Lamb Kebabs

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
6 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt
5/8 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 1/4 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 large garlic clove, grated
1 pound boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions:
1. Combine yogurt, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and next 4 ingredients (through garlic); stir with a whisk. Place yogurt mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add lamb; seal and marinate in refrigerator 45 minutes.

2. Prepare grill to medium heat.

3. Remove lamb from bag; discard marinade. Thread lamb evenly onto 8 (10-inch) skewers; sprinkle evenly with 3/8 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place kebabs on a grill rack; grill 4 minutes for medium-rare or desired degree of doneness, turning once. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Comments:
I'm generally not a fan of lamb in a best case scenario. This was not even good. The cut of meat we got was very fatty and didn't turn out well at all. If I do lamb, I think I'll stick with ground versions.

Hot Potatoes

From Everyday with Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
7 small yellow-fleshed potatoes, such as yukon gold
1 cup broccoli florets
2 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded
3 tablespoons reduced-fat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped pickled jalapeño chile
Salt and pepper
Olive oil cooking spray
Chili powder, for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until fork-tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and let cool slightly.

2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan of boiling water, cook the broccoli until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes; drain. Finely chop the broccoli and place in a medium bowl.

3. Slice 6 potatoes in half. Scoop out half of the flesh from each piece and add to the broccoli. Peel and finely chop the remaining potato and add to the mixture. Add the cheese, 2 tablespoons yogurt and the jalapeño; mash coarsely and season with salt and pepper.

4. Preheat the oven to 425°. Arrange the potato halves cut side down on a baking sheet and lightly coat them with cooking spray; invert and season with salt and pepper. Divide the stuffing among the potato halves. Lightly coat with cooking spray and sprinkle with chili powder. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Garnish with the remaining 1 tablespoon yogurt and more chili powder.

Comments:
A lot of prep work on these ones, and I'm not sure the end result was really worth the effort. It definitely needs more cheese and I couldn't find my chili powder until after I had put them in the oven (stupid Spring cleaning - I can't find anything these days...) so they weren't really "hot" as in spicy at all. Eh.

Broiled Tilapia Gyros

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
Fish:
1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

Tzatziki:
3/4 cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced

Remaining ingredients:
4 (2.75-ounce) Mediterranean-style wheat flatbreads (such as Toufayan)
1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion (about 1/2 small onion)
1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into 12 thin slices
1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
1/2 small English cucumber, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)

Directions:
1. Preheat broiler.

2. To prepare fish, brush fish with oil; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place fish on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 6 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or desired degree of doneness.

3. To prepare tzatziki, combine yogurt and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in a food processor or blender; pulse until smooth.

4. Spread 2 tablespoons tzatziki in the center of each flatbread. Divide fish evenly among flatbreads. Top each serving with 2 tablespoons onion, 3 avocado slices, 2 tomato slices, and about 6 cucumber slices; fold in half.

Comments:
A couple steps, but overall not too hard. I left some stuff out, but it seemed to be ok. Of course, I don't know firsthand, but Adam didn't complain!

Broiled Tandoori Chicken

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
1 (8-ounce) carton plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
Cooking spray

Directions:
1. Combine first 9 ingredients in a bowl. Stir in chicken; cover and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.

2. Preheat broiler.

3. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade. Thread chicken evenly onto 4 (8-inch) skewers. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 6 minutes; turn skewers, and broil 6 minutes or until done.

Comments:
Pretty simple recipe. I used Greek yogurt to make the marinade a little thicker. They cooked up relatively quickly without a whole lot of burnage. We'd probably try them again - although Adam wants them spicier next time...

Middle Eastern Salad Wraps

From Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook



Ingredients:
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp plain fat-free yogurt (I used Greek)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 1/2 tsp EVOO
1 small garlic clove, minced (I just used a garlic olive oil)
pinch salt
2 tbsp water
2 tomatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
1 cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
1/4 small onion, thinly sliced
8 tortillas

Directions:
1. To prepare the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk the tahini, yogurt, lemon juice, oil, garlic, and salt with the water.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, mint, and onion. Drizzle with the dressing; toss to coat.

3. To assemble the wraps, soften the tortillas according to package directions. Divide the salad among the tortillas. Fold up the bottom edge of each tortilla, then the left and right sides to enclose the filling.

Serves 4 (2 wraps each). POINTS Value per serving: 4

Comments:
I admit, I didn't eat this. Adam had picked the recipe and it didn't appeal to me at all. Plus, I had filled up on fresh strawberries from our local farm stand. (Eee! I love strawberry season!)

Adam said this was very good. I'll take his word for it. The dressing is kind of runny so perhaps halve that part unless you like runny wraps.

Spicy Chicken Shawarma

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
5 tablespoons plain low-fat Greek-style yogurt, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon tahini
4 (6-inch) pitas, halved
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup chopped plum tomato
1/4 cup prechopped red onion

Directions:
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in 1 tablespoon yogurt, 1 tablespoon juice, and 2 garlic cloves. Add chicken; toss to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until browned and done, stirring frequently.

2. While chicken cooks, combine remaining 1/4 cup yogurt, remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice, remaining 1 garlic clove, and tahini, stirring well. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons tahini mixture inside each pita half; divide chicken evenly among pita halves. Fill each pita half with 1 tablespoon cucumber, 1 tablespoon tomato, and 1 1/2 teaspoons onion.

Comments:
I skipped the coriander and tahini, but followed everything else. These are a teensy bit spicy. Ok, a lot spicy. But remember, I'm a wuss. Adam really liked this and ate the leftover chicken plain. The prep on this is what takes the most time. The actual cooking is minimal. This also ended up sitting for about 20 minutes or so after it was done (aah, the unpredictability of life...) so we ate it lukewarm, which seemed the perfect temperature to not melt the yogurt but also not be gross and cold.

Bread Crust Zucchini Quiche

From All Recipes.com



Ingredients:
3 slices whole wheat bread
1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 cups sliced zucchini
1 large tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Cut bread slices in half diagonally, and arrange around edge of 9-inch pie plate.

2. In a medium skillet, melt butter and saute zucchini until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add tomato and oregano, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the flour, and spoon mixture into center of the bread-lined pie plate.

3. In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese, eggs, yogurt, and 1/2 the Parmesan cheese. Spoon this mixture over the vegetables in the pie plate, and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm in center.

Comments:
This was good, but I didn't even bother to take a picture of it when it was cut because it was so runny. Adam thinks it was the fault of the cottage cheese since the eggs were cooked through. In any case, good flavor, bad presentation.

Cinnamon-Apple Breakfast Pockets

From The Biggest Loser Cookbook



Ingredients:
1 whole-wheat pita, cut in half
4 tbsp fat-free vanilla or caramel-apple yogurt
1/2 medium apple, cored and thinly sliced
ground cinnamon to taste

Directions:
Preheat the broiler.

Place the pita halves on a small nonstick baking sheet. Set the pan 6" from the heat source. Broil for 30 to 60 seconds per side, or until just warmed and barely toasted. Carefully open one pocket and spread half the yogurt evenly inside. Insert half the apple slices over the yogurt. Season with cinnamon. Repeat with the other half.

Comments:
Now, I haven't had this yet (I made Adam's for lunch since he's going to some Super Bowl thing tonight) so I can't judge the taste. It's ridiculously easy though. I actually used the toaster oven rather than the broiler. Worked splendidly.

Beef Kebabs with Yogurt Sauce (Take Two)

From Everyday with Rachael Ray (also seen here)



Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
1/2 cup grated English cucumber, wrung out in a kitchen towel
1 teaspoon dried dill
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus whole leaves for garnish
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Warm pita bread, for serving

Directions:
1. Soak 8 wooden skewers in water. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, cucumber, dill and half the garlic; season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate.

2. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, remaining garlic, chopped parsley and cumin. Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide the beef mixture into 4 sections. Roll each section into a 6-inch log. Thread each log lengthwise onto two parallel skewers. Wrap your index finger and thumb around the log and lightly squeeze from top to bottom to make 4 indented rings. Rub the beef kebabs with olive oil and grill for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or to desired doneness. Top each kebab with the yogurt sauce and parsley leaves and serve on a pita.

Comments:
Didn't follow the recipe this time since I knew they wouldn't work out on the grill (see previous entry referenced above for the disaster of my last attempt at this recipe.) I formed the meat into meatballs and baked them in the oven. It worked out well. And I got the cucumber in this time so that was good too.