Pat's Grilled Baba Ganoush

Remember with Baba Ganoush, a lot is open to your taste preferences. Some like more lemon, some more tahini paste........Enjoy! The nutrition facts for this wonderful dish can be found at Calorie Count!

Pat’s Grilled Baba Ganoush

Ingredients:

1 eggplant

1 t olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice – or more to taste

1/4 cup tahini – or more to taste

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Heat the grill. When the grill is hot, slice the eggplant to about 1/2 inch thick, brush with a bit of olive oil, and grill until soft (about 10-14 minutes), allow to cool and then chop.

Place eggplant, lemon juice, tahini, sesame seeds, and garlic in an electric blender, and puree – or place in a large bowl and blend with an immersion blender. Remove to a bowl and season the mix with a bit of salt and pepper. Slowly stir in olive oil, taste and adjust seasonings. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate a few hours before serving.

Buggy's Green & Yellos Zucchini Ribbons

This is the first entry in the Chefery Challenge #2! Beautiful dish that earned the Special Kudos due not only to the number of ingredients but due to the fact that the zucchini came from her own garden!

Remember for all recipes by Buggy, use the handy dandy link to the Calorie Count Conversion Tool to the right hand side of this page! Click here for the most excellent nutrition facts found at Calorie Count!

Green & Yellow Zucchini Ribbons

Ingredients:

800 grams  zucchini, 4 medium

250 grams  onion, 1 large

450 grams  tomato, 3 large

500 grams  mushrooms, 6 large

3 tbsp  Becel margarine*

1 tbsp  chili oil

454 grams  ground beef, extra lean

Directions:

Mix the ground beef with 50 grams of minced onion. Form in to 24 small meatballs. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.

the ingredients!

Cut the ends off zucchini. Cut zucchini in half. Use a melon ball tool to scoop out the seeds. Discard seeds. Use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini in to long strips.

Heat chili oil in a large stir-fry pan. Add remaining 200 grams of sliced onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add zucchini and stir. Cook for 15-20 minutes.

Clean and slice mushrooms in 1/4 thick pieces. In a separate frying pan with Becel margarine, cook mushrooms in batches.

Cut tomato in to wedges. Add tomato to zucchini.

Plate up zucchini ribbons, mushrooms and meatballs.

Notes:

Buggy said that she used Becel Margarine because she was out of butter. It should rock both ways so use what you prefer!

If you are a vegetarian or have gluten allergies, consider omitting the meatballs and treating this dish as a pasta replacement!

Janice's Guacamole

Guacamole should be pure and simple and mostly just mooshed up avocados. It should never contain mayo or sour cream or any ingredient such as that. If it does, you can't call it guacamole. You could call it "avocado dip" or something like that, but not guacamole. In the Notes section is a list of extras that you can add to your guac and not embarrass your friends in Texas or New Mexico!

The nutrition facts for basic guacamole are at Calorie Count!

Basic Guacamole

Ingredients:

3 Hass Avocados
1 lime (even this is optional)
a pinch of garlic powder
a pinch of salt (a great sub here is celery salt)

Directions:

Get a sharp knife and a spoon and a paper towel. Slice the avocados in half and pull apart so that the seed is on one side. Use the spoon to scoop out the seed and discard. Use the same spoon to scoop the avocado out of the shells and into a medium sized bowl.

Slice the lime in half and juice. Add the juice to the avocado pulp and mash about with the tines of a fork. Do not mash it til it is smooth as paste. Leave it a tad lumpy.

Sprinkle with the garlic and salt (or celery salt) and mix.

That's all that's necessary, but there are some great traditional ingredients as well!

Notes:

Once the basic guacamole is made, you can add finely chopped jalapenos or Serrano peppers, finely diced tomatoes, or a small bit of chopped onion.

Mrs. Hass uses lemon juice instead of lime in her guacamole, so try that sometime and see if you like it better!

If you just gotta have avocado dip instead of guacamole, check out this recipe for Avocado Roasted Tomatillo Soup. All you have to do is eliminate the veggie stock and you have awesome green dip!

Janice's Pan Sauteed Ravioli

This makes a fun side dish at a meal or a much talked about treat at a party. According to my son, they are  "Awesome! Like a warm stuffed chip!"

The nutrition facts are set for a decent sized party serving (assuming you are also filling up on all the wonderful fruits and veggies at the party this is more than enough to satisfy) and are at Calorie Count!

Pan Sauteed Ravioli

Serves 6

Ingredients:

12 oz fresh Four Cheese Ravioli (your favorite brand - you can use the big size or the small raviolis and stretch out your serving size!)
2 t olive oil (the calorie count is set at 1 t because only that much was absorbed)
1 cup your favorite thick marinara

Directions:

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil shimmers or the pan feels hot when you hold you hand over it, add the ravioli in a single layer. Do two batches rather than crowd. Each ravioli must remain flat. Saute a few minutes checking for browning. When one side is brown, flip each over and brown the other.

Remove to a plate with a paper towel and pat down to remove as much oil as was not absorbed.

Arrange on a pretty plate with a bowl of warmed marinara. Treat the ravioli as you would chips and dip!

Or serve as the pasta part of your meal and top with marinara. Fast, easy, and delicious!

Hollie's Salsa Verde

When I go out for a delicious Tex-Mex dinner, I particularly enjoy the Salsa Verde. Now that I have Hollie's simple recipe, I don't have to wait for dinner out to enjoy this delightful sauce. Dip a few chips in some this weekend!

The nutrition facts can be found at Calorie Count.

tomatillos!

Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

3 tomatillos, pealed, cores removed, left whole to retain the juices
1 white onion, halved and skinned
2 serano peppers, halved
5 cloves garlic, skinned
1 avocado, peeled and diced
3 tbs lemon or lime juice
olive oil to drizzle
1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Preheat broiler.

Place tomatillos, onion, seranos, and garlic in baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt.

Broil about 15-20 minutes until charred on top. Allow to cool about 10 minutes.

In a glass blender, puree roasted veggies until smooth.

Add avocado and lemon/lime juice and blend to desired consistency.

Place in airtight container and chill before serving.

Lasts about 2 weeks in fridge. If color begins to brown, add a splash of lemon juice and stir.

Crazypotato98's Queso Dip

This tasty Tex Mex treat is a cinch to make and will be a hit at your next get-together. Can you eat queso if you are counting calories? Sure. The key is to know the calories and nutrition facts which have been analyzed for you at Calorie Count!

Queso Dip

Ingredients:

¼ cup  onion, chopped

2 tbsp  water

2 cloves  garlic, minced

12 oz  stewed tomatoes, drained and cut up

3 oz  chopped green chiles, drained

¾ tsp  chili powder

4 oz  Reduced Fat Mild Cheddar Shredded Cheese

3 oz  cream cheese, cubed

3 oz  Neufchatel, cubed

Directions:

In a medium saucepan combine onion, water, and garlic. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat about 2 or 3 minutes or until water has evaporated. Add stewed tomatoes, chile peppers, and chili powder. Cook and stir until hot.

Add cheddar cheese and cream cheese. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted. Transfer to a serving bowl. If desired, top with chopped fresh tomato. Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Notes:

if you like it hot, add some jalapenos or more chilis!

Richard's Black Bean & Corn Relish

I've had Richard's terrific relish a number of times and finally got him to share the recipe for his simple but fantastic relish! I love it scooped with chips, but it is also awesome as a condiment or side dish. In fact, I think it would make a great starting point for a Southwestern Pasta Sauce...or under polenta...infinite possibilities.

Make it as hot or mild as you like and enjoy it often. The nutrition facts can be found at Calorie Count.

Black Bean & Corn Relish

Ingredients:

2 cans Bush's Black Beans - well drained
2 cans Green Giant Shoepeg Corn - well drained
1 can RoTel Diced Tomatoe3s with Lime Juice and Cilantro - well drained
1 can RoTel Diced Tomatoes with Habaneros - well drained
1 large bunch of fresh cilantro - chopped



Directions:

Combine all ingredients. Mix well.

CRITICAL: Let sit over-nite in the refrigerator. Stir from time to time. The "aging" really lets all the flavors mature and mingle. This relish is better the second day, or even the third day!

Notes:

Make it hotter or milder by using either 2 cans of hot RoTel or 2 cans of the regular RoTel. Also you can change the amount of cilantro to suit your tastes.

This makes a big batch. The extra amounts beyond party dipping use we serve as a side dish with meals for a couple of days after or just go back and snack on it some more.

Susan's Zucchini Chips

You are taking your chances when you try out a zucchini chip recipe on a 17 year old who has repeatedly declared, "I don't like zucchini!". He was convinced to taste it anyway and THEN declared, "I take it all back! Dees da' bom!!" I think it is safe to say that Susan's recipe is a taste, nutrition, and caloric winner!!!

The nutrition facts can be found at the best FREE website to count your calories - Calorie Count!

Zucchini Chips

serves 4 normal people or one 17 year old

Ingredients:

1 medium or 2 small zucchini cut into 1/4 inch rounds slices or "chips"

3/4 cup Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs (Susan used Progresso)

3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 egg  whites

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475

Mix Panko and Parmesan together in one bowl.Mix egg whites in another bowl. It helps to use large bowls for this because you can mix more at one time.

Coat the "chips" with the egg white.

Individually toss chips in Panko/Parmesan mixture. Susan patted firmly to make sure they were well coated and that all of the mix was used. If you want less Panko on yours, just toss and lightly press.

Arrange chips in a single layer on Pam sprayed non stick cookie sheet.

Bake 5 minutes on one side, gently flip the chips and bake 5-10 minutes on 2nd side until crispy.

Remove from oven and try to let them cool a couple minutes and crisp a bit before eating. They are so good, that after the first warm bite, you will have trouble resisting and will be compelled to consume them all.

The 17 year old mentioned earlier suggested that they would be even "bommer" dipped in ranch. But he's a bean pole and can afford the calories. They are awesome as is.

Notes:

For a bit of a kick, sprinkle some ground hot pepper or chili powder on the chips after flipping them! Or dot with Tabasco, dip in salsa, or anything else you can think of.

Janice's Spicy Experimental Hummus

I love spicy hummus and eat it all the time, but I've never made it before. The following recipe is still in the experimental stage, and is a combination of several interesting recipes that I found on line. I liked how some of the cooks used a variety of oils instead of tahini. I've never owned a tahini, but I usually have both sesame and olive oil so I'm going with that. As I improve it, and with suggestions from you all, we'll make this recipe the best spicy hummus around!

Woop! Let's get our collaborative cookery game on! Tell me how to make spicy hummus!

The nutrition facts (thus far) can be found at Calorie Count!

Spicy Experimental Hummus

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained

1 lemon juiced
1/8 cup sesame oil
1/8 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions:

In the bowl, combine the garbanzo beans, lemon juice, sesame and olive oil, garlic, jalapenos. Season with black pepper, cayenne, cumin and oregano.

Mix using the stick blender or a mixer on low speed until the ingredients start to blend, then turn the speed to medium, and blend to your desired consistency. 

Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to blend.

Notes:

Adjust the proportions of liquids to suit your taste. 

 Beat it thoroughly or use a blender if you like creamy hummus and not so much if you like it to have more texture.

Jane's Hummus in a Blender

The nutrition facts for this delightfully easy hummus can be found at Calorie Count!

Hummus in a Blender

Ingredients:

8 oz chickpeas
juice of half a lemon
1 good tablespoon tahini (or to taste)
1 garlic clove, crushed
6 oz water (approximately)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper...use plenty
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

Place all the ingredients with the exception of the water, oil and
paprika into a blender and switch on.  Gradually add the water and
keep blending until you have the right consistency... should be that
of thick cream.   Turn into a bowl, drizzle over the olive oil and
sprinkle with paprika.