Apple & Nectarine Oatmeal

I picked up a flat of nectarines the other day at Trader Joe's.  They looked delicious and lately we have been devouring fruit in my house.  Thrown together in a bowl, they make a practical center piece on the table, and overall I haven't gone into nectarine-overload yet.  That said, now that they are ripe, I need to use up those nectarines and I can't snack on six nectarines a day! So, I made this oatmeal for breakfast.  This is an easy, sweet breakfast that bursts with fruit flavor.
 

Apple & Nectarine Oatmeal  (7 PointsPlus)

Ingredients:
2 cups fat-free milk
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 nectarine, chopped

Directions:

1. Combine everything except the nectarine in a saucepan.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes.
2. Stir in the nectarine pieces and cook about 2 minutes longer.  Eat!

Servings:

4 servings.  7 PointsPlus per serving.

Pork Chops in Fig-Balsamic Reduction

  

I came across fresh figs at the grocery store the other day and I immediately wanted to buy them.  I am most familiar with fig in newton form, but I also enjoy a nice fig jam (on good, crusty bread with warm brie and apple slices-- delicious!), and I was excited to see fresh figs.  The figs I purchased were called Brown Turkey, but Mission would also work (dried figs too, I'm sure).  Anyway, this is the surprisingly flavorful, moist, and delicious pork dish that I produced.

Pork Chops in Fig-Balsamic Reduction
Ingredients:

1 1/3 pounds boneless pork chops (I cooked 4 1/2-inch thick chops)
salt and pepper for chops
8 figs (more or less), coarsely chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
olive oil cooking spray

Steps:

1. Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with olive oil spray and add seasoned pork chops (salt and pepper to taste).  Cook about 4 minutes per side.  Remove from pan and keep warm.
2. Using the same pan (the pork juices will add to the flavor), coat with olive oil spray and saute onions for about 3 minutes.  Add everything else: balsamic, water, soy sauce, and figs.  Reduce temperature, allow to simmer for several minutes until the flavor concentrates. 
3. Add the pork back into the fig mixture and you're done.

Serving Size:

This makes 4 servings, 1 chop a piece with 1/4 fig reduction. 8 PointsPlus value.

Barley!

I have just discovered barley.  I mean, yes,  I knew it existed... vaguely... but I certainly didn't know what to do with it, or, if I'm to be completely honest, where exactly to find it in the grocery store.  It was just something I never thought about.  And now I know.  Barely is great!  It's filling, cheap, easy to cook, and healthy.  It is a resistant starch [see the tale end of my granola post] and has three times the dietary fiber as oatmeal.  Oh, and did I mention, it's tasty, too.

So... in an effort to cook more whole grains, lentils and the like, I set about adding barley to this evening's dinner (we were having rosemary chicken and there was spinach that needed to be cooked before it wilted away).  I found a base recipe and then made some adjustments that I deemed reasonable.  For instance, the recipe called for 1/2 cup of dry vermouth, an ingredient that I didn't have on hand, so I decided to substitute white wine.  Only when I fished around in the fridge for the bottle of white that I had opened the other day with friends, I discovered that we had done a better job on it then I had recalled; there was only a quarter cup of dregs to shake into my measuring cup.  Here is where I may not have made the best choice.  The recipe also called for 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth leaving my container with just a swish of broth left to refrigerator or chuck, so I topped off the quarter cup of wine with chicken broth and called it a fair measurement.  [The resultant barley was delicious, but also a bit more liquidy than desired.]

Enough about my imprecise methods, here's the recipe:

Barley with Spinach and Asparagus  (6 PointsPlus)

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup pearl barley
3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry vermouth or white wine
1/2 teaspoon salt (or less, I used somewhat less)
1/2 pound asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Steps:

1. Heat oil in a fairly large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes.
2. Add barley, cook, stir, for about 1 minute.
3. Add broth, vermouth, and salt.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 25 minutes.
4. Add spinach and asparagus to skillet, cooking, uncovered, for about 3 minutes.
5. Add zest and cheese.  Stir.  Serve.

Serving Size:

This makes a bit more than 4 servings.  Each serving is 1 cup and worth 6 PointsPlus.

Notes:

The barley is delicious, moist and risotto-like.  The overall dish, however, is very vegetable-y.  My boyfriend, who usually eats around the green things on his plate, felt that this was a good way to get in his daily veggies.  On the other hand, I felt that I might rather enjoy the barley with the spinach, but the asparagus separate, or vice verse.  I will further experiment with this.  The barley cooked just in the chicken broth, sans vegetables, would also be delicious.

Homemade Granola

I have always wanted to make my own granola, but was too intimidated.  Now I can happily report that it is not very difficult and the results are quite tasty.  I used a recipe from the Flat Belly Diet Family Cookbook although I simplified a bit.  Below the recipe I have included some nutritional information concerning the health-benefits of resistant starch.

Homemade Granola  (5 PointsPlus)
Ingredients:
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon almost extract
Optional additions (not included in PointsPlus total):
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried tart cherries

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.  Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray-- or, if you're lazy like me, first line baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up and then coat with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine the oats, almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Separately, combine the honey, oil, and almost extract.  
3. Pour honey mixture over the oat mixture and stir well.  Spread evenly on baking sheet.
4. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, for 38 - 40 minutes.
5. If you are adding the dried fruit, add now.  Either way, cool and store in an airtight container.

Serving Size and PointsPlus Total:

This makes 12 servings.  Each serving is 1/2 cup and 5 PointsPlus.  To make this a meal, I chopped up kiwi, a few strawberries, and tossed some berries into 8oz of non-fat plain Greek yogurt (3 PointsPlus), drizzled a teaspoon of honey to make it sweet (1 PointsPlus), and topped with a serving of granola.  It was truly enjoyable and filling (total: 9 PointsPlus). 

Some notes on the nutritional value

Generally, we know that we're supposed to eat whole grains and avoid starchy foods, but, if you're like me, you may not fully grasp the science behind this rule.  I have been doing some research in order to better understand the health-value of certain foods.  I will not give you the science teacher explanation, go do your own research if you want the technical stuff, but here's what I learned.

• Resistant starches are digested more slowly and are much better for our bodies.  They do not rapidly turn into sugar, give us a sugar high, and then make us crash.
• Resistant starches also make use feel full for longer stretches of time.
• They are called resistant starch because they resist digestion.  Unlike most of the starch in our diet, they do not begin to breakdown in our small intestine, instead they resist digestion until they reach the colon.  This is beneficial for the colon and due to their slower digestion rate actually help you lose weight. (Information based on  ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine by John La Puma M.D.).

What foods are considered resistant starches? Well, first of all, old-fashioned oats are a resistant starch-- hence, I'm bringing this up with the granola recipe.  Please note, instant oatmeal is NOT a resistant starch, so spend the extra few minutes and use the old-fashioned variety.  Other resistant starches include: lentils, brown rice, barley, whole wheat, quinoa [see the Berry Quinoa Breakfast post], steel-cut oats, buckwheat, kidney beans, navy beans, bananas, and many others.

Berry Delicious Quinoa Breakfast

I LOVE this breakfast.  I make it almost every other morning in fresh berry season.  It's filling, delicious, and sweet.  Oh, and it's also quite healthy.  In fact the recipe comes from this interesting book ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine by John La Puma M.D.

I vary ever so slightly from Dr. La Puma's original recipe, so I'll outline the 7 point breakfast and the 8 point breakfast.

Berry Delicious Quinoa Breakfast  (7 PointsPlus)
Ingredients:
1 cup rinsed quinoa
1 cup skim milk
1 cup water
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons agave nectar (honey may be used as a substitute, see recipe below)

Steps:

1. Combine quinoa, milk, and water in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
2. Add the cinnamon, agave, and the berries.

Seriously, what could be easier than this?!

Serving Size and PointsPlus Value:

This makes 4 servings.  Each serving is worth 7 PointsPlus.

Here's the 8 point version:

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast  (8 PointsPlus)

Ingredients:

1 cup rinsed quinoa

1 cup 1% milk

1 cup water

1 cup fresh blackberries

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 oz chopped, toasted pecans (about 16 pecans if you don't have a scale)

4 teaspoons honey

Steps:

1. Combine quinoa, milk, and water in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
2. Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a dry frying pan or in the toaster for 3 - 5 minutes.  Toss them frequently to avoid burning.  Allow to cool slightly, then coarsely chop.
3. Add the cinnamon, honey, pecans, and berries.

Serving Size and PointsPlus Value:

This makes 4 servings.  Each serving is worth 8 PointsPlus.

Tomato-Spinach Frittata

I have always been a breakfast person and it remains my favorite meal (besides ice cream, but really, let's be serious). However, I hate to eat too many calories / points before the day has really begun, yet I am unwilling to sacrifice a delicious breakfast for a crunchy, tasteless, low-fat cereal doused in that watery-milk substance we call skim. Thus, the frittata.

The idea of a frittata is not original. Basic frittata recipes abound, and I'm sure you can find one for a spinach-tomato version similar to this one. Knowing the basics of a frittata (and knowing that I prefer them over the dried-out omelette breakfast) I surveyed my kitchen. There was leftover baby spinach that hadn't quite made it into last night's pasta, half a container of grape tomatoes, half an onion, and, of course, garlic. Voila! You can amend this recipe to include whatever scraps you have in your kitchen-- I think bell peppers and zucchini might work nicely or a variation on the cheese.

Tomato-Spinach Frittata  (4 points)

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved (give or take-- there is a lot of flexibility in this recipe)

2 cups baby spinach (like above, you can be flexible-- use what you have)
4 eggs

2 egg whites

3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Steps:

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Heat oil in 10-inch oven proof pan (I used a cast iron skillet) over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and semi-transparent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and spinach. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables begin to wilt, about 3 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, Parmesan (or other cheese of your choice), salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
5. Pour egg mixture over tomato and spinach mixture, stirring gently to combine. Reduce heat to medium and cook until eggs set, about 7-8 minutes.
6. Place frittata in broiler and broil for 2 minutes.
7. Done! It will be hot, let it cool for at least 2 minutes.

Serving Size and PointsPlus Value:

The frittata makes 4 servings. Each serving is worth 4 PointsPlus. Due to wonky Weight Watchers math, 1 & 1/2 servings is actually 5 PointsPlus, so if you are still hungry, definitely help yourself to another half portion.