Easy Bread Spread

This is one of my very favorite Dainty tricks: I buy a nice loaf of "Take and Bake" bread (get the whole wheat kind for extra fiber!) from the bakery of my grocery story (the beloved Harris Teeter) and dress it up for company. This spread I created the other night is delicious and easy. You can make huge batches of it and refrigerate it -- as I used to do with the full-fattening version I once made. It's only 1 point on WW, and around 100 calories (estimated). Plus the whole Wheat bread, that makes an easy and delicious 3 points for 1/4 a slender loaf!

Bread Spread

Preheat your broiler to 500.

You'll need:

1 baked baguette, whole wheat, preferably
1/2 lemon: the zest and juice
1 -- 2 oz Feta cheese (you can use flavored or regular, depending on what flavor medley you want with the main dish)
1 triangle of "Laughing Cow" lite cheese -- any flavor!
1 -- 2 T. minced garlic (to taste)
freshly chopped basil, parsley or chives -- about 1 -- 2 T. each, or whatever you may be in the mood for.
1/4 C. fat-free butter spray (Parkay or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, or you can substitute margarine of any brand, so long as it's softened before you toss it in the food processor)

This is a recipe full of variables, which you can use to your advantage. If you want to make a garlic bread, then use more garlic, and season it with chopped chives and parsley, plus use the garlic flavored Laughing Cow cheese. If you want a lighter, herbier taste, go with plain cheese, chopped basil and then add a little salt and pepper. Be creative! If I'm serving a heavy, flavorful dish, I go with a plainer bread, whereas if I'm serving a more bland pasta dish, I serve the garlic flavor.

First slice your baguette down its full-length so you've got two long, even halves of the loaf. Then gently score each half into 8 equal portions (so you can easily cut it into pieces later, and also to allow the spread to melt into these cracks). Now toss your lemon zest, juice, and cheese into the food processor and let them get good and blended. Finally blend in the butter substitute (or margarine) and get the spread nice and combined (using your spatula to smoosh down unruly ingredients if necessary in the blending process). Take the spread and divide it, spreading each half evenly over your baguette halves. Then broil the bread 5 inches from the heat, about 5 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

This is so good, my husband always goes back for seconds, and he's not even a bread freak like I am!

Broccoflower

The Deb isn't even sure that's a word.

Also, the Deb should probably admit that she's not a huge fan of uncooked broccoli. Its fuzziness...well, it upsets her. Cooked, however, and paired with cauliflower, well, that's a different story, weirdly.

BroccoFlower
You'll need:

3 C. broccoli florets
3 C. Cauliflower florets
(fresh is best, but you can use thawed frozen)
2 -- 3 T. fat free zesty Italian salad dressing
1/4 t. red pepper flakes (optional)
1 T. Fat Free Butter spray, heated and warm
2 T. fresh grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil and add the veggies. Boil for 3 minutes and then drain. Toss hot veggies with salad dressing, butter spray, seasonings and cheese. Serve warm.

This was only 1 point for WW, and under 100 calories. I had some leftover pork tenderloin and some brown rice, and I mixed those two together with these veggies for a really tasty, quick supper last night from leftovers just hanging out in my fridge.

Green Beans with Chickpeas

Good Gravy, Paula Deen! You must be readin' my blog! Here's a Paula Deen recipe from her delightful magazine, for some delicious beans and peas which are only 1.5 WW points or only about 170 calories per serving! The Deb doesn't have to tell you a) how much I love Paula Deen and/or b) how homey and delicious these are coming from her kitchen.

Green Beans with Chickpeas

You'll need a big old Dutch Oven (or the enormous Calphalon sauce pot, which is what I used) and also:

2 C. reduced sodium Chicken Broth
1 C. chopped onion
1 t. minced garlic
2 (16 oz) packages frozen green beans, thawed
1 16 oz can chickpeas (my mother dislikes chickpeas, so I suggested corn as a substitute, and I imagine any other bean you fancy would work nicely here, too)
2 t. lemon zest
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 t. garlic salt
1 t. fresh parsley
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground white pepper (you can use regular pepper, but use about 1/2 t. since black pepper isn't as strong as the white)
3 T. butter (hurrah for real butter! In small amounts, I can really taste it and it's a big treat)

In the Dutch oven, combine broth, onion and garlic; bring to a boil over high heat. Boil 10 minutes. Stir in green beans and chickpeas, reduce heat, simmer for 6 minutes. Stir in lemon zest, juice and seasonings. Add butter, stirring until melted.

Mmm. These were so good. It makes 8 servings, but I just gobbled down the last helping with lunch -- they don't last long!

Homefries

Happy New Year, loyal readers! Hope you got everything you wanted for the holidays! I bet that a lot of you are renewing weight-related resolutions and thus literally tightening your belts in preparation for this Spring and Summer, which will undoubtedly bring warm weather and a hot new YOU in skimpier clothing!

So before we get to the delicious homefries recipe, a word about New Year's Resolutions. They aren't complete crap, no matter how much money gyms and diet pills make off of the New Year pressure to lose weight and get fit. I quit smoking four years ago thanks to a New Year's Resolution, and I lost the weight I promptly put on (I ate my own body weight in Chex Mix thanks to nicotine cravings) similarly with another New Year's Resolution. The key is to not forget it come February. Think of yourself a full year from January -- at your parents house with all your family and friends, or at home throwing a swank party with homemade Dainties, or in some fabulous exotic destination for the holidays... Doesn't matter where you'll be, just imagine yourself THERE and healthier, slimmer and probably happier. Let yourself imagine all the compliments you'll be getting from old friends and new acquaintances. That's what the Deb does when she wrestles with the temptation to devour an entire box of peanut brittle.

So. That being said, it should also be noted that the weather has gotten a bit chillier outside. You probably won't be in the mood to grill up some low-calorie scallops or make a refrigerated chicken salad. I'm going to try and provide you with Winter Warmth recipes that will satisfy the post-holiday blues AND keep you on-track for whatever your New Year's goals may be!

This is a great side item for the colder months!

Homefries

You'll need:

2 --3 Yukon potatoes, cooked in the microwave and sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. minced garlic
1 t. paprika
salt, pepper and Old Bay to taste
Butter flavored cook spray (i.e. Pam)
1 t. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high and add potatoes, onion and garlic. Cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Spray with cooking spray once during the cooking. Remove from heat and stir in seasonings and cheese. Serves 2 -- 3 (though this is an easy recipe to increase -- just bump up the number of potatoes you want to use and add extra seasonings). Only 2 Weight Watcher's points, and just under 200 calories per serving. These are great with just about anything, especially as a companion to nice seasonal main dishes like roasts and casseroles.

Mac n' Cheese, Daint-eased

Mac n' cheese actually saved my husband and I from complete starvation on several occasions. It used to be his big kitchen contribution -- he'd make mac n' cheese with frozen fish sticks. The effort struck me as sweet, even if it lacked finesse. And it was back when I was slothfully not cooking for my man.

Anyway. Here's a whole wheat version that's only 280 calories per serving and a lot better for you, what with all the whole grains and real cheese, compared to the powdered stuff that comes in a certain blue box.

Dainty Mac n' Cheese
Preheat oven to 350 and spray a large bake pan or casserole dish (at least 4 qts) with Pam or similar.

You'll need:
3 C. (uncooked) whole what macaroni (about 3 C.), cooked without oil, drained and still hot
8 oz. Reduced fat cheese (I use the 75% Reduced Fat Cabot White Cheddar, which is really good)
3/4 C. fat free evaporated milk
1 8 0z. carton fat free sour cream
1 T. Dijon mustard
splash of Worcestershire sauce
1/8 t. nutmeg or cinnamon
2 T. freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 T. crushed fat free croutons

While macaroni is still freshly hot from being drained, stir in the cheese until it melts. Then add milk, sour cream, mustard, Worcestershire and nutmeg, stirring to combine. In a small dish, combine Parmesan and crumbs for topping. Sprinkle on top and back until top is golden and the whole thing bubbles, about 30 or 35 minutes. Makes 6 servings (about 1 1/2 C. = 1 serving). This simple fare is simple easy to make and nigh on guiltless.

Easy Cheesy Singing:
"Mac the Knife" by Bobby Darin
"What do the Simple Folk Do?" from Camelot

Patty Pan Squash

First things first, I'm so sorry ya'll have had to wait so long for new foodies. I'm a bad, bad Deb. However, I was busy for good reason: I was graduating with my Master's! So now you may all refer to me as the "Master Dainty Deb".

What with graduation hoo-ha and all, I did quite a bit of cooking. I chose this recipe, however, because astonishingly, no one in my family seemed to be aware of the deliciousness of patty pan squash. THE cutest squash you can buy. It's true. I challenge you all to find a cuter squash, nay, even a cuter vegetable.

Patty Pan Squash
To fully enjoy this sweet little knocker, you will need: (first preheat your oven to 375)

6 patty pan squash (this recipe is my basic roasted veggie recipe, so you can really substitue any veggie, especially any squash), sliced fairly thin
olive oil
1 chopped onion (optional -- I normally don't use because my husband isn't wild about onion)
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Place squash (and onion, if using) in large bake pan and drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and cheese. Cook for about 20 minutes and then toss so that it cooks evenly. Cook another 20 minutes. Delicious and a nice altenative to the same old boring veggies. Only about 90 calories per serving (1 WW point)!