Shrimp-Stuffed Avocados

These made a great lunch! I added a few Quaker White Cheddar rice cakes for the whole grains, you can see, for a more balanced lunch. 

SHRIMP-STUFFED AVOCADOS

1/4C plain nonfat Greek yogurt

1T lime juice

2t mayonnaise

1t Dijon mustard

1 6oz can baby shrimp

2 avocados

Mix first five ingredients together.

Halve and pit the avocados. Scoop out a little extra avocado to make the hole for the shrimp larger and mash that into the shrimp filling.

Fill the avocados and enjoy!

Chicken Yakisoba

This is what my original recipe said about Yakisoba: 

"Yakisoba belongs on the stir-fried noodle dish Mount Rushmore. Yakisoba is an insanely popular dish that first started appearing in Japanese food stalls in the 1940's. When you think of soba noodles you may be reminded of the buckwheat noodles often served cold with a dipping sauce, but in Yakisoba, the noodles are made of wheat and resemble something similar to what you'd see in a lo mein."

Obviously, since we're gluten free here, we're not going to go with anything made out of wheat. I used the same noodles I use for a lo mein, which are the rice noodles from my local oriental market.

They worked great. This wound up tasting like seconds - and maybe even thirds!

CHICKEN YAKISOBA

14oz rice noodles (use yakisoba noodles, if you can find them and you're not GF)

12oz chicken breast, trimmed and cut into stir-fry size strips

3C broccoli florets

1/2 bag of shredded cabbage and carrots (cole slaw mix, found with the bagged salads)

Ingredients for Yakisoba sauce:

    4T Worcestershire sauce (Lea&Perrins is GF)

    2T soy sauce (Tamari is GF)    

    2T ketchup

    2T oyster sauce (Wok Mei is GF)

    1t sugar

Heat water to boiling on the stove or in an electric kettle. Pour water over rice noodles to cover, stir, and soak until soft and ready to eat (approximately 7 minutes, depending on the width of your noodles). 

While noodles are soaking, mix the ingredients for the yakisoba sauce together in a measuring cup or small bowl. Microwave your broccoli florets for 3 minutes. 

Drain noodles when they are done. 

Cover your wok with pan spray and add your chicken. Over medium high heat, stir fry your chicken until done. Remove chicken from wok. Add the broccoli and cabbage/carrots; stir fry until tender-crisp. Add chicken and noodles to the vegetables in the wok. Pour yakisoba sauce over the wok and stir until evenly distributed. 

Ashley’s Favorite Sauces: Lightened Summer ‘Alfredo’

That is, it’s not a real Alfredo at all (you can find that one here), but a lightened cream sauce with a touch of Parmesan and Neufchâtel for richer flavor.

Alfredo’s a pretty heavy sauce for hot summer days, and heavy on the calories as well. 

I put this over pasta, shrimp, and fresh steamed broccoli - and topped it with the two handfuls of oregano I wound up with when I was cutting back the herb garden this morning! 

LIGHTENED SUMMER ‘ALFREDO’

14oz chicken broth, bouillon, or broth base (Orrington Farms broth base is gluten free, and comes in both chicken and beef)

1 1/2 C milk, divided

2 T corn starch

4oz Neufchâtel cheese (low fat cream cheese)

3oz fresh Parmesan

Heat the chicken broth/water and broth base or bouillon in the microwave two minutes. (I use a four cup measure.) Add one cup of milk and stir.

In a smaller measuring cup, whisk together the other half cup of milk with two tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk together well.

Pour the milk/cornstarch slurry into the four cup measure and stir. Heat to boiling in the microwave, stirring every minute, until thickened.

Whisk in the Parmesan and Neufchâtel until melted. 

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

 I don’t often blog stir fries, because I never measure anything when I’m making them - never! - but I had my parents over for lunch today, and Mama wanted the recipe! So I’m going to give a stab at measurements. 

Stir fries are awesome for healthy weight loss, they really are - just watch the rice! Actually, when I was working on shedding my 100+ pounds, I’d often eat them without the rice, just the straight stir-fry for dinner. Lots of vegetables, lean protein, and minimal calories in the sauce - what could be better?

A couple notes on the ingredients:

Tamari soy sauce is gluten free, marked so. If you are cooking gluten free, watch out for the soy sauces - contrary to their name, they are usually made from wheat!

Rice vinegar is often sold ‘seasoned.’ That just means it has sugar and salt added. Buy the plain, and ‘season’ it yourself! The salt in the soy sauce and the honey are plenty enough for this recipe.

Get all your ingredients ready to go before you start cooking anything! That’s a hard-and-fast rule for any stir fry. You’re cooking over a pretty high heat, and everything is cut into bite sized pieces. You don’t have time to get anything else ready once you start heating that wok!

And a note on the wok: if you’re going to do stir-fries, you really need a wok. Nothing really cooks as a stir-fry in any other kind of pan. You need a good one, but even my very favorites are not expensive - I’ve fallen in love with the IKEA woks, and yes, you can order online and have them ship!

CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI STIR FRY

3 tablespoons + 1/4 cup soy sauce (I use the low-sodium Tamari, because it is gluten free)

2 tablespoons + 1/4 cup rice vinegar (plain, not seasoned!)

4 tablespoons corn starch, divided

1 pound (or so) chicken breast

4 teaspoons (or so) honey

6 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons ginger paste (such as Spice World, in the squeezable bottles)

6 cups (or so) broccoli florets

Any other vegetables you like, cut into bite size pieces (snow peas are a favorite of mine in stir fries)

Green onions or scallions, for garnish

Rice for serving, if you choose

Trim your chicken and cut it into bite size pieces. Place it in a gallon-sized ziplock bag with 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. ‘Zip’ the bag closed and squeeze the ingredients around until the chicken is well-coated and the marinade fully mixed. Place in the refrigerator while you prep the rest of the ingredients. 

Mix up the rest of the sauce in a one cup measure: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 4 teaspoons or so of honey (use more if you want it sweeter, of course), and 2 heaping tablespoons of corn starch. Whisk until well blended. Set aside.

Get your vegetables ready to go in the stir fry. Trim up your broccoli florets; steam in the microwave until just the ‘crisp’ side of tender-crisp. (You will finish them in the wok. Trust me, this is the best way to get them all done ‘just right’ when you’re stir-frying.) If you’re using snow peas, red bell pepper, whatever, get them diced up into bite sized. Dice your green onions or scallions for garnish; set aside.

Coat your wok with pan spray and add the garlic. You want to cook at a pretty high heat; I use the medium-high setting for the burner on my stove. Keep the garlic moving around as the pan heats, and when it is sizzling, get the chicken out of the fridge. Dump all contents of the ziplock into the wok. Add the ginger paste.

Keep stirring the chicken as it cooks. You don’t want anything to get too brown or to start sticking. Just as soon as the chicken is done (I’ll sometimes use my spoon to cut some of the larger pieces in half, to check done-ness), add the broccoli. Pour half the sauce over the broccoli (it might need another stir with the whisk, with that honey in there), and stir until ingredients in the wok are well combined. Pour the other half of the sauce in, and keep stirring. 

When the sauce, vegetables, and chicken are well combined, take it up from the wok quick, before anything gets too done! 

Serve hot - over rice, if you choose. *Just watch the portions on that rice!*

Hashbrown Pizza Crust

I made this hashbrown crust into a pizza with Canadian bacon, fresh mozzarella, fresh steamed spinach, and topped it with oregano when it came out of the oven. The real reason I think I like this recipe for a gluten free crust? IT HOLDS UP WELL ENOUGH TO PICK UP!

HASHBROWN PIZZA CRUST

1lb frozen shredded hashbrowns, thawed

4 eggs

1/2 cup shredded cheese

 (I used shredded sharp cheddar since I didn’t have mozzarella, and it worked great)

Set your frozen hashbrowns out to thaw an hour or two beforehand.

Preheat your oven to 400.  Beat four eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the thawed hashbrowns and 1/2 C cheese. Mix well.

Form into a crust with your hands on parchment paper (do NOT forget the parchment paper, it sticks terribly otherwise!) on top of a pizza stone or baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

Top with your favorite toppings, and bake again until the cheese is melted. Cut and serve hot.

Servings: 6

Spinach with Cannellini Beans

Want a quick healthy side dish? This one is done in the time it takes to steam the spinach in the microwave!

SPINACH WITH CANNELLINI BEANS

40 oz fresh spinach

1 16-oz can cannellini beans, drained

Olive oil

Fresh herbs (I used parsley and a bit of chives)

Fresh Parmesan 

Steam the spinach in the microwave. I steam it in a tightly covered bowl, with a little bit of water in the bottom, in batches until it is all done. Spinach cooks down quite a bit.

Add the drained cannellini beans, a few tablespoons of olive oil (I didn’t measure, but I think I used about three), whatever fresh herbs you have on hand, and a handful of fresh Parmesan (to taste). 

Serve hot.

Quinoa with Mozzarella, Snow Peas, and Cherry Tomatoes

Since this is prepared ahead of time and served chilled, it is EXCELLENT for lunches! I’m preparing on the weekend, portioning out, and chilling in individual tupperwares for the week. 

Start with 2 cups of Basic Quinoa:

Instapot Quinoa if you have an Instapot

Or Basic Quinoa here if you want to do it on the stove.

Once you’ve got your quinoa going, I’m adding some frozen chopped spinach to mine to cut the calories and up the nutrients a bit. I’m cooking two 12oz bags of frozen chopped spinach in the microwave.

Then I’m getting out my snow peas, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.

Slice your snow peas on the diagonal, and I’m sticking mine in the microwave for a couple minutes. You can use them raw if you prefer!

My super-cool yellow, red, and purple cherry tomatoes are just getting halved, and then the mozzarella log is getting sliced into bite-sized pieces.

Are those not the BEST tomatoes? Splurge on yourselves sometimes!

Mix your dressing ingredients together, and whisk well.

When the quinoa is done, let it sit 5-10 minutes, fluff with a fork, then mix all ingredients together. Drizzle dressing over it and stir well.

Refrigerate and serve cold.

QUINOA WITH MOZZARELLA, SNOW PEAS, AND CHERRY TOMATOES

2 cups dried quinoa, prepared

2 12oz bags frozen chopped spinach

8oz snow peas

1 pint cherry tomatoes

8oz fresh mozzarella 

Dressing ingredients:

1/4 C lemon juice

2 T Dijon mustard

2 T olive oil

3/4 t sea salt

1/4 t freshly ground pepper

Cook quinoa: Basic Quinoa is the link for stove top quinoa, and Instapot Quinoa for instapot. I prefer Instapot, myself, because it can’t boil over.

Cook spinach according to package directions. Cut snow peas on the diagonal; microwave 2 minutes. Halve cherry tomatoes and slice mozzarella into bite sized pieces.

Mix dressing ingredients together and whisk well.

When quinoa is done, let sit 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork. Combine quinoa, spinach, snow peas, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Drizzle dressing over quinoa salad and mix well.

Serve chilled.

Servings: 7

Calories per serving: 325