Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad

I don’t know about where you live, but it’s been super hot and humid here. I love that it’s hot — especially since I spend most of my day as a Popsicle. You could hang meat in my office.

But the humidity? Ugh. I could definitely do without it. My A/C is working overtime and I have electric bill to prove it.

To beat the heat and cut back on my electric usage I’ve been avoiding the stove. Enter my favorite salad: Cobb Salad with Green Goddess Dressing.

I wrote about this YEARS ago and it’s still in heavy rotation.

Is it wrong to look forward to a salad all week? Not when it’s this salad. Blue cheese, grilled chicken, avocado and tomatoes — can we say YUM? There may or may not have been a bit of crumbled bacon in there, too.

I skipped the watercress because it’s hard to find near me (have to travel a ways to Whole Foods to get it) and ended up with a mix of chopped romaine and the tail ends of some bagged butter lettuce mix.

If you make nothing else, make this dressing. Really. It’s a homemade, healthy, creamy dressing that may change your life.

Races and Tabbouleh

It was a busy weekend and so far a busy week, too. Saturday, I ran the Race for the Cure — my first official 5K race. I think I kept a pace of about 11 minutes per mile, which isn't great compared to most actual runners, but is an improvement for me.

I didn't actually sign up for a timing chip and I forgot to start my watch right away, so I don't really know for sure, but that's my best guess.

Sunday, I made tabbouleh. I've been craving a grain salad for weeks now and I'm just now getting around to making it. It's actually what's for lunch today. See how pretty it is?



I grilled the chicken, basting it with a vinaigrette. It's been raining so much lately that whenever it's not raining I'm taking advantage of it and grilling as much as possible.

I stuck closely to the same Cooking Light recipe I've use for years. I quartered grape tomatoes, though, because that's what I had on hand and used red onion instead of green onion to give it a little more bite.

Definitely looking forward to lunch today!

Grilled Chicken Salad with Sweet and Spicy Dressing

It is so freaking hot outside. It's so hot I used the max air conditioning in my car while running errands yesterday. That's practically unheard of. I'm always cold, so if I'm actually hot enough to crank the A/C, it's because it's freakishly hot and humid.

I did head down to the gym downstairs this afternoon knowing I wouldn't want to go anywhere near the Y tonight. The YMCA is big on fans, but not so much on air conditioning. At least the work gym is as cold as the rest of my office building.

I was such a slug last week that it felt really good to jog again. I've been working toward a 5K, and I'm sure I could run the whole thing but I'm super slow. I don't have that kind of time in my work day so I usually work on speeding it up rather than working for distance. I've always been a slow runner but a few years ago I was able to easily run a 10 minute per mile pace. Now I struggle. I'm slowly but surely getting back there.

I hit up Costco on my way home and picked up a gigantic container of salad greens. It didn't cost much more than my usual small clamshell at the grocery store, surprisingly. So, considering the heat, tonight's dinner was a salad — Grilled Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Dressing.

It was good, but maybe not outstanding. It's the dressing I'm unsure about. It's similar to the lime vinaigrette from Newman's Own that I can't stand. The dressing on this salad, though, is tolerable. But I would say just tolerable is a good thing. Maybe I just don't like lime salad dressings. If you do, you'll probably like this. I liked the spiciness of it, at least.

The chicken, though, was the standout. I didn't let it marinade for the full hour.. maybe 20 minutes? But it was still really good. Just the right amount of citrus, smokiness and garlic. I would actually make this chicken as a stand alone without the salad bit.

I think this chicken would be really good for soft tacos or anything else where you might want a garlicky lime grilled chicken. Yum.

Roasted Beet Salad

Roasted beet salad

What's up with this weather in the Midwest? I've heard this is the coldest July in history, and I can believe it. Yesterday morning, er, afternoon by the time I woke up, was so cold I was actually wearing a sweatshirt while I had my windows open.

Funny how just a few days ago I was saying it was too hot for oatmeal and now it's cold enough I'm craving it again. This bowl was made with water then topped with soy milk, agave nectar, cinnamon, peaches and blueberries.


Oatmeal with summer fruit

For dinner I finished off the beets with this roasted beet salad. To make it a main dish salad I added grilled chicken. The only other change I made was using a salad greens mix instead of arugula because that's what I had. Overall, it wasn't bad. Not sure I'll make it again, but it was a good use of the beets. It would definitely be tastier as a starter rather than a main dish, but it was too labor intensive for an every day meal.

Looking back on my food intake today it's pretty scattered — starting off with a cold weather dish and finishing off with a cool salad. Ha. I had weird dreams all last night and felt "off" today in general.. so I think my scattered food choices and even this post reflect that.

I'm off to bed. Hopefully I'll sleep better than I did last night!

Wheat Berry Salad with Goat Cheese

I am constantly amazed how many people still think the only way to achieve a steady weight loss is to reduce the carbs you eat in a day. Unless you're diabetic and otherwise directed to do so, I wouldn't see why someone would feel the need to.

Going by what they preach in the Weight Watchers materials, no where does it say to reduce your carb intake. And the Food Pyramid even outlines the health benefits of whole grains including many nutrients, including dietary fiber, several B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and folate), and minerals including iron magnesium and selenium. I guess B6 vitamins play a key role in metabolism by helping the body release energy from protein, fat, and carbohydrates.

I don't know about anyone else, but I want to help my metabolism along any way I can. I'm not a huge fan most forms of exercise, so if I can torch calories while not exercising I'm all over that.

I personally prefer to take a balanced approach close to the Simply Filling plan. I get most of my carbs from "good" carbs — whole grains and starchy vegetables over white pasta, rice, and bread. And I don't usually have the same whole grain twice in one day.. I like to mix things up.

Today I had brown rice with my lunch and dinner was the Wheat Berry Salad with Goat Cheese. And, for some extra crunch, a few crackers on the side. My version had red onion because I didn't have green onion, but otherwise I followed the recipe.

It has the basic flavors of tabbouleh but added goat cheese and used wheat berries rather than bulgur. I was heartier, but very similar in flavor. I thought it wouldn't be filling, but it was. Probably from the overdose of fiber.

Plus today wasn't a very hungry day. I skipped my morning snack and will probably pass on half of what I had planned for tonight. I did make muffins for a coworker's birthday, though, which means I sampled a little of the batter. I had to make sure I wasn't feeding them something gross, of course.

I'll share the recipe tomorrow — these are definitely worth the calories and always a bit hit.

Grilled Steak Salad with Green Beans and Blue Cheese

Grilled Steak Salad with Green Beans and Blue Cheese

Today was a pretty good day eating and exercise-wise. I even lost a little this week. I'm on a roll.

Not a whole lot happened today, actually. Everything was same old, same old. Sometimes uneventful days are the best.

I was running late this morning per usual because I actually didn't fall asleep last night until after 1 a.m. Getting out of bed this morning was a challenge. I ended up grabbed oatmeal from the cafeteria topped with brown sugar and cranberries and a carton of skim milk. For about $2, it's a quick and fairly economical choice for mornings like today where I'm a complete spaz. I also didn't have a chance to make coffee so I drank the free office coffee, which is pretty terrible. But I can't complain too much.. it's free!

Lunch, like always was leftovers and snack was another Yoplait. They are pretty sweet tasting, maybe a little too much so, but they were 50 cents a carton and it was triple coupon day. I have a hard time passing up a deal especially when they're not bad for you overall. A little artificial sweetener won't kill me, I just prefer to avoid it because I don't like the taste of it all that much.

Dinner was this Grilled Steak Salad with Green Beans and Blue Cheese. My version had 4 ounces of grilled top round steak, 1 tablespoon of blue cheese, five olives and a tablespoon of good extra virgin olive oil per salad. It was delicious. I don't often think to put green beans on my salads, but I should. And dressed simply with oil and vinegar, the fresh ingredients really shined. If you want to make it lighter you can use less oil and/or meat, although I think I would leave the cheese and the olives as I had them so you can benefit from their strong flavor.

I'll definitely make this again.

Tonight's late snack will probably be another skinny cow. I'm boring, I know.

Hope you're enjoying your evening! Night!

Balsamic-Rosemary Vinaigrette

I don't know what it is about Wednesdays. After dinner all I want to do is lie down and go to sleep. And today's no different. It's like I hit a wall or something. Tomorrow I'm leaving early from work because my family bought tickets to the circus.

It could be lame, but you know, I haven't been to the circus in ages. The last time I went I was maybe 10 and I couldn't see anything because I needed glasses. I didn't know it at the time, of course. I just remember my sister pointing out some vendor walking up and down the stands on the opposite side of the arena and I couldn't see the person — looked like a sea of blobs from my viewpoint. I thought she was crazy, especially since she was claiming this guy looked like Santa. My sister would have been 6 or 7 years old at the time, so these were matters of great importance. Santa selling cotton candy at the circus was a huge deal and the fact she saw him, well, that's something to brag about. I probably told her to stop making things up.

Last night I met an old friend to play arcade games. I'm pretty terrible at video games. I never really got into them. So when I beat someone who's as in to them as my friend is, well, it's time to gloat.

I didn't have much time to make dinner last night. I was late getting out of work, traffic was bad, and I didn't leave myself enough time cook. I managed to heat up the grill, cook some chicken I had put out, and make a salad inspired by this dish. It had the main components of the actual recipe — grape tomatoes, goat cheese, pecans, spinach. But the rest I kind of just tossed in just because. I also made the Balsamic-Rosemary Vinaigrette.

That was one of the best parts of the entire salad. I love making my own salad dressings. They come together quickly and taste better than most of the bottled varieties. Plus, with a basic pantry, I can make a different vinaigrette for every salad. Whatever the mood strikes me. And when I make my own, I know I'm hitting Weight Watcher's healthy oil requirement because I know how much oil I'm getting per serving. If you make a standard vinaigrette you have to watch the serving size because they're caloric, but if you choose a strong one like the balsamic one, a little goes a long way.

It was a pretty good salad and a great meal for a warm, sunny spring evening.

Pepper Crusted Steak with Summer Bread Salad

It seems like every time I plan to use my grill, it rains. And not just sort of rains. We're talking torrential downpours. So when I woke up to see dark skies and lots of rain last week. I figured we'd have to find some other way to make the top sirloin steak I put out the night before.

But happily, I was wrong. It cleared up just in time for dinner. I think the sun even came out.

The boyfriend wanted to do the grilling and I was skeptical. Once, he fed me a still cold in the center hot dog. And last time, he burned the chicken to a crisp (although I think it was more the skin factor rather than the boyfriend can't grill factor). I was busy making the Summer Bread Salad, so I reluctantly agreed.

And this time, he actually came through. I also armed him with an instant read thermometer so I didn't end up with well done meat or meat that was still mooing. I prefer a nice medium rare.

To add extra flavor we crusted it with salt and pepper. Delicious. The bread salad was a nice complement, although I was lazy and skipped through half the steps by just throwing the whole thing together. I didn't even toast the bread, but I needed to. It was a bit on the soggy side. Otherwise, it tasted great.

The salad says it makes 6 to 8 servings. I halved the recipe and made it four servings for 4 points a serving. I also used a whole grain baguette instead of ciabatta. I estimated the steak comes out to 5 points a serving for four servings out of a 1 1/2 pound top sirloin steak, well trimmed. But what you buy might vary. Always use the info on the package.

I'm so proud of the boyfriend's grilling. Next, I'll have to teach him how to put grill marks on the meat.

Chicken Couscous Salad

I received great news yesterday. I'm the picture of health. My HDL cholesterol levels are much higher than average and my triglycerides are so low the machine doesn't even read them. My blood pressure and fasting glucose are also perfect.

Just goes to show that although I'm currently about 20 pounds above the highest weight for my height range, I'm still healthier than most. Weight isn't always a determining factor. Still, I'm going to continue watching my portions and exercising and strive for a health weight so I can stay this healthy.

The nurse sharing my results shared that triglycerides can be high if your diet is rich with white pasta, white bread, and white potatoes, and alcohol. Basically any food that's converted to sugars in your body.

So maybe that's why mine is so low -- because I enjoy meals like this Chicken Couscous Salad, which I made healthier by using 100% whole wheat couscous. Instead of buying frozen cubed chicken, I kept it all natural by using leftover chicken from a chicken I roasted earlier.

I served it with toasted whole wheat pitas and it was a huge hit. With the chicken, it makes a main dish, but it can also make a side for a cookout or picnic.

Bacon Rice Bowl

In my attempts to eat Core (it lasted only two weeks by the way), I found this recipe for a Bacon Rice Bowl. It sounded decent enough, in theory. And it was Core if you cut back on the oil and used brown rice. But it was a lot like a half-cooked tabbouleh. Not my favorite thing ever. The tomatoes and bacon were good, though. I left out the lentils, but I doubt they would have helped.

Shrimp Fattoush

This salad is a great way to get in your daily oils. The salad is fresh and quick and because the acid in the dressing lemon juice, it's really refreshing. It makes a satisfying lunch or light dinner. This is something I'll definitely make again.

A few notes, though. I left out the mint because I'm not the hugest fan. I also used whole wheat pitas instead of the more traditional white ones. I add fiber where I can. Lastly, I upped the amount of lettuce. The salad didn't seem too substantial without a little something more. But here's the recipe as written. It comes out to be about 8 pts per serving. It's from the Columbus Dispatch.

Shrimp Fattoush
2 pita breads
1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cucumber, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup parsley leaves
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

To make salad: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake pita bread until toasted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Break into 1-inch pieces.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until pink and just cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Combine lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, parsley and mint in a large bowl.

To make dressing: Whisk lemon juice, olive oil andgarlic until well-blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add a couple of spoonfuls of dressing to shrimp. Toss to coat. Add remaining dressing to salad. Toss to coat. Add pita pieces and toss. Divide among 4 plates. Top with shrimp and serve.

Salad with Seared Scallops

"Did someone make tuna today for lunch or something? I smell fish," my coworker remarked on Monday while I was pouring myself a glass of water from the pitcher in the staff kitchen. I had just returned from making lunch at home, which I do every day.

"I don't smell anything," I replied. "But I did make scallops for lunch."

She paused. "....oh," she said when she realized she wasn't smelling tuna in the kitchen, but the scallops that I had cooked for lunch.

Yes, I smelled like scallops when I got back to work. Oh well. And my apartment still kind of smelled like fish when I got home from work that night, too. But it was a simple, decadent kind of lunch that I needed on Monday. The scallops only take a few minutes on each side to cook and are good with just a little salt and pepper. I put it over a salad with plenty of veggies and dressed it with a light vinaigrette. In my opinion, it's a great way to introduce a little seafood into your diet. And, the salad was only 4 pts., and it was a decent sized one, too.

So who cares if I smell a little bit like fish afterward? I certainly didn't.

Steak Salad with Creamy Ranch Dressing

I don't eat a lot of red meat. It's not that I think there's anything inherently bad for you. You just have to choose the right cuts. Understandably, they aren't always the best testing. The rule for red meat is more fat = more flavor. Well for any meat really. The best part of a chicken is the dark meat and the skin, in my opinion. Both are fattier.

The reasons are that lean red meat is expensive. My chicken costs me $2 a pound roughly, extra lean ground beef is $3.50. Another reason is because I didn't grow up eating it. My sister hated all red meat except for steak. So we ate nothing but chicken. We never asked what was for dinner because we always knew the answer: chicken breast.

Now that I'm cooking for myself I try to eat a better variety of foods, but sometimes I still find myself defaulting to chicken. Last night, though, I made steak. Steak Salads with Creamy Ranch Dressing to be exact. It's nothing all that fancy. Most of it was prepacked (salad, grape tomatoes, ranch dressing) but the steak was given a dry rub treatment and cooked on a grill pan. It would have been better on the grill, but I don't think the apartment management would agree with me grilling in my living room. The rub is good in general, although, if you decide not put the steak on a salad, I'd cut back on the red pepper.

Who says salads are diet food?

I certainly don't. I love salads. And I ate them even before being on WW. And I didn't eat them to be healthy. I just heart salads. Especially when it's hot outside, which is has been lately. To use a phrase from my middle school era: "It's hot like a mug." What ever that's supposed to mean. This salad's got tons of un-diet like ingredients: avocados, blue cheese, eggs..

It's a cobb salad from Cooking Light. It's Core +1 if you use only a tablespoon of blue cheese and swap the light mayo out for ff mayo in the dressing. I usually don't like ff mayo, but in this dressing, it doesn't really make much of a difference. And the dressing is good for other for other things. It's a decent green goddess dressing, but I don't have much to compare it to.

They can't all be winners

Most of the time, my food comes out pretty well. It's pretty darn delicious. But sometimes recipes fail. Maybe it's just not my taste, maybe I misinterpreted the directions, or maybe the recipe was just plain bad.

Last night I was craving comfort food, so I made the DBF and I some homemade stove top macaroni and cheese. I found a recipe for the lightened version in Cook's Illustrated's Best Light Recipe. It failed miserably. First of all, I burned the milk mixture, so it did taste a little charred (even though I strained out the burnt pieces). But I think it was more than that. I didn't care for the cheese I used, which was Cabot's 50 percent light. It was actually nasty. Even though it got such good reviews. Maybe the block I had was a bit old, or maybe I'm just so conditioned to like the fake yellow stuff that I wouldn't know good cheddar if I had it? Who knows. But the dinner stunk. I could barely finish it. Even DBF could barely choke it down, and he'll eat just about anything. Except beans and raisins. He really hates those, but have been known to eat both in my presence so as not to make me feel bad.

The macaroni looks good at least... (maybe?)

Macaroni and Cheese
3/8 pound elbow macaroni (about 2 cups)
1 (12-ounce) can 2 percent reduced-fat evaporated milk
2/3 cup low-fat milk (2 percent)
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder or celery salt (optional)
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons cornstarch
8 ounces 50 percent light cheddar cheese , grated (about 2 cups)

Bring 2 1/2 quarts water to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in 2 teaspoons salt and the macaroni; cook until the pasta is completely cooked and tender, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and leave it in the colander; set aside.

Add the evaporated milk, 1/2 cup of the 2 percent milk, mustard, garlic powder (if using), cayenne, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the now-empty saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Whisk the cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup milk together, then whisk it into the simmering mixture. Continue to simmer, whisking constantly, until the sauce has thickened and is smooth, about 2 minutes.

Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cheddar until melted and smooth. Stir in the macaroni, and let the macaroni and cheese sit off the heat until the sauce has thickened slightly, 2 to 5 minutes, before serving.

PER SERVING: 360 calories; 10 grams fat; 1 gram fiber

The salad in the background was a version of Cooking Light's Caesar Salad with Bagel Croutons. That was delicious as always. I love making that salad.

I'll take that to go, please

I work two jobs. I have a day job, which I refer to as job #1. In my day job, or what I also call my "real" job, I am a professional writer/editor for a trade publication. I'm a stronger writer than I am an editor, that's for sure. I'm almost positive that my posts are grammatical messes, but I don't really care. I did, however, have one of my interview subjects make grammatical corrections to a story I sent to him for fact checking purposes. Awesome. Nothing like a sales manager correcting your grammar to make you feel good about your job performance.

In job #2, I am a sales associate for a department store. Right now it's really stressful and typically not all that enjoyable, but I'll thank myself later when I can afford my own home and get married credit card debt-free. In the mean time, I have to answer questions like, "Do you think these buttons will go through airport security?" Seriously. I'm not kidding. Someone actually asked me that. I think I told her that I have never worn that particular shirt to the airport, so I had no way of knowing.

All of that adds up to 60-75 hours per week on average. I tell job #2 I can't work more than 20 hours per week, but somehow it always ends up being more than that. Either I take a shift b/c I don't know how to say no to people, or they over schedule me because they are trying to kill me. I then have to remind them that if they kill me — I can't work. I'd be deceased.

That leaves very little time for cooking, or really, eating in general. Most of my meals are eaten out of Tupperware® knockoffs. Today's lunch was a fajita salad, and tonight's dinner is leftover chicken and broccoli stirfry with oyster sauce. The salad was lettuce, pinto beans, cheddar cheese, green pepper, red onion, tomato, and Cilantro-Lime Sauce as the dressing. If you need me to tell you what's in that stir-fry.. then you need more help than I can give you :)

Tomorrow, sadly, will probably be canned soup and a frozen meal. Boo.

Another grain salad...

I think you can add grain salads to my growing list of obsessions. Right along side breakfast and polenta.. especially when it's polenta for breakfast. I like these for a variety of reasons. One, they are easy to make, which is important for my lunch. Second, they hold up well in the fridge.. and well, they are good cold or at room temperature. And add something like chicken or tuna, and you've got a meal that is surprisingly satisfying.

So newbies can stop referring to core as "like Atkins" b/c you certainly can't eat Vegetable Couscous on Atkins.

Faster than takeout

Tonight I made a Core +1 recipe. Honestly, it can easily be made into a completely Core recipe, and best yet, I had it all on the table in around 20 minutes.

Skillet Stuffed Peppers from Cooking Light really are "superfast." And that's even with making my own mashed potatoes because Simply Potatoes mashed potatoes aren't Core. The reason it's Core +1 is because I topped it with 2 tbsp of Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese rather than fat free or soy cheese. A couple of notes.. don't liberally salt the potatoes and use less sodium taco seasoning. You shouldn't need the whole packet. in my opinion. I used half and it was WAY too salty. I think the cheddar added to the salt. It almost tasted like I had dumped salt on it. Other than that it was a make-again recipe, especially considering it's so quick to make.

Don't believe it's fast? I even had time to make tomorrow's lunch...Vegetable Couscous Salad.

A new way to make tabbouleh

Traditional tabbouleh, a middle eastern grain salad, is Core in and of itself. Made of bulgur wheat, parsley, tomato, scallion, with lemon juice and olive oil, the salad is perfectly Core. But from my experiences working with bulgur, it's kind of a pain to make. So when I found this recipe for Quinoa Tabbouleh, I was really into it. I had a box of quinoa that I found at Trader Joe's and was looking for a good recipe to use it in.

And this one is a good one. If you count the oil toward your 2 tsp a day and use ff feta it's probably less than a point if you use the raisins. I suggest using them, btw. I do count points for the feta and raisins, though, b/c I won't use ff cheese. Feta is one of those naturally lower in fat cheeses that if used in moderation really doesn't add many points to a dish.

And because it's already happy hour somewhere...

Sangría
From Cooking Light

3 tablespoons white rum
3 tablespoons Cointreau (orange-flavored liqueur)
3 tablespoons brandy
6 orange slices
6 lemon slices
1 peach, cut into 6 wedges
1 cinnamon stick
1 (750-milliliter) bottle Rioja or other fruity red wine (such as Beaujolais or Zinfandel)
1 cup sparkling water, chilled

Combine all the ingredients except sparkling water in a large pitcher. Chill for 8 hours. Stir in water immediately before serving. Yield: 6 servings

A glimpse of spring

Today almost feels like spring. It's sunny and actually kind of warm. It made me crave a salad. A nice big one, too. Luckily, that was in the plan for today. It was romaine lettuce, red pepper, green pepper, carrots, and alfalfa sprouts with jerk grilled chicken with a balsamic dressing.

The chicken is rubbed with a jerk spice blend leftover from when I made the jerk pork tenderloin. I just rubbed it on boneless, skinless chicken and grilled it in the grill pan. Yum.

The dressing is one of my favorites from the Cooking Light Complete Cookbook.

Balsamic Dressing
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup minced green onion (I sometimes sub dried chives if I don't have these on hand)
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh or 2 tsp dried parsley
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tbsp water
1/8 tsp black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced (I use the garlic press)

Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl and chill.