found this recipe, but it was darn tasty! I think it was an Ellie Kreiger recipe from the Food Network, but I saw it on a cooking blog .... printed it out, but forgot to star it on my Google Reader. I am far too lazy to do a search tonight...so we'll leave it at that = )

We had this dish for a light dinner one Sunday night. We had gone to Norm's parents for lunch - Norm's Dad made me a special dinner for my birthday (pork dhansak with brown basmati rice...and rava for dessert...YUMMY!) So after all that food during the day, a lighter fare was much appreciated. I did change the original recipe and poached the eggs instead of scrambling them. We served it up with some cut fruit on the side, and it hit the spot!

Pesto Eggs Benedict

(Source: Ellie Kreiger, Food Network -adapted)

Cooking spray

4 portobella mushroom caps

4 slices Canadian Bacon

4 eggs (I used eggland's best)

2 tsp pesto, divided

2 T chopped fresh basil leaves

Here's what I did...

Fill multi-pan up with water, add egg poacher insert and heat until water comes to a boil. Heat grill pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Clean mushrooms and scrape gills out carefully with a spoon. Spray pan with cooking spray, put mushrooms on, gill side up and cook for 3 minutes. Add eggs to egg poacher, season with salt & pepper. Flip mushrooms, cook on other side. Add canadian bacon to grill pan. When eggs are done, take mushrooms out of gril pan and put onto plate...gill side up, top with canadian bacon and 1/2 tsp pesto. Add poached egg and top with 1/2 tsp pesto and basil.