Tuesday, October 12, 2010

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!


Sunday, October 10, 2010

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!