Greek Couscous with Chicken & Feta

I'm back on track with planning ahead, making menus, and cooking what I plan for dinner. Our hectic lives forced us to spend less time on dinner each night and I just hate that.

So I went to my trusty pile of recipes I've ripped from the pages of the countless magazines I am given, and found some great new recipes to try. 

This one was quick, easy, and absolutely delicious! I'll definitely be making this one again!

Greek Couscous with Chicken & Feta.

(courtesy of Family Circle - Sept 2010)

Makes: 6 servings

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 18 mins

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

3/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous

1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

6 oz green beans, trimmed and halved

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast (I just took all the meat from one cooked chicken)

3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped

1/2 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta

1/3 up kalamata olives, halved (I omitted these because I hate olives)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Heat oil in a medium nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook garlic 30 seconds, then stir in onion, oregano and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook 4 minutes.

2. Stir in couscous and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and 1 cup water to pot and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 12 minutes or until water is absorbed. Add green beans to pot for last 5 minutes of cooking.

3. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, chicken, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, feta, olives, and lemon juice and serve immediately.

Per serving:

280 calories

6g fat (2g saturated)

16g protein

42g carbohydrate

6g fiber

968mg sodium

19mg cholesterol 

I sprinkled a little extra feta on each dish to garnish. 

DELICIOUS! Light, easy, healthy, and quick to make. Try it tonight!

Fall days are here!

Yes, it really has been over a month since my last post. I'm terrible. Well, terribly busy. But still, I made a promise to myself when I started this blog to not forget about it after a few months and add it to my pile of unfinished journals and diaries from my childhood. I fully intend to keep this one up and running. 

So, what better way to get going again than to welcome a new season with some yummy treats?

Maple Cupcakes. Fantastic!

I usually reserve my dessert calories for something containing chocolate, but after my parents took a trip to Canada this summer and brought us some delicious maple sandwich cookies, I've been hooked on the taste.

The Mr. Maple cookies, or Mmmm Erables, as I like to call them (for obvious reasons - see below) are fantastic, and proudly produced in a peanut-free facility. Good news for me.

Jim and I savored these cookies and tried to ration them out for as long as we could. On the eve of the day the last cookie was to be consumed, I found some fantastic news in my local Trader Joe's:

Hooray! I delicious replacement. Not quite as amazing as the canadian version (a quick browse on the internet led me to a cookie fan club webpage who tell me that they are sometimes available in your local Dollar Tree - haven't looked yet), but still great for the tastebuds. I will be stocking up on these before the season is over.

Anyway, I had remembered seeing some maple cupcakes in Martha Stewart's Cupcake book:

Hers have marzipan maple leaves, but who needs them? The cake has maple syrup in the batter, the icing has maple syrup in the icing. They are amazing. I have the icing in my fridge and I intend to sandwich it between two plain cookies and enjoy heaven for a while.

These are amazing. Try them!