Hummus Roasted Veggies

This recipe for yummy roasted vegetables uses something that is always in our refrigerator, which is hummus. It can be so versatile, using olive hummus, garlic, black bean, roasted red pepper or garlic. The hummus caramelizes on the outside of the vegetables making them slightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. hummus (I used roasted beets and garlic)
Broccoli florets
Baby carrots
Mini bell peppers, cut in half
Onion, sliced in wedges

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Preheat the pan lined with parchment paper for 10 minutes in the oven while it is preheating. In a large bowl, mix the cut vegetables with the hummus. If the hummus is too thick, add a tablespoon of lemon juice. Use your hands for this part. Spread the veggies out on the heated pan and roast for 20 minutes, flipping over half way through.

Slow Cooker Jambalaya

Ingredients:

1 (13-14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
12 ounces of beef broth
1 (7-8 ounce) can tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. dried basil
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp. Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
14 ounces Andouille sausage, cur into slices
5 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/2 lb. shrimp, cooked, deveined and peeled with tails removed
1 Tbs. fresh chopped Parsley

In the bottom of the slow cooker, combine the first 12 ingredients together with a spatula.

Add the onion, green pepper, celery, garlic, sausage and chicken. Stir together.

Cook, covered, on high for 1 hour. Then reduce the heat to low and cook for another 3 hours.

Add in the shrimp and fresh parsley and cook for another half an hour on low.

Divide into serving dishes on top of cooked white or brown rice. Add some more fresh chopped parsley on top.

Muffaletta Pasta Salad

 If you love the flavors of the classic Muffaletta sandwich, you have to try this deconstructed pasta dish. It combines the tangy olives with creamy provolone cheese and crunchy fresh vegetables.

Ingredients:

16 oz. pasta, cooked and rinsed with cold water
1 c. provolone cheese, cubed
4 oz. dry salami (Busseto Foods Classico Nuggets Dry Salami), sliced into strips
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 c. kalamata olives, pitted, sliced
1/2 c. small green olives, pitted, sliced
2 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped

Combine the cooled pasta, green pepper, salami, celery, olives and provolone cheese together in a large bowl.

Vinaigrette:

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. dried minced garlic
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
1 tsp. salt

In a small bowl, whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together.

To assemble the pasta, pour the vinaigrette over the pasta and stir everything together until everything is well mixed. Sprinkle the pasta with fresh chopped parsley before serving.

Shrimp and Rice Bowl

This dish is the perfect mix of seafood, roasted veggies and full of flavor. Instead of going out and buying a rice bowl with all of your favorite toppings, why not try and make them at home? They are super easy, and the oven does most of the work!

Ingredients:

1 lb. shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails detached
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. Spanish paprika
Lime juice
Cilantro
Prepared rice (I used Uncle Ben's brown rice)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the onion, bell pepper, shrimp, oil and spices. Toss everything together well. Spray a baking sheet with no cooking spray. Spread the shrimp and peppers out onto the prepared pan. Cook for about 8 minutes, turning over halfway through.

Place the rice at the bottom of your serving dish. Top with the shrimp mixture and add fresh cilantro and a few drops of lime juice.

Hot Sauce

If you have a cayenne pepper plant, you may find yourself wondering after a while what you could possibly do with all of them! Other than drying for later use, why not make some hot sauce instead of going out and buying it? It is super easy! Just know that your house will smell very spicy for a few hours....

Ingredients:

18 cayenne peppers
1 1/2 c. white vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, paper removed

If you have kitchen gloves, I highly suggest you put them on before cutting the peppers. Trim off the stem. Put all of the ingredients into a medium size pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 25 minutes on low.

Once cooled slightly, pour everything into a blender until you reach a smooth consistency. Pour the sauce back into the pot and simmer for another 15 minutes. At this point if you notice the liquid content is down, add increments of 1/4 cup water at a time until it reaches you preferred consistency.

If you like your hot sauce as smooth as possible, like myself, I strained mine through some cheese cloth just to get the extra cayenne seeds out of the mix. Pour into a sealed jar or bottle. This can last for months in the refrigerator. It will slightly separate while sitting in the fridge, but just give it a few shakes before using it, like you would any store bought bottle.

Hummus Stuffed Mini Peppers

Not all of your goodies for the game have to be loaded with carbs and grease. These bite size beauties have a kick with the black bean hummus, and cooled down nicely by the feta cheese.

Ingredients:

5-10 mini sweet bell peppers, cut in half and seeded
1/4 c. Feta cheese, fat free
1 Tbs. fresh dill
1/2 - 1 c. black bean hummus (or roasted red pepper)

Fill the inside of each pepper half with black bean hummus. Sprinkle with a small amount of the feta cheese and top with a sprig of fresh dill. This recipe is super easy and takes about 5 to 10 minutes to put together. A perfect non-messy, packed with flavor bite.

Spicy Farmer's Casserole

Casserole's are always comforting as the weather starts to get colder in the fall. The best part is that you can make this up the night before and re-heat before you eat! The spicy potatoes go great with the sweet green pepper and ham. Better yet? This recipes is Weight Watchers friendly!

Ingredients:

20 oz. Simply Potatoes Southwest Hash Browns
3/4 c. shredded Marble Jack cheese
1 c. diced cooked ham
2 sliced green onions
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
1 1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk
1 c. liquid egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 2 quart square baking dish with non stick cooking spray. Spread the potatoes out in an even layer. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese and sliced green onion. Add the diced ham and green pepper. In a large bowl, whisk the milk, egg white, salt and pepper together. Pour on top of the ingredients in the casserole. Bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

(Makes 6 servings, 4 Weight Watchers Smart Points per serving)

Smoked Gouda Poppers

These may look terribly messy, but let me tell you, the only thing that is terrible about these is that you want to eat every last one! The sweet (or spicy) peppers are filled with sausage, melted gooey cheese and pack a slight kick!

Ingredients:

1 link chorizo, casing removed
1/2 lb. smoked Gouda cheese, shredded
1/4 c. chopped red onion
1 egg
5 oz. cream cheese, 1/3 less fat, softened
3 Tbs. sour cream, light
1 Tbs. Frank's Red Hot Sauce
salt and pepper
12 mixed mini sweet and jalapeno peppers, tops cut off and hollowed out

In a small skillet, cook the chorizo over medium high heat, about 10 minutes. Drain the grease out and pour the cooked chorizo into a large bowl. Add the cheese, onion, egg, cream cheese, sour cream, hot sauce and salt and pepper. Heat a grill to medium-high heat. Using a piping bag or your fingers, stuff each pepper with the cheese filling pressing down to fill the entire pepper. Place into a jalapeno pepper roaster (mine just happens to be alligator shaped, which is my favorite animal!). Place the pepper roaster on the grill over indirect heat. Roast the peppers with the grill cover on top for about 25-30 minutes.

Piquillo Pepper Pasta

I know it must seem like I use cottage cheese in every pasta bake rather than ricotta, but I will stick by it every time. I don't like the consistency or flavor of ricotta. Maybe someday that will change; today is not that day. Feel free to substitute ricotta instead of cottage cheese and let me know how it works! This recipe combines piquillo peppers with some familiar Italian flavors. Plus hot sauce? And of course don't forget the egg on top! Okay so it is a weird recipe, but a delicious one!

Ingredients:

16 oz. bag Trottole Pasta, cooked for four minutes and drained
24 oz. cottage cheese, small curd, low fat
5 roasted Piquillo Peppers, from a jar
8 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. fresh cracked pepper
1 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
2 c. garlic & herb pasta sauce (I used Hunt's)
3/4 c. shredded Asiago cheese
*Hot sauce and grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Chop the peppers into small pieces and add to a large bowl. Add the cottage cheese, garlic, seasoning and pasta and mix together. Spread the mixture into an ungreased 13 x 9 pan. Top with the two cups of pasta sauce, spreading out into an even layer. Sprinkle with the shredded Asiago cheese and bake in the oven, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

But wait, it's not done yet. Scoop your preferred portion into your serving bowl. Make an over easy egg, or two, or however many for the amount of people you are enjoying this dish with, and place on top of the pasta. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of grated Parmesan and finish it with a few dashes of hot sauce!

Mummy Pepper Poppers

Yum yum yummy mummies! These little sweet peppers are packed full of flavor! Most people use Jalapenos and love the whole Jalapeno popper thing, but I am not one of those people. Occasionally I'll be in the mood for spicy, but usually I just want the mild kick or on the spicy scale, an "elementary" rating. These are a new favorite for Halloween. Subtract the eyeballs and you could make them for any holiday or gathering. 

Ingredients:

2 bags (about 10 in each, give or take) mini sweet bell peppers

8 oz. cream cheese, 1/3 less fat, softened

6 oz. shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

2 green onions, chopped

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 container reduced fat Pillsbury crescent rolls (or any brand)

Small candy or sugar eyes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. To make the filling, combine the cream cheese, shredded cheddar, green onion, salt and eggs in a food processor. Pulse or mix on low until everything is combined together evenly. Slice each pepper in half, doing as best you can to also cut the stem in half to have on each side. Remove the seeds. Using a spoon, scoop some of the cream cheese mixture and fill the inside cavity of the sweet peppers, pressing down and smoothing out on top. Set aside. Roll the crescent dough out on a flat surface in the perforated four rectangles. Smooth the seem out and using a pizza cutter, cut thin strips lengthwise. Wrap the dough strips around the mini sweet peppers randomly. (There is no uniform way to do this and each one should look different!) Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

 Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the dough is just slightly browned. You want the dough to be fully cooked but not golden if possible. Top each with candy eyes while they are still warm, so that they eyes will stick to the cream cheese mixture. There you have it! Adorable and unbelievably tasty mini mummies!

Dill Pepper Frittata for One

I have come to the conclusion that every time my husband goes out of town, and I am stuck at home alone, I always cook something breakfast related for every meal. And about 90 percent of those meals have to do with eggs. I just can't get enough. This recipe is a single serving egg white frittata, that is loaded with fresh dill, mini sweet peppers, melted cheese and a dash of spice!

Ingredients:

1/2 c. liquid egg whites (Crystal Farms, All Whites)
2 mini bell peppers, seeds removed and chopped
1 Tbs. fresh dill
1/4 c. Sargento reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
Frank's Red Hot Sauce, Original

Heat a small pan to medium heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray and pour in the egg whites. Let cook for about 2 minutes. To the top, add the chopped bell pepper, dill, shredded cheese, and a few dashes of hot sauce. Cover with a lid and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes more until the whites are cooked through.

(This personal serving frittata is only 4 WW points!!! You really can't beat that!)

Pickle Pepper Potato Salad

Every Memorial Day weekend my husband and I go downstate and visit his family at their camps in Oscoda, Michigan. It is great for many reasons, one being that most of his family doesn't live in the Upper Peninsula anymore so we don't see his side very often. It is also very relaxing because we always have amazing warm weather down there (for instance, we had 1/4 inch of snow on the ground the Tuesday before we left in our yard). We always end up having one day where we go out for dinner, and then two days of grilling out. This recipe was one of many created out of items that happened to be on sale at the grocery store. The sweet peppers, sharp cheese and dill combination go together great in this potato salad!

Ingredients:

6 Mini Sweet Peppers (2 red, orange and yellow)
1 c. chopped dill pickles (Milwaukee's)
2 c. red potatoes, cut into quarters and boiled (or smaller)
8 oz. Kraft sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
2 Tbs. fresh dill, chopped
1/2 c. Miracle Whip, light
1/3 c. yellow mustard

Mix the Miracle Whip, dill and yellow mustard together in a large bowl. Toss in the chopped peppers, pickles and sharp cheddar cheese and mix well. Drain the boiled potatoes that are fork tender and add to the bowl. Mix everything until everything is combined well, cover and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour to cool down the salad.


*Below are a few pictures from my trip. If you haven't been to the area and you live in Michigan, you should really check it out. There are many outdoor activities to explore, a river boat ride, different vineyards that you can tour, it really is a fun place to relax!

Mini Taco "Bell's"

Ingredients:
12 mini bell peppers (or more)
1/2 lb. Jennie-O Lean Ground Turkey
1/2 pkg. Taco seasoning
1 c. reduced fat shredded cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top 1/3 of the mini peppers off to make the peppers into bowls. Dice the tops of the peppers into small pieces and set aside. In a medium size skillet over medium heat, cook the ground turkey. Add in the taco seasoning. and the chopped peppers and a few tablespoons of water and continue to cook and stir for about 3 minutes. Let the mixture cool slightly. Spoon the meat into the mini peppers and place in a baking dish. Top the peppers with cheese and press down slightly to make sure the cheese doesn't slide off while cooking. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, until the peppers are slightly soft and the cheese is melted.

For the sauce you could use plain guacamole or drizzle with sour cream. I decided to mix it up and combine 1/2 c. guacamole with a few tablespoons of reduced fat Ranch dressing, until I reached the consistency that I wanted. Add a dollop to the top of each pepper.