Italian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I've wanted to make lettuce wraps for a long time. I always enjoy them when I order them as an appetizer, and they seem easy and healthy. When I saw a recipe for Chicken Lettuce Wraps in the September 2011 Cooking Light -- even though they're Italian-flavored, rather than the typical Asian-flavored -- I thought I'd give it a try.

I made a few adjustments, based on what we had and what I could find:

• I ended up cooking the onions a bit with the chicken. I thought the raw onion flavor might be too overpowering.
• Instead of green olives (which I love but Nate does not like), I used capers, which we already had.
• I couldn't find Bibb lettuce, so I just big leaves of green lettuce.

Unfortunately, this dish didn't turn out well at all (which, if I would have read the comments on the recipe, I would have discovered others didn't care for it either). It really didn't have much flavor, and surprisingly, the lettuce flavor was really overpowering. I think some of it had to do with the fact that the chicken I used -- while it was safe in the freezer -- was fairly old and dry.

I'd love to try making lettuce wraps again, but I think I'll go for the more traditional Asian-flavored ones. Anyone have a good recipe?

Squashy Mac & Cheese

Upon receiving the September 2011 issue of Cooking Light, I just knew I had to make the cover recipe: Creamy, Light Mac and Cheese (oh, how I love mac and cheese!).

The recipe comes from the magazine's "recipe makeover" section. In this section each month, the Cooking Light staff recreates a classic-but-not-healthy recipe, and cuts down on fat and calories. The classic mac and cheese recipe went from 908 calories and 36 grams of saturated fat in one serving to 390 calories and 6.1 grams of saturated fat.

I really love two things about this recipe: it uses cheese I might not normally use and think of for mac and cheese, and it incorporates butternut squash, which I LOVE.

I followed the recipe very closely, except for a couple of things:

• I used vegetable broth, rather than chicken broth (I don't quite understand why vegetarian recipes often call for chicken broth when you can easily use vegetable broth ...). 
• I found a type of Gruyere to use (Compte) from the West Allis Cheese and Sausage Shoppe at the Milwaukee Public Market, but I couldn't find the other two cheeses the recipe calls for. At the cheese shoppe, I asked what would be comparable to pecorino Romano cheese, and they suggested a type of cheese called lamb chop. We had some shredded Romano cheese that I used in place of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. (I put all the cheeses in the food processor so that I didn't have to grate everything. It worked really well!)

I think the recipe turned out really well, and was filling without being heavy. I would definitely make it again, and might try different cheeses--a smoky Gouda would definitely be tasty.

After reading through some comments people left at the bottom of the recipe page, I might take some advice and eat the mac and cheese without baking it. I think it would be even creamier this way.

Salmon & Peach-Tomato Salsa

I picked up some wild salmon at Trader Joe's the last time I was there and had been keeping it in the freezer for future use. I remembered this Cooking Light cover recipe for Grilled King Salmon with Tomato-Peach Salsa from the July 2011 issue, and thought it would be a good one to make.

And it turns out it was. Super tasty, easy and healthy. I didn't use mint because I didn't want to buy too much and have it go to waste. Also, we only had two pieces of salmon, which were about 8 oz. each. We made the entire batch of salsa, though, and had it with other leftovers later in the week. Lastly, I didn't use grape tomatoes, but rather just regular, big tomatoes because we already had some. I think they worked fine, they just made the salsa a little more liquidy.

The only thing that didn't work so well with this recipe is that we overcooked the salmon, something we do too often. The grill was too hot, so the salmon was rather dry. But, with a lot of salsa on top, it was hard to tell it was overcooked.

I'd definitely make this recipe again, and I'd use the salsa for just about anything--including to just have with chips!

Tequila-Honey-Pineapple Chicken

Here's another Cooking Light recipe: Tequila-Glazed Grilled Chicken Thighs. This one was also really good, although we used a completely different type of chicken, which probably gave it a bit of a different flavor.

We decided to use the half a chicken we had in the basement freezer for this rather than buying the chicken thighs the recipe calls for. Nate cut the chicken apart and ended up with chicken breast strips, for a lack of a better term.

We followed the rest of the recipe exactly, even though I knew we'd end up with too much glaze/sauce, which we did. Nate glazed the chicken pretty good, and we used some reserved sauce for dipping.

This was really tasty--it was a great mix of sweet and spice. You could not taste the tequila at all (not sure if that's a good or bad thing!). I thought the sauce would be good in a stir fry, too. I had the two leftover pieces on my lunch salad today, which was also really tasty.

Sloppy Mushroom Joes

The June 2011 issue of Cooking Light is sure getting a workout! We made two recipes from it this week alone. The biggest reason for turning to Cooking Light this week was that I was making out the shopping list late Sunday afternoon, after our camping trip, and couldn't bear to put too much thought into meal planning this week--the June issue was out, so I went with that.

Lucky for us, the two meals we made were fabulous, and I've been telling lots of people about them. The first was Beef and Mushroom Sloppy Joes. Before I really got into the recipe, I figured they would be mostly beefy sloppy joes, with some mushrooms mixed in (which is just the way I like my sloppy joes). But, as I made the meal, I realized that they were made mostly of cremini mushrooms and just a small amount of beef--but they still taste really beefy.

The recipe was super easy, as it's one of the issues 20-minute-cooking meals. I find these meals always take a bit longer than those 20 minutes, though, when you have to chop vegetables and prepare things (granted, the recipe calls for pre-chopped onion and pre-sliced mushrooms, but those types of foods are often more expensive).

I followed the recipe just about exactly, except I subbed dried oregano for the fresh and added a bit more hot sauce (and, really, I should have added more!). The recipe says this makes four servings, but we got six out of it.

All in all, the sloppy joes were really, really good--Nate (Mr. Steak himself) took a bite before I even picked mine up, and he immediately said, "OH, this is good!" It's the type of meal in which you forget you're not really eating much meat.

Edamame and Steak Salad

Nate found this recipe for Edamame Salad with Crisp Steak Bits while flipping through the June 2011 issue of Cooking Light (of course he did--it says "steak" so he was drawn to it!). We had been meaning to make it for a few weeks, and finally did so early last week.

The recipe was super easy, quite and delicious. The salad was really refreshing and great one a warm, summer night.

For our first night eating it, we stuck with the recipe exactly as it's stated. The recipe says to cut the steak into "small pieces," and I would recommend doing as we did--cut them into really small bits, so you can get a taste with each bite.

We had it for leftovers a few nights later, and it was still really good--I was a bit worried it would get a little soggy, but it was just fine. We added half a chopped avocado to it when we had it for leftovers.

Spicy Southwestern Tabbouleh

While flipping through the July 2010 issue of Cooking Light, I found this recipe for Spicy Southwestern Tabbouleh. I thought the dish would work well as a side for a pork dish we would be making later in the week and also as a pre-workout snack (more bulgur!).

The ingredients list is very long--25 things go into it! And it takes a lot of chopping and prep work, but I think it's well worth it. The dish was delicious, and worked well as both a side dish and pre-workout snack.

If one of the ingredients isn't appealing or if you don't have it on hand (I forgot to buy queso fresco, so I used the feta I had), just sub in something else. You can also make it as spicy or not spicy as you want.

I had this in the fridge for about a week, and I would say that's just a little too long--by the end, it was pretty watery, but still pretty tasty.

Baba Ghanoush (or Mashed Eggplant Dip)

I needed some kind of appetizer to take to my parents' house for a Memorial Day/Grandma's birthday cookout. I wanted something light and healthy (and--not going to lie--maybe something that would have enough leftover that I could bring home and eat during the week!), and I found this recipe for baba ghanoush in the June 2010 issue of Cooking Light. I've always wanted to try making baba ghanoush, too, so this worked out perfectly.

Baba ghanoush is an Arab dish made of grilled or roasted eggplant that is mashed and mixed with seasonings. It's often served as a dip with pita bread--which is exactly how I wanted to serve it.

This recipe was super easy (seriously, the hardest part was trying to find the right-sized eggplant!) and straightforward. The only thing I would do differently next time is either omit the mayo (kind of weird, if you ask me) or use plain Greek yogurt instead. The one thing I did differently was that instead of buying cumin seeds, I just used ground cumin. Also, lucky for me, it made a ton, so I was able to bring some home to use on sandwiches and use as a veggie dip.

I served it at my parents' house with homemade pita bread I had made earlier in the day. Yum! I could snack on this stuff every day.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Spaghetti

I decided to dive into an old Cooking Light to find some dinner recipes. I found this recipe for quick-roasted cherry tomato sauce with spaghetti in the June 2010 issue. It looked tasty, easy and included goat cheese--perfect!

The recipe was really quite easy and tasty. The only thing than threw it off a bit was that we didn't have regular (and whole wheat, which we usually use) spaghetti, but only angel-hair spaghetti. The dish was good, but it was a little noodle heavy, and I think it would have been much better with a thicker, wider noodle. But all in all it was tasty and very fresh. I'd definitely make it again.

Chicken Sliders with Apricot Chutney

I had high hopes for these chicken sliders and apricot chutney spread from the June 2011 Cooking Light. The recipe sounded great--pulled chicken, sweet but tangy apricot chutney ... but alas, something went wrong and they weren't as good as I had hoped they would be.

I would do a few things different next time than what the recipe calls for, but we also made what I think might have been a few mistakes:

• I don't think the apricots we had were ripe enough. The ones we got from Outpost were really pretty small, so I got 5 rather than 3. I thought that might help, but they were pretty tart--so that, along with the cider vinegar and Dijon mustard, made it too pucker-y.


• Instead of grilled the chicken as the recipe suggests, we cooked the chicken the way we normally cook chicken when we're going to shred it--in a bit of water to keep it moist. Well, the chicken was moist all right, but it didn't have much flavor (I think the red and black pepper and salt probably washed away).


• I didn't make the guacamole with it as the recipe suggests, only because the avocado I had wasn't quite ripe enough. I think this would have really helped the flavor.

If I were to make them again (and I'd try it, but with apricots I know are ripe and sweet), I'd cut down on the vinegar and mustard and definitely not cook them in water. We made ours into just regular sized sandwiches because we already had buns in the freezer.

We had some leftover chicken a few days later, and instead of using the chutney (and by then it had gone bad anyway), we reheated the chicken with barbecue sauce and cheese. Now THAT was good!

Chipotle-Rubbed Flank Steak

Nate picked out this recipe for Chipotle-Rubbed Flank Steak in the June issue of Cooking Light. I'm not usually a steak fan, but the chipotle part intrigued me and I knew it wouldn't be a huge slab of steak, so I agreed to it! We also made the side dishes suggested: couscous (just regular couscous made with vegetable broth) and spinach with toasted almonds (recipe below).

The entire meal was very straightforward and easy to make. we followed the recipe fairly closely, but changed a few things:

• We couldn't find flank steak at Outpost, so we used something similar (I can't remember what Nate picked out).


• I also couldn't find shallots so we just used part of a yellow onion we had.


• We used skim rather than 1% just because it's what we buy.


• We don't have a broiler pan and, frankly, I think we're both a bit nervous to try broiling anything. So we just cooked the steak in a skillet.

The steak was really good, and the Gorgonzola sauce paired nicely with the chipotle spice.

Here's what you do for the spinach with toasted almonds: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 6 oz. package baby spinach; saute 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Add 1/8 teas. salt. Sprinkle with 3 Tbs. toasted sliced almonds.

The spinach was really good, and I liked the toasted almonds with it. However, I think I could eat the entire 6 oz. on my own! Spinach shrinks so much, that when it was cooked, there really wasn't a lot there (and it was supposed to be 4 servings!). Nate and I ate it all.

CCC: Crockpot Chickpea Chili

In the same issue of Cooking Light that I found the shrimp pad Thai, I also found a recipe for Chickpea Chili in the crockpot. I had been looking for a vegetarian meal and something to put in the crockpot for a Monday night meal. Perfect!

The meal took some prep time, so don't think you can just throw a few things in the crockpot, all willy nilly, and be done with it. The recipe calls for dried chickpeas (although I supposed canned would be all right), which you have to let stand in boiling water for 1 hour. There is also a lot of chopping, as the recipe calls for butternut squash, onion and garlic. BUT, it's all worth it. This meal was delicious and hearty. And it makes a ton--we've had six servings of it, plus there are at least two, maybe three more, in the freezer.

We pretty much followed the recipe, but did a few things differently:

• Used veggie broth rather than chicken broth to make it fully vegetarian (and, honestly, I had veggie broth on hand!).


• I couldn't find golden raisins at Outpost, so we used regular (brown?) raisins.


• I didn't have fresh cilantro, but I had had some in the freezer, in ice-cube form, so I defrosted that and used it. I think fresh cilantro would be better, but alas.

The chili was great over the couscous, but I think it would be great just plain, too. The only thing I would do differently next time is make it spicy--the recipe calls for a bit of ground red pepper, but I'd add more or a jalapeno--something. Also, one thing to note--the recipe calls for pimiento-stuffed olives, which I love, but Nate doesn't like. We added them anyway, and he said they tasted just fine.

Shrimp Pad Thai a la Cooking Light

While flipping through the March 2011 issue of Cooking Light not too long ago, a recipe for Shrimp Pad Thai caught my eye. I love just about any kind of Thai or Thai-inspired dish, and we hadn't made anything with shrimp in a while, so this was great.

The recipe was super easy and didn't take much time. We followed the recipe exactly. I think next time we make it I would do just a few things different:

• Add more Sriracha, although it's fine to add to the plate after it's cooked.


• Add a bit more shrimp. The recipe only calls for 8 oz., so divided by four servings, that's not too much. We cut up the shrimp, too, for maximum plate coverage! Also, I think tofu would be good in it, too.


• I think most pad Thai recipes call for eggs to be mixed in while stir frying the veggies and shrimp, so I'd definitely do that next time.

We served the pad Thai with some baked spring rolls we picked up in the sale bin at Outpost. It was all very tasty!

Pasta Puttanesca

This recipe from the May 2011 Cooking Light for pasta puttanesca (curiously enough, the Italian translation means "whore's style spaghetti." Interesting.) caught my eye as I was flipping through it a while ago. The finished product looked tasted and it seemed very easy to make. I was also intrigued by cooking with anchovies for the first time.

I was right--the recipe was super simple and very tasty. I followed the recipe exactly, except that I used shredded, rather than grated, Parmesan cheese. I would definitely make this again. I think I might actually use more anchovies next time, as you really couldn't taste them and the dish wasn't nearly as salty as I thought it would be with the anchovies, olives and capers.

This sauce is also a good base to use for future sauces and to stop buying the jarred/canned sauces. Sauce is so easy to make, and if you start with a plain base you can do anything you want with it!

"Light" Beer-Cheese Soup

It doesn't seem like something that has beer and cheese as the primary ingredients in it can be considered light, but this Cooking Light version is a great, light version of the soup. I've never made a non-light beer cheese soup, but I have a feeling many versions include a lot of cheese and heavy cream. This recipe uses 2% milk (which I'm glad I used instead of skim) and only 5 oz. of cheese. Despite the "light" ingredients, the soup had a wonderful, full flavor and was very creamy.

I followed the recipe exactly, except that I used regular sharp cheddar, rather than extra sharp. I think it was fine as it was, but the extra sharp would probably take it to another level.

For the beer, we used one of Nate's homebrews, West River (a play on Lakefront's Riverwest Stein). Even though I used chicken broth, as the recipe calls for, you could easily use vegetable broth and make this vegetarian, instead. Next time I made the croutons, I'll probably add some garlic powder or garlic salt to give them some extra flavor.

I made the soup on a Sunday afternoon, intending to have it for dinner Monday. When I got home from work on Monday, I put the cooked soup in the crockpot and set it to low for about 2.5 hours. It worked well and was ready to go when we were ready to eat.